Beyblade Fan Fiction ❯ The Crow: Dark Dragon Rising ❯ Dragon's Vengeance ( Chapter 1 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: The Wolf Demon 
Anime/Manga: Beyblade Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action / Drama | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 04.14.2007 | Pages: 6 | Words: 5.9K | Visits: 1.6K | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Beyblade Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action / Drama | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 04.14.2007 | Pages: 6 | Words: 5.9K | Visits: 1.6K | Status: Completed
The Crow: Dark Dragon Rising By The Wolf God
Disclaimer: The Crow is owned by James O'Barr. Beyblade is owned by ABC Family.
Author's note: I've thought of this story while co-writing "The Crow: Black Fire". This AU story takes place right after the World Beyblade tournament. This dark tale won't have anything to do with the "Yu-Gi-Crow/Black Robin" universe, so don't expect the main character to interact with Yugi and Robin. To find out who's the next one to inherit the mantle of The Crow, read on!
Chapter 1:
Dragon's Vengeance
Paramedics were taking two bodybags into the morgue. Once they were inside, the bodybags were unzipped, revealing in one was the body of a young boy and in the other was the body of an old man.
"Tell me what happened, Barney," said the coroner.
"Well, David, a kid and his grandfather were found dead at their house. The kid was stabbed to death and the grandfather's throat was slashed," said Barney.
As David examined the bodies of the kid and his grandfather, he noticed the wounds on the boy were done by a sharp kitchen knife. The force of the knife could have caused some internal bleeding. Then David examined the old man, the old man's throat was slashed deeply and he had bruises on his face. After he was done examining the bodies, David and his assistant placed the bodies on stretchers and rolled them into the freezer. Of course the media would get their hottest scoops in murder cases but this murder case had the smoking hot scoop. The body of the young boy was identified as Tyson Granger, a member of the world famous champion team known as the Bladebreakers. The first one to be told of the tragedy was Tyson's old friend and rival, Kai. When Kai told his fellow Bladebreakers of the news, they were emotionally crushed especially Hilary. With his money, Kai made arrangements for a funeral for his friend and his grandfather. On the day of the funeral, the Bladebreakers and everyone who knew Tyson cried in silence but Hilary was bawling her eyes out like a baby. As the funeral neared the end, the coffins were lowered into the earth. After the funeral, the Bladebreakers scattered into the four winds.
Kai was sitting in the lunchroom at his all-boys boarding school. Life hadn't been the same since Tyson and his grandfather had died. Without Tyson, life was the way it had been before he met him: cold and empty. Also, he could feel himself slowly reverting to the coldhearted boy he had once been. Tyson had taught him how to care about something beside himself and power, and now that he was gone, Kai found himself forgetting about those lessons. Unable to take it anymore, he stood up and left the lunch room. So what if he wasn't supposed to leave until the lunch period was over? He didn't care. He hadn't cared about anything since Tyson died. Kai walked out of the school and stood next to a cherry blossom tree that grew out of its grounds. Seized once more by grief and fury, he kicked the tree.
'Damn you!' Kai screamed in his thoughts. 'Why? How could you kill him? How?' As his mind swirled with his tormented thoughts, his kicks became faster and brutal.
Finally, Kai just collasped on his knees, having exhausted himself by kicking the tree. He closed his eyes, fighting back his tears. Kai heard a caw come from the tree, he saw a big street black bird sitting on a branch. The bird stared at Kai with its sad golden yellow eyes then flew away from sight.
"Am I doing this right, Ray?" an eight-year-old boy asked.
"Relax," Ray replied. "You're doing this just right. Just keep focused on your blade and you'll be fine."
"Thanks," the boy said.
Ray smiled. "You're welcome."
Ray lived for his students. He enjoyed their innocence and he enjoyed being around them, seeing the bright smiles on their faces when they mastered a trick of beyblading. However, it wasn't enough to completely chase away the sorrow he felt from Tyson's death. His friends, the White Tigers, tried to help him through it and he'd learned how to cope, but Tyson's death still haunted him. Ray and Mariah had begun a relationship, as they were deeply in love with each other. Still, even the warmth of her embrace wasn't enough to chase away the shadows in his golden eyes.
Max was in New York, sitting on his bed staring at Draciel's blade.
"Something the matter, honey?" his mother Judy asked from the doorway to his room.
"No, Mom, there's nothing wrong," Max replied, lying through his teeth.
"Now, Max, I can tell when something's bothering you," Judy said. "So please tell me."
Max sighed in resignation, knowing that his mother would only persist until he finally cracked. "It's Tyson."
Judy walked into the room and sat down on the bed next to him. "You still miss him, don't you?"
"Yeah," Max admitted. "It wasn't fair! Tyson never did anything to hurt anyone! Why would someone want to kill him? It doesn't make sense!"
Judy hugged Max. "I know it's wasn't fair. And there's nothing I can say or do to make you feel better. I'll miss him, too."
"It's just...not right," Max said.
"I know, honey," said Judy as she ruffled his hair. "Now try to get some sleep. You have school tomorrow."
Judy got up from Max's bed and walked out of the room, stopping in the doorway. She turned back and said, "Goodnight, Maxie."
"Goodnight, Mom," replied Max then drifted off to sleep.
Kenny had sleepwalked through all his classes, as had Hilary. It happened to be something they did a lot since Tyson had died. Hilary had reflected on her departed friend and secret love. At first, he had seemed to be nothing more than an arrogant impetuous slacker who considered himself king of the world because he was the Beyblade World Champion. However, as circumstances had forced them together, her opinion on him slowly began to change. Slowly, Tyson revealed to her the qualities that truly made him who he was: bravery, determination, passion, and kindness. Without really realizing it, Tyson had become everything to her. At first, she passed it off as a simple crush, but when she found out that he had been murdered, she realized belatedly that the feelings she'd had for Tyson had been love all along.
'And now he'll never know,' she thought.
After school, Kenny walked Hilary home.
"Thinking about Tyson?" Kenny asked.
"Yeah," Hilary replied.
"I think about him, too," Kenny admitted. "It's been a year and a half, and I think sometimes he's going to come walking into the school any day now."
"Uh-huh, late as usual," Hilary added wistfully.
