Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. In fact I don't own anything in this fic except for Shadow. Any there may be References to LOTR.

Thanks for the reviews. Just please keep reviewing, I need to know if what I write is good or not. Thanks again,

Anduril.

Life for the Titans flew past in a rush. With Star trying to find common ground with Shadow. Shadow trying to avoid finding any with her. Cyborg becoming more and more upset about not having his own team. Robin becoming more relaxed since he had accepted that Slade was gone. Beast Boy having the absolute time of his life trying to startle Shadow as payback for all the times he scared the piss out of him. And finally, Raven opened up to her teammates more and more. But quickly things went downhill. IT started with Brother Blood being found in Steel City on the east coast. Cyborg then went into an amazingly accurate impression of Robin during the Slade obsession times. Cyborg had gone to help Bumble Bee and Aqualad, along with Speedy and two new heroes on the scene fight him. Cyborg had then left his old teammates in Jump City to join the Titans East. That was where things had become messy, Cyborg couldn't just let Robin and the others down easily, and Robin had to fight to preserve the team that had been through so much together. That was where they were now each in the main rooms of their respective towers arguing about it.

"We're a team Cyborg, how could you just throw all of that away!" Robin was pissed. How could Cy just up and leave like this, hadn't they been through enough recently? The team was enjoying a break from the big supervillains and had been getting closer together as a team. At least Cy had made it seem like he was enjoying a good friendship with Shadow (who seemed to be getting the tall genes that still eluded the Boy Wonder, Shadow was now over six foot!). They had been spending a tremendous amount of time in the garage fixing the vehicles and working on new ideas for the Titans tech. This sudden decision seemed to have sent Shadow for a loop, he didn't want to be the official big brother for the team! Only Robin had noticed but Shadow was preparing to take a few months to finish what he had started.

"Look man, they need me! They have no experience when it comes to fighting crime as a team and they need me as their leader." Cy was frustrated. "Besides, its not like you'll be undermanned. You have your brother there and he knows the tower almost as well as I do. You'll be fine without me man."

"You mean you haven't noticed? Shadow's about to leave again but doesn't like drawn out goodbyes. Haven't you seen him secretly packing his gear and spare xinothium into Shadewing? He does it with you right there. Are you actually that blind!" Robin was not happy that Cy, who should have seen all of that, was actually saying they would be better off without him.

"Dude! That's not what he's doing! I asked him and he said he just wanted his spares within reach if a battle takes a turn for the worst." Cyborg was stunned, could Shadow really have been lying to him?

"Do you think I don't know my own brother's tactics? I know what he's doing. He's done this before and he told me the exact thing he told you. He's leaving Cy, and I don't think even he knows how long he'll be gone!" Robin was fed up with this did Cy really think that they would be all right without him? Did he really think that abandoning the ones who care about you made you a man?

"I'm staying, end of discussion." With that the transmission to Robin's tower ended. Robin sat down with a heavy sigh. This was not going to be easy to break to the team.

The Titans had raced to Steel City as fast as they could after receiving Cy's garbled transmission about needing their help. The first battle ended in their quick and decisive victory with the element of surprise. Cyborg had been grateful that his old team was willing to forgive him about leaving them and came to his rescue. But he was a little worried when he found that Shadow had already left before Cy had announced his staying in Steel City, assuming that Cy would be back later that day. Along with the others Cy was able to easily battle his new teammates. But Blood had captured Cyborg and had started to tear him apart to see why he couldn't control Cy the way he could all of the others. Just before the end Cy had realized what really allowed him to resist Blood and defeated him.

It was two weeks before Raven's birthday and Shadow only had a few more days before the monks of Azar had taught him all they could. He would make it back in time and that was all he cared about. He would be there to do everything in his power to fight away her destiny. Luckily he didn't believe that people's lives were set in stone, even though he knew that his life was destined to hardship and sorrow, he could still control his attitude about it and his actions, they were his choice ultimately. Now he just needed to convince Raven of that.

