Zatrion presents…

Of Ninjas, Titans and Specters

I do not own Teen Titans, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or Mortal Kombat. The characters Tek-NOS, Nekros, Talleon, and Zatrion are my originals.

Note: "Talking", Thinking, "Mind Speak, Communicator

Chapter 6: Hurt

Jump City Streets – 9:26 AM

Why do they fight? Why do they wish to protect me? Tim is in the alley, his head between his knees. It doesn't make any sense. Don't they realize that the more they fight, the more likely it is that someone will die? It nearly happened already.

Soon enough, he hears the sound akin to a gunshot. Putting his head out in front of the garbage container he's hiding behind, he sees Tek-NOS' metal hand rising out of rubble. Damn, he just won't quit. Getting into a crouching stance, he begins to stand. There's only two ways to stop this, and both require sacrifice on my behalf. The question is, how much am I willing to give up? He finally decides to fully stand up. When he does, he hears a strange sound. Turning around, he finds something that takes him aback; a bipedal reptilian humanoid. This creature is severely bruised, and has trouble moving. Around his head is an orange bandanna, and is holding some strange weapons (Nunchaku, Tim told himself). Seeing the weapons, Tim backs up.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Tim looks at the creature and notices the three-fingered hands, the true lack of lips, and the shell on the creature's back. Not knowing what to do, he raises his fists up.

"Take it easy! I'm one of the good guys!" The humanoid speaks up. Tim's eyes widen.

"Wait a minute, did you just talk?" He lowers his hands. It's official, I lost my mind.

"No, that was the other giant turtle that walks on two legs." The creature's voice is dripping with sarcasm.

Tim looks behind the turtle, and notices three other shapes. They too are turtles standing upright, but they are more severely beaten. Tim decides to reply when…

sneeze! What the hell! I didn't feel any sneeze coming! This is just too much. Snapping out of his trance, he sees that the three other turtles are talking to the one wearing orange.

"Mikey, what are you doing?" This turtle is wearing a blue bandanna, and one of his arms is hanging loosely from his side. He notices that the two behind the orange and blue are wearing red and purple bandannas.

"Don't you recognize the kid, Leo? This is the kid that those two creeps were talking about!" Mikey raises his voice to Leo.

"Speaking of creeps…" The red one begins to speak, but is suddenly cut off by the one with the purple bandanna.

"Give it a rest, Raph."

"No way, Donny. That sick freak has to pay for what he did."

The turtles continue to argue, the voices beginning to crescendo. Tim decides to slowly walk away from them.

Good grief! They argue almost as much as… Tim turns around, and notices something that makes him both ecstatic and sorrowful; the body of his father. "Dad?" Ignoring the arguing turtles and the battle behind him, he walks to the body. "Dad? Oh my god…" He sees that his father no longer has his arms, and his head is very askew.

"No. No, no, no, no, no. Please, God, no." He is now kneeling beside his father, holding him in his arms, his eyes stinging with tears. Looking down at his hands, he sees them covered in blood, the blood of his father. He wants to scream, but his voice has left him. Despite all the pain that his father put him through, Tim still loved him.

No matter what you did, Father, I forgive you. Slowly placing the body back down, he closes the eyes, kisses the forehead, and stands up. Don't worry, I'll see you soon enough. With this he rushes back to the alleyway with the turtles. It seems that they have stopped arguing, and are trying to rest. Tim gets to the mouth of the alleyway when Mikey sees him.

"Kid, where were you? You had us…" Mikey suddenly goes silent when he looks into Tim's eyes. Within those eyes, he sees no hope for the future. "Kid, whatever you're planning, don't do it." With those words, the other turtles' attentions are focused on Tim.

Tim ignores Mikey, and continues past the other three turtles. Each one of them also look into his eyes, and see the same thing as Mikey. Just when he is about to leave, however, Leo places his left hand on Tim's shoulder.

"Don't do it. It isn't worth it. Just…" Leo suddenly screams in pain when Tim grabs the hand and begins to twist and crush it. When Leo looks back into Tim's eyes, they have not changed, save for their intensity. Letting go, Tim leaves the alleyway.

"Aw man, we gotta stop him!" Raph picks up his Sais and prepares to head out after Tim. He gets as far as three steps when he collapses in pain. "Damn!" Leo and Donny also try to head out after Tim, but they fare just as well as Raph. The only one left standing is Mikey, and he only stares at Tim.