"You loved him, didn't you?" Kenny deduced.
"Yeah, I did," Hilary confessed. "At first, he annoyed me, but he grew on me and soon enough, I couldn't imagine life without him."
"I know," Kenny said. "I couldn't imagine life without him, either, and now that's exactly what we're all living. Life without Tyson."
Their walk continued with perfect silence until they reached Hilary's house. Hilary walked up the steps to her door as she asked, "Kenny, would you like to come in?"
"Naw, I should be heading on home," said Kenny. "My mom would be mad if I came home late."
"All right, I'll see you in school tomorrow," replied Hilary.
"Ok, see ya later," said Kenny, walking from Hilary's residence until he was out of sight.
Hilary entered her house then walked straight into her room. She dropped her school bag to the floor then lay herself down on her bed. Hilary stared up at the ceiling while thinking of Tyson again.
'Oh, Tyson. Why did you have to die like this?' Hilary mentally asked herself before she went to sleep.
The parts theives known only as King and Queen looked at the door leading out of their hideout as the other three members of their gang the Wild Cards entered.
"So how did it go for you guys?" Queen asked.
"The stupid kid hardly put up a fight," Ace replied. "I scored his attack ring in no time."
Jack casually shuffled his deck of razor-edged playing cards. "Man, I wish somebody would give us a challenge."
Ten was silent.
"What's up with her?" King asked.
"She's just depressed," Ace replied. "She beat her last opponent in one stroke and it's really bothering her."
"I'm sick of attacking random bladers," Queen said. "We're not getting anywhere, since most of them are weak-ass losers unfit to spin any blade."
"Queen's right," King agreed. "From now on, we're going to play strategically."
He held up a laptop, set it on a crate and opened it.
"In this laptop is a database of all known beybladers. We can pick out the good ones, the ones with talent, because they're the ones with the good parts. We'll go after those guys and score a shitload of great parts."
"And we can sell them on the black market," Queen added. "Of course, we'll keep the best parts for ourselves."
"And we know just who to go after," King said.
"Who?" Ten asked, getting interested.
"The Saint Shields," King replied.
"I thought they left town after the World Championships," Jack said.
"They came back," Queen corrected.
"When do we go after them?" Ace asked.
"Tonight's a good night," Queen replied.
Kai was visiting Tyson's grave. Looking upon the inscription on the gravestone, he closed his eyes and bowed his head in sadness.
"If I only could make whoever did this to you pay," Kai said softly.
Then he heard the flutter of wings, and he opened his eyes to see a black winged shape descend upon Tyson's gravestone. Kai recognized it as a crow, and not just any crow, but the same crow that had been at the boarding school.
The bird tapped its beak onto the gravestone twice then spread its gallant wings. The ebony bird gave out a loud caw that echoed throughout the cemetary. As Kai heard sounds of screaming coming from beneath the earth, he saw a hand clawing its way out of the dirt. Kai backed away as an arm attached to that hand pulled the rest of the body out of the grave. A young boy layed himself down in a fetal position next to the hole he dug. Kai's eyes widened when he recognized who the boy was.
"What the fuck? Tyson?" Kai asked breathlessly.
Kai cautiously approached the recently resurrected Tyson as he shivered like a stray animal in the cold. Tyson looked up at Kai but he didn't recognized his old friend and rival.
"Who...who are you?" Tyson asked weakly.
"Tyson, don't you remember me? It's me, Kai," replied Kai.
"Kai? I...I don't remember," Tyson said.
"Take my hand, Tyson. I'll help you remember," said Kai as he held out his hand to Tyson.
As Tyson grabbed Kai's hand, he felt a tide of memories swish through his head. Tyson released his hand from Kai's then collasped to the ground as he felt a flashback of the day he and Kai first met. In the flashback, Tyson did battle against Kai in their first beyblade match and lost then the flashback ended. While still writhing in pain, Tyson felt a second flashback. In the second flashback, Tyson and Kai had their rematch on Tyson's 13th birthday but this time, Tyson won then the flashback ended.
"Tyson, are you ok?" Kai asked.
"I...I remember," Tyson replied.
"What do you remember, Tyson?" Kai asked.
"I remembered when I first started beyblading, we battled against each other," Tyson said.
"I remember those times, we were bitter rivals back then. Come now, let's get out of this place," Kai said.
Kai and Tyson left the cemetary while the crow followed them in the air. As they wandered through the quiet streets, Tyson lost some of his burial clothes only leaving his pants and shoes on. As Kai and Tyson took a shortcut through an alley way, Tyson noticed a black short-sleeved t-shirt in a dumpster. The shirt had a picture of a sinister looking red dragon with it's serpent-like body wrapped around a flaming skull, Tyson took the t-shirt and put it on.
"It's great you got a new shirt, Tyson but we should continue the way back to your house," Kai said.
Kai and Tyson left the alley to continue their way to the Granger house/dojo. By the time they reach the residence, the crow was perched on a window near the entrance. Kai entered the house but when he turned on the light, the whole house was in ruins.
"What is this place?" Tyson asked.
"This is your home, Tyson," Kai replied. "Try to remember all the times we had together in here."
When Tyson entered the house, he had another flashback. In this flashback, Tyson was having fun with his fellow Bladebreakers, Hilary, and Kenny. Tyson would have his usual arguments with Hilary and sometimes with Kenny on how he used his blade then the flashback ended. Tyson walked around the house until he stumbled upon one room where he saw blood stains and two traced outlines of dead bodies on the floor. Tyson fell hard to the floor as he began to have another flashback, this time a bad one. In this latest flashback, two teenagers, one male and one female, walked into the house. Tyson's grandfather saw the two teenagers coming in and greeted them with his usual ebonics talk.
"Hey there, homies. Are ya here for some martial arts lessons?" Mr. Granger asked.
"Actually we're here to see Tyson," the female teen replied.
Mr. Granger suppressed his frustration. "Oh, you two are fans of my little mini-me, is that it?"
"Yeah, you can say that,"replied the male teen.
"I'll call Tyson over. Yo, Tyson! Come on down, homie! Ya got a couple o'fans down here!" Mr. Granger called out.
"Ok, Grandpa! I'm coming," Tyson replied.