He now wore his suit around Azerath, just with a black cloak similar to Raven's instead of his usual mask and cape. Apparently masks were outlawed among the Azerathians so they had started wearing hoods if they wanted to hide their faces. He soon got into that habit because of his supreme dislike of revealing his face to anyone. He couldn't wait to see the others again and hear about what had happened to them during his absence.

Just as he was preparing to go to bed he heard something that he had been told about, but had never actually thought would happen while he was here. Some alarm, was going off in the middle of the city. Looking out his window, he saw what appeared to be a fire off at the south side of Azerath. Upon closer inspection the flames took the shape of an army of fire demons. That was definitely not a prank racing to the door he grabbed Gurthang off the wall. Apparently he had earned the respect of many of the senior monks with his defeat of Malchior and had been presented it as a gift. He had a feeling that it had been more because the blade didn't want to leave its new master and had cut the man who normally tended it. Racing down towards the army he noticed that the Azerathians weren't mustering the strength of any army or fighters. It had him worried, were they just going to accept their deaths as something that was destined to be. 'They think way too highly of destiny' he thought. He had a promise to keep, and he wasn't about to let the armies of hell stop him.

Robin came home from training with the true master to find his team dressed like him! But he blew it off and just sat down to enjoy 'Robining' with them. They were severely enjoying just hanging out as a team. They began a spirited discussion about whether Shadow would have been dressed like Robin with the others. Well Cy, BB and Star were. BB was convinced that he would have, but the others thought that he would have considered it above him.

"Dudes, I'm telling you! Shadow would have done it. In case you haven't noticed he loves a good joke. In fact he pulls more than I do. Didn't you notice that after he left the pranks just seemed to stop? He taught me everything I know! But he doesn't leave a trace!" Beast Boy was beginning another rant and the others just tuned him out as he went on into the gruesome details about one of Shadow's better pranks.

"Yo, Rob, Rae, what do you guys think? Would Shadow have dressed up in Robin's stuff with us?" Bb had made him curious, did Shadow really have that kind of humor?

"Actually Cy, he would have. My brother always did have a very wicked sense of humor, but he would have still worn the full out Red X skull mask and made my suit darker. You know, the way he would make a Robin suit, with lots more black, and plenty of red instead of green. But yeah he would have joined you, actually he would have encouraged all of you to do it with him." Robin was holding back a chuckle as he said this. Shadow always did enjoy that kind of thing, he got some kind of kick out of it that no one else did. It was always more than just pretending to be someone else, to him it was getting to escape his strange form of life.

"Soo… Shadow would really have joined us?" Raven couldn't help but feel a little better about this knowing that Shadow would have.

"Yeah, sometimes he and I would secretly pretend to be Batman. He seems to find some kind of reprieve out of it that no one else can." Robin was struggling not to laugh at the memories of the 'Batman' days. Yet they always seemed to be his idea instead of Shadow's, he was just content to join him.

"Dudes! I just had the most totally… most amazing… most incredibly ingenious idea in the history of ideas! We… could… dress up… like Shadow." he held out that last part for the dramatic effect.

At first it looked like the others were about to condemn him for thinking about that kind of thing, but they hesitated. After all, who didn't want to see what being Shadow was like.

Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, Cyborg spoke up. "I think he made a few spare suits. We could borrow some, I mean after all, he has almost as many as Robin does. And he took a lot with him to get them adjusted the same way as the one he always wears. He left a few spare ones he just so he had a normal one to wear when he just needs to fix or wash the others." Cy was speaking slowly as if he still wasn't sure it was the right thing to do. But after a few seconds of awkward silence, the teen superheroes all bolted towards Shadow's room at the exact same instant, they wanted to get as much time in the suits in before he got back. They wore them during their time at the tower for the next three weeks straight, but never in public or where someone could see them who wasn't in on the joke.