"Mikey, what are you doing? Stop him!" Raph yells at his brother, but Mikey stays still.

"There would have been nothing I could have done, Raphael." In a sign of defeat, he sits down.

"Bull! You could have told jokes, tied him up, or even knocked him out. And since when did you start calling me by my full name?"

For once, Michelangelo remains silent.

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Jump City – Underground

"Well, it seems that the boy is broken." Nekros is observing Tim in his energy sphere. "If he were to take his life, then Talleon would lose him as a possible disciple." Dispelling the energy sphere, he begins to stroke his chin. "I guess that I have no choice but to… ugh… save him." He speaks those words as if they were the worst curses ever. With that, he opens a dark portal and steps through. I will not lose this power because some fool child's spirit is broken, and feels ready to die.

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In the Netherrealm…

"It seems that your former 'general' has decided to take action, Talleon." Noob is once again observing the realm viewer crystal. Talleon is standing near a window (Do buildings in the Netherrealm even have windows?), observing the setting light source. "Apparently, your speech with him must have given him reason to do your whims."

"Nekros knows well enough that I could take away the power I gave him, if he were to fail. I have done so before with others, and could do it again." Talleon says this without turning around to face Noob. "Whether he realizes it or not, he will never be fully free from my hand."

Seeing Talleon turn around, Noob asks a question; "It seems that you are interested with the child. Why so?"

"I do find it interesting that this child is capable to traverse the realms without the assistance of higher powers. If only I could find out how he is able to achieve such a feat, then…" Talleon realizes that he is beginning to rant, and suddenly stops.

"Then what, master?" Noob is seemingly intent on finding out all about his master.

"It is none of your concern, Saibot. Now, we must steel ourselves. We shall attack Shinnok."

"…Very well." Disappointed, Noob covers the crystal and grabs his ice sword, called the Kori Blade. "So, how shall we do this?"

"The best way, my disciple; Divide and conquer." Talleon looks out towards Shinnok's spire. You foolish god. The time for the likes of you have passed. It is now MY time.

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Jump City Streets – 9:30 AM

By this time, Tim has entered on the street that the battle is taking place. Looking around, he sees the Titans ready for battle. Not that it will make any difference, Tim thinks. Past them, he sees Tek-NOS with his right arm raised, and the two prongs protruding from it. Taking note of this, Tim decides to stay away.

That is, until he notices the girl with the hood (Raven, he recalls) blasts him with some sort of dark energy. At that moment, Tim knew there was going to be trouble. When the smoke receded, he noticed that the top of Tek-NOS' head has missing. Within what remained of his head, he saw the brain jar. Seeing Tek-NOS pull out that bar, he knew that it was now of never. He rushed in. Grabbing Raven's cloak, Tim pulls both of them down to the ground.

Shaking her head Raven looks up saying, "Who just…" before stopping to look at Tim. At first, she didn't recognize him, not until Beast Boy called out, "Hey, kid! Get out of here!" Shaking her head, she also notices that it is the boy that was hiding behind the dumpster. Why is he out here? By that time, the other Titans have reached Raven and are helping her up. "I'm fine, thanks."

"Who is that, Raven?" Robin is looking over to the boy standing there.

"He's the kid, Rob." Beast Boy replies.

"I thought that he was currently in hiding. Why is he out here then?" Starfire asks.

"I don't know. Beast Boy, how could you tell it was him?" Raven asks the green teen.

"His scent."

"Excuse me?"

"Each person has a unique smell to them. I can somehow tell who's who by sniffing."

"What's next BB, claws popping out of your knuckles? A healing factor?" Cyborg says jokingly.

"Shut up."

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So, the Target is still here, thinks Tek-NOS. "You are indeed a person of your word, Target." He notices that the boy is gesturing at him, in a way to say 'follow me'. "Lead the way."

He sees the boy go towards the Titans, and gives them the same gesture. He then ducks into an alleyway. The Titans follow, as does Tek-NOS. Before they all enter, however, the mystic among them looks back. Seeing this, he also turns around, to see nothing. Seeing nothing, he turns to see the Titan enter the alley. As such, he follows as well. When he enters the mouth of the alleyway, he sees the four reptilian creatures.