Tyson ran from his room to meet his fans but when he got into the living room, Tyson realized his fans weren't really his fans at all.
"You!" Tyson exclaimed.
"You thought you'd seen the last of us, Tyson?" asked Queen.
"What the fuck are you guys doing here?" Tyson yelled.
"We've come to take your blade or at least, the parts of your blade," King replied.
"Now tell us where your Dragoon blade is and we will leave peacefully," added Queen.
"I won't tell you assholes nothing!" Tyson exclaimed.
"If that's the way you want it, then let's rip this place apart," said King.
"Let's," said Queen.
King and Queen ordered Tyson and his grandfather to get on the floor then began to search every room for Dragoon. They tossed everything on the floor but couldn't find the blade anywhere, so they decided for a more persuasive and more brutal way to find Dragoon's blade. King took a kendo stick from the rack while Queen restrained Tyson.
"Tell us where your blade is or your grandfather will pay the price," said King.
"Never! Now let him go, you bastard!" Tyson ranted.
"Suit yourself," said King as he raised the kendo stick in the air and whacked Mr. Granger.
Tyson couldn't do anything but watch King smack the crap out of Mr. Granger with the wooden stick, that is until Tyson's instinct to survive kicked in. He stepped on Queen's foot then charged after King. Tyson tackled King to the ground and wrestled for the kendo stick. Tyson grabbed the kendo stick but before he could attack King, Queen smashed Tyson in the back with another kendo stick. Tyson fell to the floor after he got struck again by the kendo stick. Queen went into the kitchen, grabbed a sharp kitchen knife and stabbed Tyson three times. Tyson layed prone on the floor but he was still barely alive. King took the knife from Queen and slashed Mr. Granger's throat. Blood sprayed from Mr. Granger's throat then his body slammed to the floor with a sick thud. King and Queen ran out of the house while Tyson watched his grandfather bleed to death.
"Grand...pa," Tyson said weakly, as darkness consumed him then the flashback ended.
Tyson sat up on the floor, he wiped a few tears from his eyes as he said through his tears, "Oh Grandpa, you didn't deserve to die like this."
When Kai came walking into the room with something in his hand, he saw Tyson crying quietly. Kai placed his hand on Tyson's right shoulder to comfort him.
"What's the matter, Tyson?" Kai asked softly.
"I was just experiencing a vivid memory, that's all," replied Tyson.
"Here, I found these in your room," said Kai as he handed Tyson a black beyblade and his old launcher.
"I don't remember having a black beyblade," said Tyson.
"Take a look at the top of your blade, Tyson," said Kai.
When Tyson looked at the picture on the top of his blade, he gasped with shock and awe. He saw a red dragon that looked a lot like his bitbeast Dragoon.
"This can't be my blade. I never did have a black beyblade and Dragoon was colored blue, not red," said Tyson then he felt another flashback.
In this flashback, Tyson and Dragoon did battle against Kane and Cyber-Dragoon. Dragoon was on the business end of his cyber-clone's attacks and just as Tyson was about to throw in the towel, Dragoon fought back. With enough strength, Tyson and Dragoon overcame Cyber-Dragoon and won the battle. In the next flashback, Tyson did battle against the leader of the Saint Shields, Ozuma and his bitbeast Flash Leopard. Flash Leopard was really man handling Dragoon thanks to his speed but in the end, Tyson and Dragoon defeated Ozuma and Flash Leopard. In the final flashback, Tyson and Zeo fought it out in the final match of the World Championship Tournament. Tyson and Dragoon did battle against the most unstoppable bitbeast ever, Cerberus. Despite Cerberus having the combined powers of Draciel and Dranzer, Dragoon took the three headed dog demon down and Tyson and Max became the winners of the tournament. Those three matches were the biggest moments of Tyson's life and beyblade career. When the flashback ended, Tyson tightened his grip on his blade.
'I don't know why Tyson came back but I'm betting his resurrection might be connected with the crow. The only way to find out is to find the Saint Sheilds, I hope they didn't leave town so soon,' Kai mentally said. Kai said out loud, "Hey, Tyson. Let's get outta here."
"Where are you taking me?" Tyson asked.
"I'm taking you to see our old friends, the Saint Shields," Kai replied.
"Saint Shields?" Tyson echoed.
Kai and Tyson and the crow left the house to find the Saint Shields. When they arrived at Saint Shields' hideout, Kai saw the bird perched on the roof of the warehouse. Kai knocked on the door as he yelled, "Hey, Ozuma! Are you there? I need to talk to you!" As the door opened, Kai expected to Ozuma but instead it was his old rival, Dunga.
"Hey, Kai. How's it hanging?" Dunga asked.
"I'm here to see Ozuma, Dunga. It's about Tyson," replied Kai.
"I didn't know Tyson had a twin brother," Dunga remarked upon seeing Tyson.
"No, dung-for-brains, it is Tyson!" Kai snapped, not the in the mood to tolerate the blond strongman.
"Hey, I'm just foolin' ya and shit," said Dunga. "Come in, I'll take ya to Ozuma."
Dunga escorted Tyson and Kai into the warehouse. Joseph and Miriam were playing a game of cards as Miriam asked, "Who's at the door, Dunga?"
"Just some old friends of ours, Miriam," Dunga replied.
Miriam and Joseph became surprised to see who their visitors were.
"Oh, my god! Do my eyes deceive me or is that Tyson in the flesh?" Miriam exclaimed with shock in her voice.
"I thought you were dead," Joseph said.
"He is," Ozuma said as he walked down the stairs.
"That's the thing," Kai said "He's dead and yet he's standing right here as if he was alive."
"Was there a crow nearby?" Ozuma asked.
"Yeah," Kai replied.
"It's just as I expected," Ozuma said. "Come with me, Tyson."
Ozuma pushed a panel on the wall then a secret passage door opened, Ozuma walked inside then Tyson, Miraim, and Kai followed. The inside of the secret room was lit by candles. Numerous of relics decorated the room and there was a crude drawing of a large crow on the white wall. Under the crude art was a table with two crooked bladed knives crossed over each other on it.
"What is this place, Ozuma?" asked Tyson.
"The legend of the crow lies within this chamber, Tyson," replied Ozuma.