Surrounded by flame monsters and separated from the rest of the Azerathian defenders, Shadow all of a sudden felt an emotion that was very out of place. He felt giddy with anticipation, but was terrified about being found out. What he didn't want found out confused him but he didn't have time to worry about it at the moment, for as he looked around himself he saw that there was very little chance that he would be surviving this fight the more demons he killed, the more that appeared. There was just nothing to do but take out as many as he could in his Rage at failing to protect Raven. Slowly turning to face the next wave of monsters, Shadow raised the Black Sword and without the rage filled scream that most men let out before charging to their dooms, he decided that he would master his doom, and really earn the name the people of Azerath had given him, Turumbar.

The Titans soon forgot about Shadow and why he wasn't beck yet during Raven's ordeals on her birthday, when they discovered the Prophesy, and then finally when she left with Slade to fulfill it. Robin was looking for Raven, the others were fighting themselves, and Slade was going to get his flesh and blood back. The end of the world may not be the end of hope.

Slade was actually losing to something, this guardian of the underworld was much tougher than he had anticipated. Just as Slade was about to completely lose against him, the bomb he had placed on the door went off, with too much power, but Slade wasn't about to let the world end, he still had too many people to torture and hurt, but if the world ended he couldn't. So naturally, he went to help the Titans because it suited him. "Ah its good to have my own flesh and blood back." With that, Slade picked up the guardians axe and headed towards the surface. Unknown to him, another person was thinking just how good it felt to breath again. A tattered beaten figure walked out of the door and silently agreed with him, it was good to have his own flesh and blood back.

The Titans and Slade were fighting Trigon, and to Raven's absolute surprise, hurting him. They were on a constant offensive hoping that they would have enough strength to fight this being of awesome might. But they didn't, Trigon unleashed pure energy through his eyes, easily with one stroke knocking all of the Titans hopes out the door. Raven ran towards Robin to try and awaken him but he couldn't move from the strain his human body had been put through.

"Daughter, you have served your purpose and will now join your friends. Did you know that your friend Shadow will also be there. Such a foolish boy thinking that he could single-handedly fight off my armies as they marched upon Azerath." Raven was shocked. Shadow was dead! But how could he die! He couldn't have been witness to the destruction that was now Azerath. He couldn't be dead, She had fallen in love with him, but now he would never know how she felt. "Yes Daughter, your friend died just within days of his return to Earth. The fool, he actually hoped to stop your destiny, but now you have served your purpose, giving up in the end, while he fought valiantly in the face of death trying to defend a city that had already crumbled before me."

"I don't know about 'valiant' but I do know I'm not dead." Just then a figure dressed in black, flew across Trigon's face, slashing across the demon's nose. The figure stood and faced Trigon, hand raised towards the screaming demon while he waited for a clear shot. He was about to drain his two spare tubes of xinothium in a last ditch effort to slow this monster's rampage. Red energy and electricity cackled along Shadow's body as he charged the weapon he was hoping would work. He knew that he couldn't beat him with it, xinothium didn't have an ability to correctly fight demons, that was up to Raven. But he hoped to weaken the monster as well as temporarily blind him. Trigon finally healed the cut and turned towards the boy he had thought dead. As the demon's face turned his direction Shadow unleashed the energy that had been charged into his palm and fired a giant X towards Trigon's face. The blast hit him head on and an X like metal thing covered the demon's eyes and connected at the back of his head. When Trigon reached to tear the offending thing off it sent a huge charge of energy racing throughout his body weakening him more than he cared to admit.

The now fully awakened Titans turned to look at the person who had done this, they had heard Trigon's words and were stunned by what they saw. Standing there in a cloak similar to Raven's, but so torn and tattered that it looked as if he had fought every demon in hell to get here, stood Shadow. At least they thought it was him, he had no mask on and his hood had been blown back by the force of his own blast. But Robin knew who it was as he teleported down to where they were standing.