"Hey, what's the Tin Man on steroids doing here?" The one wearing the red bandanna yells out. The Titans turn around, and finally notice him. They prepare to battle, but the boy steps between them. Shaking his head in a negative fashion, he gestures all of them to follow.

"You can't be serious." Cyborg says. This time, the boy states into Cyborg's eyes. It is said the Batman's gaze is enough to instill fear into the hearts of men. With this kid, he comes close, perhaps even matching that of the Dark Knight. With that, he steps out on the other side of the alleyway. Tek-NOS decides to take the lead.

Exiting the alleyway, the congregation sees Tim alongside a body, on his knees, weeping silently.

Robin takes the initiative. "Cyborg, contact the police, paramedics, and the fire department." Looking back he sees the metal teen making the call. When he turns around, he sees Mikey, Raven, and Tek-NOS next to the boy.

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By this time, Nekros has arrived and observes his brother and the Titans following the boy. Deciding to play it safe, he cast a minor spell of invisibility. Why is that fool following them? Looking ahead, he notices one of the heroes look towards his direction. Can she sense me? He notices that Tek-NOS is now looking over towards him. Standing still, he waits until they both leave, then follows.

Once at the mouth of the alley, he notices those that he battled. Staying silent, and resisting the urge to complete his actions against them, he watches as the boy calms a possible confrontation between the heroes and his brother. With this confrontation avoided, he then proceeded to walk of the alley. The other followed, his brother between the two groups of heroes.

Deciding to be careful, he climbs up to the top of one of the buildings. Looking down, he notices the boy weeping on his knees at the side of a body. He strangely enough remains silent. Looking near the entrance to the alley, he sees two of the heroes conversing, both male. The caped one is conversing with the half-machined one. Moments later, the half-machine pulls out a device and speaks into it.

Looking back towards the body, he notices the caped girl, the boy, his brother, and one of the creatures surrounding the body. Nekros decides to wait, until the time if perfect.

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Michelangelo looks at the body that lay before him. He was always somewhat squeamish when there was death involved. Over time, however, he has learned to ignore that feeling due to his ninja training. This is such a time. His eyes close, and his body begins to shudder. Shaking his head, he finally speaks. "No one should ever perish like this, despite their actions in the past. There was no honor in this." Opening his eyes, he focuses on the body. "It seems that whoever did this was… wait a minute." Looking at the face, he sees so many similarities with the boy. "Was this your… dad?"

The boy turns his heads, and shakes his head yes. When he looks around, he feels uneasy. Shaking his head, he turns back to the body, his head throbbing in pain.

Raven then speaks. "Do you know who did this?" Her voice, usually unemotional, is beginning to crack. She sees that the boy shakes his head no.

Tek-NOS replies, "I do. I saw it happen."

Raven turns to him, grabs him with her powers, and slams him into a nearby wall, creating a crater. "And you didn't do anything? Inaction can be just as bad, if not worse, than any criminal act." She notices that the other Turtles and Titans have surrounded her and Tek-NOS.

"I couldn't. To do something like what you said would go against my programming. Doing so could have made me gone rampant, perhaps doing more damage, and costing more lives than just this. Would you want that on you conscience?" Tek-NOS looks at the girl, and notices something very strange. While they battled, she had two eyes. At this time, there seems to be a second pair above the existing two. They were also red, which contradicted her normal purple irises.

"That is no excuse." Raven's voice has become raspy. By this time, her teammates have begun to back away from her.

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Nekros is looking down at the situation developing. He would normally grab the child by now, but is distracted by the female who is currently pinning his brother to a wall. Her powers are amazing! I can sense the demonic essence pouring from her. Yes, she is perfect! However, he is ignorant to the tentacle beside him until it's too late. He is grabbed by the appendage and thrown into the buildings in front of him, creating another small crater and large amounts of dust, before falling down to the ground.

By this time, the other Titans have noticed the appendages and moved away. The Turtles, unaware of what they were, he hit by one of them. They were hit with such force that they flew back into walls themselves. Shaking their heads, they get back up and pull out their weapons. Hearing the slam behind them, they see a crater and plumes of dust, but no body. Ignoring it, the Turtles side with the 4 remaining Titans.