"Legend of the crow?" Tyson echoed.
"Our people have many legends," Ozuma explained. "Among those legends is the legend of the crow. The crow guides the souls of the dead to the afterlife, but sometimes a horrible injustice is committed and the soul can't rest. So the crow must return that soul to this world to set things right."
"Tyson, King and Queen murdered you and your grandfather for your blade," Miriam continued. "That is the injustice that you have come back to avenge."
Tyson's mind swirled with Ozuma's and Miriam's words. Then they took root in his mind, mixing in with his memories of his and his grandfather's murders. The pain was still there, but that pain was fertile ground for the vengeful rage he soon felt arise within him.
"They'll pay!" he snarled. "I'll see them both drown in a puddle of their own blood."
"You want them to drown in their own blood?" Ozuma asked, picking up the knives and holding them out to Tyson. "Then you're going to need these."
"And these," Miriam added, holding out a black leather jacket, black jeans, and a black leather belt. "I have some boots, too."
Tyson removed his burial pants and shoes then put on the black jeans and the boots. Tyson put the black leather belt around his waist. He laced up his boots then donned the leather jacket. Miriam grabbed some body paint and placed them on the table, red paint and black paint.
"What's with the paint?" Tyson asked.
"It's for you," Miriam replied. "When going out for vengeance, one must present his enemies with the proper face. A face that will follow them beyond their deaths."
She dipped her fingers in the blood-red paint and then touched Tyson's face, spreading the paint on it. Soon enough, his whole face, except for his eyes and lips, was covered in red paint. Miriam took out a thick paintbrush and dipped it in black paint then painted Tyson's eyes and lips with it. She put the paintbrush down and picked up a much thinner brush. She dipped it into the black paint and then used it to draw a line above and below each eye. After that, she drew a curving line extending from each corner of his lips, evoking the image of an evil smile.
"Joseph, can you get my mirror for me?" Miriam asked.
"Right away, sis," Joseph replied.
Joseph ran upstairs and grabbed his sister's mirror from her room, he ran back downstairs and gave the mirror to his sister.
"Thanks, Joseph," said Miriam.
"You're welcome," Joe replied.
Miriam handed Tyson the mirror. "Here, Tyson."
Tyson took the mirror and looked at his reflected image in the shock.
"No way that can be me," he murmured to himself.
As Tyson kept looking at his red-and-black-painted-face, a feeling of cold satisfaction rose within him. His black-painted lips curled into a wicked smile.
'Of course that's not me,' he thought. 'The old Tyson no longer exists. Now, I am the dark dragon of vengeance.'
Upon seeing Tyson's evil smile, Kai and the members of the Saint Shields became spooked. Tyson placed the mirror on the table and slipped his knives in the pockets of his new black jeans. Tyson suddenly began to sense trouble, he looked into the eyes of his crow to see a group of teenagers sneaking their way around the warehouse then his vision returned to him.
"What's goin' on, Tyson?" Dunga asked.
"I saw trouble outside," Tyson replied.
"What did you see?" Kai asked.
"I saw a group of kids trying to break into this place," Tyson confirmed.
"Who are they?" asked Miriam.
"I dunno but they are with King and Queen!" Tyson spat with venom in his voice.
"The Wild Cards," Kai explained. "They're King and Queen's gang of parts hunters, started almost immediately after King and Queen killed you."
Upon hearing this, Tyson stormed out of the Saint Shields' lair. Ace crept quietly around the warehouse while the crow watched him with intent. Ace heard a caw which spooked him a bit.
"It's just a fuckin' crow," Ace said to himself.
Ace continued to sneak around the warehouse until he heard an evil laugh which really scared him to death. He saw a figure standing in the shadows with eyes red as the fiery pits of Hell.
"Who the fuck are ya?" Ace whimpered.
"I'm all your nightmares rolled into one," replied the evil figure.
"O-oh yeah, come say that to my face," said Ace in a frightened manner.
The figure stepped out of the darkness and the figure revealed himself to be a young boy dressed in black with paint on his face.
"It ain't Halloween yet. What the fuck you painted up for?" Ace asked.
"I'm gonna send you to a place where every day is Halloween," the painted up boy replied.
"You," Ace said with fear in his voice but masked his fear with his tough guy attitude. "I don't know how you came back from the grave but I'm sendin' you back, dude!"
"Go ahead and try. You're gonna die anyway," said Tyson.
"Oh, I am so gonna kill you," replied Ace as he pulled out some poker chips from his jacket.
"How are ya gonna kill me with poker chips, you dumb fuck?" Tyson asked.
"Watch and see," Ace replied, throwing the poker chips at Tyson.
The poker chips flew toward Tyson and exploded right in front of him. While Tyson was blinded from the flash of the explosive poker chips, Ace took advantage and stabbed Tyson in the eye with his dagger. Tyson screamed in pain while Ace laughed in triumph but Tyson's scream then turned into evil laughter. Tyson pulled the dagger out of his eye and dropped it to the ground as he said, "You can do better than that, Ace!"
"No fuckin' way, man!" Ace exclaimed.
"Way," Tyson hissed.
"You're not god damn human!" Ace cried out.
"You're right, I'm not human," Tyson said. "Now it's my turn to stab you."
Tyson pulled the knives out from the pockets of his jeans, he charged forth at Ace and stabbed him in the chest with the blades. Ace let out a gurgled scream as blood oozed from his mouth then afterwards he was dead. Tyson released the blades from Ace's corpse. The body plopped to the ground as Tyson stared at the knives now soaked in blood. Tyson wiped the blood from his knives and decided to leave a little message to King, Queen, and the surviving members of the Wild Cards with Ace's own blood. While sneaking around to find the entrance to the Saint Shields' hideout, the Wild Cards lost track of their comrade, Ace.
"Hey, where the fuck did Ace run off to?" Jack asked.
"I don't know but we better find him," Queen replied.
"But what about the parts?" Ten asked.
"That can wait. Right now, we gotta find Ace," Queen replied.
The Wild Cards searched around the warehouse to find Ace, they didn't find anything until they found a body slumped against the warehouse. As King walked toward the body, he realized the body slumped against the warehouse was Ace.
