The scene is a dark graveyard, October 30, 200X. The tombstones cast unholy shadows amongst the ground. Wilted flowers mark the past presence of mourners. The only living thing in the field of death is a bird. A crow. A simple bird, seen everyday. The bird lands on a single grave, resting upon the tombstone. It simply read:

Brandon Corvis

The midnight colored bird began pecking at the stone, as if to call something to it.

One day you are going to lose everything you have. Nothing will prepare you for that day. Not faith… Not religion… Nothing. When someone you love dies, you will know emptiness… You will know what it is to be completely and utterly alone. You will never forget and never forgive. And if you are someone who has nothing left to lose, then you are already here… And your lesson is a much more difficult one…

A hand explodes out of the ground. A man claws his way out. When he reaches the world he once left behind, he begins to cry, for the pain of death is still with him. He cries for the person who died with him, for the woman he loved. He staggered to his feet. His mind drifted. How long had he been dead for? Days? Weeks? Years? He didn't know. He didn't care. He knew what must be done. The bird flew from Brandon's grave and landed on the man's shoulder.

Yes, he knew exactly what to do. But he needed time to prepare.

It didn't matter to him. He had all the time he needed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One year later…

Jump City, California.

Shadowcobra sat in his office in Titans Tower, finishing up another days work. Suddenly, his video-com went off. "Mister Amakusa?" asked the man on the screen. He was a slightly pale man, with dark brown eyes and long black hair. "I am Eric Curtis; I'm in charge of Smart Brain's Detroit branch, Smart Brain Motors."

"Yes, Mister Curtis. What is it you require?"

"Protection," answered Curtis. Shadow quirked an eyebrow at this.

"What do you mean?" An image appeared on the screen.

It showed a man. His intestines had been literally ripped from his body. His face was contorted in a permanent scream. His arms were spread wide, like a bird's wings. He had been chained to a building, a Smart Brain building. Written above the man were these words;

"DEATH IS COMING FOR YOU."

They had been written in the man's own blood. "As you can see, someone is targeting my people. And as such, I also fear for my own life. Please sir, we are in need of help."

"I'll get back at you as soon as I can," said Shadowcobra as he hung up. He pressed a button on his keyboard. "Pluto, gather the others. There's something we need to discuss."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Z-Titans were all in the living room with Shadowcobra standing before them. He picked up the remote and turned on the screen.

"So, what's going on, Shadow?" Renia asked.

"Earlier, I received a call from Smart Brain's Detroit Branch, also known as Smart Brain Motors. It appears that they are experiencing… difficulties."

"What kind of difficulties?" asked Jinx.

"This kind…" He pressed a button on the remote and the image he had seen earlier appeared on the screen. Needless to say, the Titans were shocked by the sheer brutality of the image. Blackfire had seen a lot of bad things, in the HIVE, Jinx and her classmates had been taught to be able to stomach such things, while Terra had to go through the same thing with Slade. Pluto got used to it and Renia has seen a lot of violence on the streets. But still…

"What could have done something like that?" asked Blackfire.

Shadow then said, "That is what we're going to find out. I've already put out a call to Team Mystic. As soon as they arrive, we leave."

"To Detroit, America's Motor Capital," Pluto said. "My kind of town."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Detroit…

A man ran through a dark alley, holding a laptop computer in his arms. "Got the VAIO man! Eddie pays a hundred for VAIO… Makes me puke, these folks… Can't feed they kids but they got a damn VAIO… Now Jones got VAIO." He was nearing the end of the alley when he a tricycle rolled in front of him. "What the hell?" Before he knew it, a man was in front of him. He wore all black, covered by a long black coat and looked like a mime from hell; his face was a white as death with black lips with a line going of from them giving him an almost insane smile and rings around his eyes with vertical lines down his face. His stringy black hair went down to his shoulders. "Jesus Christ!" the man yelled as he dropped the computer.

"Do I have your attention, Mr. Jones?"

"Attention?! Man, you scared the crap outta me! Damn! You just cost me a hundred bucks, pal… I think you better cough up some cash…"

"Shelby told me you know T-Bird…"

Jones pulled out a switchblade and positioned it at the man's face. "C'mon, money, man, money… Now."

"Tom-Tom… Top Dollar… Funboy… Tin Tin…"

"That's it!" shouted Jones as he slammed the blade into the man's shoulder. "You all done!" The man simply stepped back and laughed at Jones' attempt to kill him. "Man, you gotta be dusted not to feel that…"

"Pain?" questioned the man. He grasped the handle and slowly removed the blade. "I know pain at the molecular level… It pulls at my atoms… Sings to me in an alphabet of fear…" The blade was now completely removed, blood dripping over the hilt. "I am the boiling man…" He licked the blood off the blade. "…Come to break the bones of your sins, meat puppet." He handed the blade back to Jones. "Try again?"

"I… I thinks I'll pass…"

"T-Bird and the others… where are they? Shelby didn't know, said you would."

"Shelby wouldn't roll on me, man."

"Oh, he told…" The man pulled out a pair of blood stained shears. "It took three digits but he told…"

"You lyin'…" said the terrified Jones.

"I would have brought the fingers as documentation but he had to eat them also."

"Oh man, T-Bird kill me sure!!! He kill me sure if I told!!!"

"Fingers or toes?" asked the man as he clicked the shears menacingly.

"Okay! Okay! Okay! I ain't seen T-Bird or Tin Tin in weeks but Tom-Tom's down on Gratiot and Ten. Top has a place at the Hotel Reno on Schaefer… Funboy in the county till the 27th… You gonna kill me now?"

The man looked Jones right in the eye. "Why Mr. Jones, I already count you amongst the dead." He looked up. "Look! It's a full moon…"

"That's a street light, Ghost Man…"

"It was a full moon that night, too…"

"You a loon, man…" said Jones, still terrified.

The man grabbed Jones by the sides of his head. "Tell them I'm coming, Mr. Jones." He then turned and left, leaving Jones sitting on the side of the street, mumbling. "Tell them to remember Brandon Corvis."