"Come on, let's show this demon what happens when he messes with the ones I care about." The tone of the guys voice was enough to convince them of who he was. But Raven couldn't help but notice that he looked far different from his brother Robin. Blonde hair and green eyes that didn't seem to go with his dark personality, but she couldn't help but feel that they were the correct colors for him. BB certainly thought that he looked way different than anyone had thought he would, but couldn't find the words to bring it up now.

Shadow then lead the Titans into a fight that they still had no chance of winning, but as long as they kept him from pulling that X off his face they still had the smallest of chances, Shadow and Robin were acting just like twins should, their different styles and moves perfectly complementing the other's. Robin was swinging towards the demon on one side with his grappling hook, throwing every bomb and disc he still had in his belt hoping to do some decent damage before he and Shadow crossed across the demon's chest trying to wound him deep enough to at least send him scurrying back towards his hole in hell. Shadow was mirroring the discs and bombs with as many destructive X's that he could slowly but surely draining the last of his xinothium, he was running on half power to begin with because of his battles through the pit of hell on his way to the door. As they began their cross in the middle, he and Robin both landed on the lower part of the demons' rib cage. Defying every law of physics, they stabbed their respective swords into his chest and began to run upwards in a diagonal line dragging the blades with them. Cutting a huge, X shaped gash in the demon's body. As they jumped away, Beast Boy and Cyborg came charging in slamming their attacks into his chest, Beast boy somehow turned into a green version of Malchior and began to claw and scratch in a ferocious attempt to over power the demon. Cy and Star were blasting the arms to keep them from tearing the dragon form off his chest. Robin and shadow renewed their attack hoping to aid BB, in tearing the demon's flesh. But Trigon used his eye beams to blast his new 'crown' off and immediately incapacitated the teens, knocking them all to the ground.

Raven, who had been silently regaining hope at the sight of Shadow's return, became angered at the fact that her friends were willing to risk everything for her but she hadn't done anything but lose hope. When her father's blast came towards her she raised her hands in an instinctual movement to create a barrier. When the dust cleared, She could be seen standing there, not as the little girl she had been turned into moments before, but the Teen Titan she had been, just dressed in white with hair the length of Starfire's. She then proceeded to blast her 'father' with her newfound white powers.

"You aren't my father! Fathers protect you, Fathers raise you." She was bringing these words home by blasting him after every sentence. "You may have been responsible for my birth, but I was protected by the monks of Azar, and I was raised by my friends!" With those final words, Raven defeated her father and her destiny, while simultaneously repairing the damage that had been done to the world. Reverting everything back toe the way it had been earlier that day.

As Raven slowly floated back down to her friends, she could see the happiness on each of their faces. She landed and Cyborg said, "Unbelievable." Raven answered by running towards Robin and Shadow throwing her arms around them both saying, "No, someone believed." Then the Titans made their way back to the tower to have a 'We Stopped The End of the World!' party, as Beast Boy called it.

When they got home Shadow said he had to get something from the garage and left to get it. The others changed into fresh clothing and Raven cut her hair again, disappointing Shadow. But then Shadow came back into the main room dressed in fresh clothes similar to the ones he had jus had on, just these included a Robin style mask, covering his eyes.

After the party and Robin and Raven discussing why he never gave up hope on her, Raven walked towards Shadow's room to ask him about why he had been in Azerath and to hopefully if she got the courage tell him how she felt. She spent the next three hours in there telling him about what had happened in his absence and getting a few interesting tidbits of info about his adventures since he had left. He wouldn't discuss what had happened after azerath was attacked but Raven didn't press him for information, already having a good guess about him fighting his way through the underworld and defeating a guardian then blowing the wall open. But they never got around to the problem about them. For now they were both content to just be in each others presence.

What do you think? Please review, sorry about how short this one is. I hope to write a longer one for the next chapter. I think I'm gonna resurrect Terra soon, but I don't know for sure, and could someone tell me the names of the people in charge of Cadmus? I really need them for the next few chapters, thanks again.

Anduril.