"Holy shit," King said quietly. King yelled out, "You guys, it's Ace! Looks like he's dead!"
"He is dead," Queen said.
"It appeared someone stabbed him with two knives," Ten said pointing at the stab wounds on Ace's chest.
"Our killer also left us a message," Jack added.
The Wild Cards turned their attention to a note written in blood above Ace's head. The message read:
"King and Queen,
Enjoy your time on Earth while you still can.
Soon, you both will feel the wrath of the Dark Dragon!"
"Shit," Ten said.
"We are so fucked," Jack added.
As the Wild Cards were reading the crude written message on the exterior wall of the warehouse, Queen noticed King's hands were already clenched into fists while he shook in anger.
"What's the matter, King?" Queen asked.
"Whoever did this is gonna pay," King said his voice ice cold. "If the killer thinks he's gonna scare us with murder, he's got another thing coming."
"Yeah," Jack said.
"We should get outta here," Queen interjected. "There's no sense in staying here while the 'Dark Dragon' is looking for us."
"What about the Saint Shields' beyblade parts?" Ten asked.
"We'll get those parts next time," Queen replied. "Right now, our lives are more important."
The parts hunters ran from the warehouse while Tyson and his crow watched them from afar. After the Wild Cards were out of sight, Tyson looked at his bloodstained hands.
'Your time in this world is nearing its end, King and Queen,' Tyson mentally said, licking the blood from his fingertips. 'I will taste your blood and its taste will be sweet.'
It wouldn't be long until the whole city would be gripped in fear by The Dark Dragon.
To be Continued...
Finally, I'm done with chapter 1. It took me awhile because of my other stories but now I'm finished. If ya're wondering how I got the names of King and Queen's henchmen, I'll tell ya, the members of the Wild Cards were named after the members of the Royal Flush Gang from both the Justice League Unlimited and Batman Beyond cartoons. Anyway, there's a lot more action comin' up in the next chapter of The Crow: Dark Dragon Rising. By the way, be sure to read The Crow: Armageddon and Samurai Moon. That's all for now, fellow wolves. I'll cya soon.
Vae Victus!
Disclaimer: The Crow is owned by James O'Barr. Beyblade is owned by ABC Family.
Author's note: I've thought of this story while co-writing "The Crow: Black Fire". This AU story takes place right after the World Beyblade tournament. This dark tale won't have anything to do with the "Yu-Gi-Crow/Black Robin" universe, so don't expect the main character to interact with Yugi and Robin. To find out who's the next one to inherit the mantle of The Crow, read on!
Chapter 1:
Dragon's Vengeance
Paramedics were taking two bodybags into the morgue. Once they were inside, the bodybags were unzipped, revealing in one was the body of a young boy and in the other was the body of an old man.
"Tell me what happened, Barney," said the coroner.
"Well, David, a kid and his grandfather were found dead at their house. The kid was stabbed to death and the grandfather's throat was slashed," said Barney.
As David examined the bodies of the kid and his grandfather, he noticed the wounds on the boy were done by a sharp kitchen knife. The force of the knife could have caused some internal bleeding. Then David examined the old man, the old man's throat was slashed deeply and he had bruises on his face. After he was done examining the bodies, David and his assistant placed the bodies on stretchers and rolled them into the freezer. Of course the media would get their hottest scoops in murder cases but this murder case had the smoking hot scoop. The body of the young boy was identified as Tyson Granger, a member of the world famous champion team known as the Bladebreakers. The first one to be told of the tragedy was Tyson's old friend and rival, Kai. When Kai told his fellow Bladebreakers of the news, they were emotionally crushed especially Hilary. With his money, Kai made arrangements for a funeral for his friend and his grandfather. On the day of the funeral, the Bladebreakers and everyone who knew Tyson cried in silence but Hilary was bawling her eyes out like a baby. As the funeral neared the end, the coffins were lowered into the earth. After the funeral, the Bladebreakers scattered into the four winds.
Kai was sitting in the lunchroom at his all-boys boarding school. Life hadn't been the same since Tyson and his grandfather had died. Without Tyson, life was the way it had been before he met him: cold and empty. Also, he could feel himself slowly reverting to the coldhearted boy he had once been. Tyson had taught him how to care about something beside himself and power, and now that he was gone, Kai found himself forgetting about those lessons. Unable to take it anymore, he stood up and left the lunch room. So what if he wasn't supposed to leave until the lunch period was over? He didn't care. He hadn't cared about anything since Tyson died. Kai walked out of the school and stood next to a cherry blossom tree that grew out of its grounds. Seized once more by grief and fury, he kicked the tree.
'Damn you!' Kai screamed in his thoughts. 'Why? How could you kill him? How?' As his mind swirled with his tormented thoughts, his kicks became faster and brutal.
Finally, Kai just collasped on his knees, having exhausted himself by kicking the tree. He closed his eyes, fighting back his tears. Kai heard a caw come from the tree, he saw a big street black bird sitting on a branch. The bird stared at Kai with its sad golden yellow eyes then flew away from sight.
"Am I doing this right, Ray?" an eight-year-old boy asked.
"Relax," Ray replied. "You're doing this just right. Just keep focused on your blade and you'll be fine."
"Thanks," the boy said.
Ray smiled. "You're welcome."
Ray lived for his students. He enjoyed their innocence and he enjoyed being around them, seeing the bright smiles on their faces when they mastered a trick of beyblading. However, it wasn't enough to completely chase away the sorrow he felt from Tyson's death. His friends, the White Tigers, tried to help him through it and he'd learned how to cope, but Tyson's death still haunted him. Ray and Mariah had begun a relationship, as they were deeply in love with each other. Still, even the warmth of her embrace wasn't enough to chase away the shadows in his golden eyes.
Max was in New York, sitting on his bed staring at Draciel's blade.
"Something the matter, honey?" his mother Judy asked from the doorway to his room.
"No, Mom, there's nothing wrong," Max replied, lying through his teeth.
"Now, Max, I can tell when something's bothering you," Judy said. "So please tell me."
Max sighed in resignation, knowing that his mother would only persist until he finally cracked. "It's Tyson."
Judy walked into the room and sat down on the bed next to him. "You still miss him, don't you?"