This has gone on long enough. Returning to the visible spectrum, Nekros pulls out his weapon of choice: A Scythe. Embedded on the blade are five mystic runes, each representing water, fire, air, earth, and the cold. Gripping the handles, Nekros waits for the proper time to strike.

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"Robin, what going on?" Leo is asking the Titan.

"Something that I hoped would never happen again." His face looks grim, and is gripping his Bo fiercely.

"Wait! You mean to say this has happened before?" Raph's arm is hanging limp, but he still holds onto one of his Shadow Sais.

"When she loses control of her emotions, this happens. Tek-NOS just said the wrong thing." Starfire replies to Raph's question.

"Hoe can we stop her without hurting her?" Leo has one of his Crimson Katanas in front of him in a defensive position.

"I doubt any amount of speaking to her will help. Cyborg, tell dispatch that the crews have to wait!"

"Too late Robin!" Cyborg calls out. Looking past him, Robin sees various JCPD squad cars in the area, as well as a fire truck and an ambulance.

"Get out of here! You're in danger!" Robin is yelling to the vehicles, but it is too late. Raven's tentacles have ensnared some of the (luckily) vacant cars. "Oh, no."

"What's the matter, afraid of the dark?" Raven's dark voice calls out. To her surprise, and that of Tek-NOS and the heroes, there is a reply.

"The dark? You know nothing of the dark!" With this cry, Nekros leaps at her, his scythe drawn back.

Seeing this, Raven throws two of the ensnared squad cars at Nekros. At the same time, more appendages appear and gather more debris and vehicles for throwing. Looking around, she sees only threats. No friends, no allies, no significant other. Her anger has taken complete control.

Nekros takes heed of the vehicles, but continues towards Raven uninterrupted. Just before the vehicles come into contact with him, he swings the scythe with unimaginable speed. It appears as if his weapon didn't do anything, but just when it looks like the vehicles are to touch him, they split in half, from side to side.

Continuing undeterred, Nekros dashes to the boy, who has turned his towards the action. Taking advantage of this, he grabs the boy by the back of the neck. "You have got someone that wants to meet you, boy. Be thankful I don't kill you, like I did him." He gestures towards the body to the side of the boy. He is somewhat surprised that the boy does not look up to his face. Instead, he simply look ahead, seeing the battle unfolding. "This doesn't concern you. Now, we must go."

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Tim is staring ahead, looking at the person who he saved not more than 10 minutes ago, when he hears the voice say, "This doesn't concern you. Now, we must go." Ignoring the voice, Tim continues to stare ahead. His concentration is broken, however, when the pressure on the back of his neck increases.

"I grow sick of this." Tim feels a pulling sensation at the back of his neck, trying to take him away from the battle field. Tim looks down at the body on the ground, the body of his father. I guess that it may be some time before we meet again. Forgive me. Looking back, he notices this father's nightstick. Perhaps all is not lost yet.

"Hey, ugly!" The boy notices that the pressure on the back of his neck has receded. Looking ahead, he sees the Turtles, their weapons drawn, their faces grim.

Taking this opportunity, Tim elbows the mass behind him. Noticing that the grasp on his neck is completely gone, he dives for the nightstick. Rolling, he grabs it and begins to scuttle out of the way. Looking down at the weapon of his fallen father, Tim remembers all the times that he was on the other side of it. Shaking his head, he hears Mikey call out to him.

"Get out of here! We'll hold him off." Tim looks at his face; Tim's face seemingly saying I want to stay. "Just go!" Mikey yells out. Lowering his head, Tim follow the instructions and runs.

Yet, Tim doesn't leave the battle site. Instead, he looks over at the other situation. While the Turtles are to deal with Nekros, the four remaining Titans have to try and calm their teammate, Raven, while making sure that Tek-NOS doesn't escape. Tim is standing a fair distance from both battles, and observes what is to transpire.

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I know, these cliffies suck. Bear with me. I know that I also took a long time to upload this chapter. With trying to find a job, catching up on what I missed, AND trying to do C++, my plate has been ridiculously busy.

I have noticed that no one is really making any comments on this story. Is it really that bad? Please, feel free to comment. I can take it. If it's okay, say so. If it sucks, say so. If you feel it must be changed, say so. This story is not set in stone. I will make changes, as needed, so that it can be favored in a better light.

Next Chapter: Titan Troubles

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