"Yeah," Max admitted. "It wasn't fair! Tyson never did anything to hurt anyone! Why would someone want to kill him? It doesn't make sense!"
Judy hugged Max. "I know it's wasn't fair. And there's nothing I can say or do to make you feel better. I'll miss him, too."
"It's just...not right," Max said.
"I know, honey," said Judy as she ruffled his hair. "Now try to get some sleep. You have school tomorrow."
Judy got up from Max's bed and walked out of the room, stopping in the doorway. She turned back and said, "Goodnight, Maxie."
"Goodnight, Mom," replied Max then drifted off to sleep.
Kenny had sleepwalked through all his classes, as had Hilary. It happened to be something they did a lot since Tyson had died. Hilary had reflected on her departed friend and secret love. At first, he had seemed to be nothing more than an arrogant impetuous slacker who considered himself king of the world because he was the Beyblade World Champion. However, as circumstances had forced them together, her opinion on him slowly began to change. Slowly, Tyson revealed to her the qualities that truly made him who he was: bravery, determination, passion, and kindness. Without really realizing it, Tyson had become everything to her. At first, she passed it off as a simple crush, but when she found out that he had been murdered, she realized belatedly that the feelings she'd had for Tyson had been love all along.
'And now he'll never know,' she thought.
After school, Kenny walked Hilary home.
"Thinking about Tyson?" Kenny asked.
"Yeah," Hilary replied.
"I think about him, too," Kenny admitted. "It's been a year and a half, and I think sometimes he's going to come walking into the school any day now."
"Uh-huh, late as usual," Hilary added wistfully.
"You loved him, didn't you?" Kenny deduced.
"Yeah, I did," Hilary confessed. "At first, he annoyed me, but he grew on me and soon enough, I couldn't imagine life without him."
"I know," Kenny said. "I couldn't imagine life without him, either, and now that's exactly what we're all living. Life without Tyson."
Their walk continued with perfect silence until they reached Hilary's house. Hilary walked up the steps to her door as she asked, "Kenny, would you like to come in?"
"Naw, I should be heading on home," said Kenny. "My mom would be mad if I came home late."
"All right, I'll see you in school tomorrow," replied Hilary.
"Ok, see ya later," said Kenny, walking from Hilary's residence until he was out of sight.
Hilary entered her house then walked straight into her room. She dropped her school bag to the floor then lay herself down on her bed. Hilary stared up at the ceiling while thinking of Tyson again.
'Oh, Tyson. Why did you have to die like this?' Hilary mentally asked herself before she went to sleep.
The parts theives known only as King and Queen looked at the door leading out of their hideout as the other three members of their gang the Wild Cards entered.
"So how did it go for you guys?" Queen asked.
"The stupid kid hardly put up a fight," Ace replied. "I scored his attack ring in no time."
Jack casually shuffled his deck of razor-edged playing cards. "Man, I wish somebody would give us a challenge."
Ten was silent.
"What's up with her?" King asked.
"She's just depressed," Ace replied. "She beat her last opponent in one stroke and it's really bothering her."
"I'm sick of attacking random bladers," Queen said. "We're not getting anywhere, since most of them are weak-ass losers unfit to spin any blade."
"Queen's right," King agreed. "From now on, we're going to play strategically."
He held up a laptop, set it on a crate and opened it.
"In this laptop is a database of all known beybladers. We can pick out the good ones, the ones with talent, because they're the ones with the good parts. We'll go after those guys and score a shitload of great parts."
"And we can sell them on the black market," Queen added. "Of course, we'll keep the best parts for ourselves."
"And we know just who to go after," King said.
"Who?" Ten asked, getting interested.
"The Saint Shields," King replied.
"I thought they left town after the World Championships," Jack said.
"They came back," Queen corrected.
"When do we go after them?" Ace asked.
"Tonight's a good night," Queen replied.
Kai was visiting Tyson's grave. Looking upon the inscription on the gravestone, he closed his eyes and bowed his head in sadness.
"If I only could make whoever did this to you pay," Kai said softly.
Then he heard the flutter of wings, and he opened his eyes to see a black winged shape descend upon Tyson's gravestone. Kai recognized it as a crow, and not just any crow, but the same crow that had been at the boarding school.
The bird tapped its beak onto the gravestone twice then spread its gallant wings. The ebony bird gave out a loud caw that echoed throughout the cemetary. As Kai heard sounds of screaming coming from beneath the earth, he saw a hand clawing its way out of the dirt. Kai backed away as an arm attached to that hand pulled the rest of the body out of the grave. A young boy layed himself down in a fetal position next to the hole he dug. Kai's eyes widened when he recognized who the boy was.
"What the fuck? Tyson?" Kai asked breathlessly.
Kai cautiously approached the recently resurrected Tyson as he shivered like a stray animal in the cold. Tyson looked up at Kai but he didn't recognized his old friend and rival.
"Who...who are you?" Tyson asked weakly.
"Tyson, don't you remember me? It's me, Kai," replied Kai.
"Kai? I...I don't remember," Tyson said.
"Take my hand, Tyson. I'll help you remember," said Kai as he held out his hand to Tyson.
As Tyson grabbed Kai's hand, he felt a tide of memories swish through his head. Tyson released his hand from Kai's then collasped to the ground as he felt a flashback of the day he and Kai first met. In the flashback, Tyson did battle against Kai in their first beyblade match and lost then the flashback ended. While still writhing in pain, Tyson felt a second flashback. In the second flashback, Tyson and Kai had their rematch on Tyson's 13th birthday but this time, Tyson won then the flashback ended.
"Tyson, are you ok?" Kai asked.
"I...I remember," Tyson replied.
"What do you remember, Tyson?" Kai asked.
"I remembered when I first started beyblading, we battled against each other," Tyson said.
"I remember those times, we were bitter rivals back then. Come now, let's get out of this place," Kai said.
Kai and Tyson left the cemetary while the crow followed them in the air. As they wandered through the quiet streets, Tyson lost some of his burial clothes only leaving his pants and shoes on. As Kai and Tyson took a shortcut through an alley way, Tyson noticed a black short-sleeved t-shirt in a dumpster. The shirt had a picture of a sinister looking red dragon with it's serpent-like body wrapped around a flaming skull, Tyson took the t-shirt and put it on.
"It's great you got a new shirt, Tyson but we should continue the way back to your house," Kai said.
Kai and Tyson left the alley to continue their way to the Granger house/dojo. By the time they reach the residence, the crow was perched on a window near the entrance. Kai entered the house but when he turned on the light, the whole house was in ruins.
"What is this place?" Tyson asked.
"This is your home, Tyson," Kai replied. "Try to remember all the times we had together in here."
When Tyson entered the house, he had another flashback. In this flashback, Tyson was having fun with his fellow Bladebreakers, Hilary, and Kenny. Tyson would have his usual arguments with Hilary and sometimes with Kenny on how he used his blade then the flashback ended. Tyson walked around the house until he stumbled upon one room where he saw blood stains and two traced outlines of dead bodies on the floor. Tyson fell hard to the floor as he began to have another flashback, this time a bad one. In this latest flashback, two teenagers, one male and one female, walked into the house. Tyson's grandfather saw the two teenagers coming in and greeted them with his usual ebonics talk.
"Hey there, homies. Are ya here for some martial arts lessons?" Mr. Granger asked.
"Actually we're here to see Tyson," the female teen replied.
Mr. Granger suppressed his frustration. "Oh, you two are fans of my little mini-me, is that it?"
"Yeah, you can say that,"replied the male teen.
"I'll call Tyson over. Yo, Tyson! Come on down, homie! Ya got a couple o'fans down here!" Mr. Granger called out.
"Ok, Grandpa! I'm coming," Tyson replied.
Tyson ran from his room to meet his fans but when he got into the living room, Tyson realized his fans weren't really his fans at all.
"You!" Tyson exclaimed.
"You thought you'd seen the last of us, Tyson?" asked Queen.
"What the fuck are you guys doing here?" Tyson yelled.
"We've come to take your blade or at least, the parts of your blade," King replied.
"Now tell us where your Dragoon blade is and we will leave peacefully," added Queen.
"I won't tell you assholes nothing!" Tyson exclaimed.
"If that's the way you want it, then let's rip this place apart," said King.
"Let's," said Queen.
King and Queen ordered Tyson and his grandfather to get on the floor then began to search every room for Dragoon. They tossed everything on the floor but couldn't find the blade anywhere, so they decided for a more persuasive and more brutal way to find Dragoon's blade. King took a kendo stick from the rack while Queen restrained Tyson.
"Tell us where your blade is or your grandfather will pay the price," said King.
"Never! Now let him go, you bastard!" Tyson ranted.
"Suit yourself," said King as he raised the kendo stick in the air and whacked Mr. Granger.
Tyson couldn't do anything but watch King smack the crap out of Mr. Granger with the wooden stick, that is until Tyson's instinct to survive kicked in. He stepped on Queen's foot then charged after King. Tyson tackled King to the ground and wrestled for the kendo stick. Tyson grabbed the kendo stick but before he could attack King, Queen smashed Tyson in the back with another kendo stick. Tyson fell to the floor after he got struck again by the kendo stick. Queen went into the kitchen, grabbed a sharp kitchen knife and stabbed Tyson three times. Tyson layed prone on the floor but he was still barely alive. King took the knife from Queen and slashed Mr. Granger's throat. Blood sprayed from Mr. Granger's throat then his body slammed to the floor with a sick thud. King and Queen ran out of the house while Tyson watched his grandfather bleed to death.
"Grand...pa," Tyson said weakly, as darkness consumed him then the flashback ended.
Tyson sat up on the floor, he wiped a few tears from his eyes as he said through his tears, "Oh Grandpa, you didn't deserve to die like this."
When Kai came walking into the room with something in his hand, he saw Tyson crying quietly. Kai placed his hand on Tyson's right shoulder to comfort him.
"What's the matter, Tyson?" Kai asked softly.
"I was just experiencing a vivid memory, that's all," replied Tyson.
"Here, I found these in your room," said Kai as he handed Tyson a black beyblade and his old launcher.
"I don't remember having a black beyblade," said Tyson.
"Take a look at the top of your blade, Tyson," said Kai.
When Tyson looked at the picture on the top of his blade, he gasped with shock and awe. He saw a red dragon that looked a lot like his bitbeast Dragoon.
"This can't be my blade. I never did have a black beyblade and Dragoon was colored blue, not red," said Tyson then he felt another flashback.
In this flashback, Tyson and Dragoon did battle against Kane and Cyber-Dragoon. Dragoon was on the business end of his cyber-clone's attacks and just as Tyson was about to throw in the towel, Dragoon fought back. With enough strength, Tyson and Dragoon overcame Cyber-Dragoon and won the battle. In the next flashback, Tyson did battle against the leader of the Saint Shields, Ozuma and his bitbeast Flash Leopard. Flash Leopard was really man handling Dragoon thanks to his speed but in the end, Tyson and Dragoon defeated Ozuma and Flash Leopard. In the final flashback, Tyson and Zeo fought it out in the final match of the World Championship Tournament. Tyson and Dragoon did battle against the most unstoppable bitbeast ever, Cerberus. Despite Cerberus having the combined powers of Draciel and Dranzer, Dragoon took the three headed dog demon down and Tyson and Max became the winners of the tournament. Those three matches were the biggest moments of Tyson's life and beyblade career. When the flashback ended, Tyson tightened his grip on his blade.
'I don't know why Tyson came back but I'm betting his resurrection might be connected with the crow. The only way to find out is to find the Saint Sheilds, I hope they didn't leave town so soon,' Kai mentally said. Kai said out loud, "Hey, Tyson. Let's get outta here."
"Where are you taking me?" Tyson asked.
"I'm taking you to see our old friends, the Saint Shields," Kai replied.
"Saint Shields?" Tyson echoed.
Kai and Tyson and the crow left the house to find the Saint Shields. When they arrived at Saint Shields' hideout, Kai saw the bird perched on the roof of the warehouse. Kai knocked on the door as he yelled, "Hey, Ozuma! Are you there? I need to talk to you!" As the door opened, Kai expected to Ozuma but instead it was his old rival, Dunga.
"Hey, Kai. How's it hanging?" Dunga asked.
"I'm here to see Ozuma, Dunga. It's about Tyson," replied Kai.
"I didn't know Tyson had a twin brother," Dunga remarked upon seeing Tyson.
"No, dung-for-brains, it is Tyson!" Kai snapped, not the in the mood to tolerate the blond strongman.
"Hey, I'm just foolin' ya and shit," said Dunga. "Come in, I'll take ya to Ozuma."
Dunga escorted Tyson and Kai into the warehouse. Joseph and Miriam were playing a game of cards as Miriam asked, "Who's at the door, Dunga?"
"Just some old friends of ours, Miriam," Dunga replied.
Miriam and Joseph became surprised to see who their visitors were.
"Oh, my god! Do my eyes deceive me or is that Tyson in the flesh?" Miriam exclaimed with shock in her voice.
"I thought you were dead," Joseph said.
"He is," Ozuma said as he walked down the stairs.
"That's the thing," Kai said "He's dead and yet he's standing right here as if he was alive."
"Was there a crow nearby?" Ozuma asked.
"Yeah," Kai replied.
"It's just as I expected," Ozuma said. "Come with me, Tyson."
Ozuma pushed a panel on the wall then a secret passage door opened, Ozuma walked inside then Tyson, Miraim, and Kai followed. The inside of the secret room was lit by candles. Numerous of relics decorated the room and there was a crude drawing of a large crow on the white wall. Under the crude art was a table with two crooked bladed knives crossed over each other on it.
"What is this place, Ozuma?" asked Tyson.
"The legend of the crow lies within this chamber, Tyson," replied Ozuma.
"Legend of the crow?" Tyson echoed.
"Our people have many legends," Ozuma explained. "Among those legends is the legend of the crow. The crow guides the souls of the dead to the afterlife, but sometimes a horrible injustice is committed and the soul can't rest. So the crow must return that soul to this world to set things right."
"Tyson, King and Queen murdered you and your grandfather for your blade," Miriam continued. "That is the injustice that you have come back to avenge."
Tyson's mind swirled with Ozuma's and Miriam's words. Then they took root in his mind, mixing in with his memories of his and his grandfather's murders. The pain was still there, but that pain was fertile ground for the vengeful rage he soon felt arise within him.
"They'll pay!" he snarled. "I'll see them both drown in a puddle of their own blood."
"You want them to drown in their own blood?" Ozuma asked, picking up the knives and holding them out to Tyson. "Then you're going to need these."
"And these," Miriam added, holding out a black leather jacket, black jeans, and a black leather belt. "I have some boots, too."
Tyson removed his burial pants and shoes then put on the black jeans and the boots. Tyson put the black leather belt around his waist. He laced up his boots then donned the leather jacket. Miriam grabbed some body paint and placed them on the table, red paint and black paint.
"What's with the paint?" Tyson asked.
"It's for you," Miriam replied. "When going out for vengeance, one must present his enemies with the proper face. A face that will follow them beyond their deaths."
She dipped her fingers in the blood-red paint and then touched Tyson's face, spreading the paint on it. Soon enough, his whole face, except for his eyes and lips, was covered in red paint. Miriam took out a thick paintbrush and dipped it in black paint then painted Tyson's eyes and lips with it. She put the paintbrush down and picked up a much thinner brush. She dipped it into the black paint and then used it to draw a line above and below each eye. After that, she drew a curving line extending from each corner of his lips, evoking the image of an evil smile.
"Joseph, can you get my mirror for me?" Miriam asked.
"Right away, sis," Joseph replied.
Joseph ran upstairs and grabbed his sister's mirror from her room, he ran back downstairs and gave the mirror to his sister.
"Thanks, Joseph," said Miriam.
"You're welcome," Joe replied.
Miriam handed Tyson the mirror. "Here, Tyson."
Tyson took the mirror and looked at his reflected image in the shock.
"No way that can be me," he murmured to himself.
As Tyson kept looking at his red-and-black-painted-face, a feeling of cold satisfaction rose within him. His black-painted lips curled into a wicked smile.
'Of course that's not me,' he thought. 'The old Tyson no longer exists. Now, I am the dark dragon of vengeance.'
Upon seeing Tyson's evil smile, Kai and the members of the Saint Shields became spooked. Tyson placed the mirror on the table and slipped his knives in the pockets of his new black jeans. Tyson suddenly began to sense trouble, he looked into the eyes of his crow to see a group of teenagers sneaking their way around the warehouse then his vision returned to him.
"What's goin' on, Tyson?" Dunga asked.
"I saw trouble outside," Tyson replied.
"What did you see?" Kai asked.
"I saw a group of kids trying to break into this place," Tyson confirmed.
"Who are they?" asked Miriam.
"I dunno but they are with King and Queen!" Tyson spat with venom in his voice.
"The Wild Cards," Kai explained. "They're King and Queen's gang of parts hunters, started almost immediately after King and Queen killed you."
Upon hearing this, Tyson stormed out of the Saint Shields' lair. Ace crept quietly around the warehouse while the crow watched him with intent. Ace heard a caw which spooked him a bit.
"It's just a fuckin' crow," Ace said to himself.
Ace continued to sneak around the warehouse until he heard an evil laugh which really scared him to death. He saw a figure standing in the shadows with eyes red as the fiery pits of Hell.
"Who the fuck are ya?" Ace whimpered.
"I'm all your nightmares rolled into one," replied the evil figure.
"O-oh yeah, come say that to my face," said Ace in a frightened manner.
The figure stepped out of the darkness and the figure revealed himself to be a young boy dressed in black with paint on his face.
"It ain't Halloween yet. What the fuck you painted up for?" Ace asked.
"I'm gonna send you to a place where every day is Halloween," the painted up boy replied.
"You," Ace said with fear in his voice but masked his fear with his tough guy attitude. "I don't know how you came back from the grave but I'm sendin' you back, dude!"
"Go ahead and try. You're gonna die anyway," said Tyson.
"Oh, I am so gonna kill you," replied Ace as he pulled out some poker chips from his jacket.
"How are ya gonna kill me with poker chips, you dumb fuck?" Tyson asked.
"Watch and see," Ace replied, throwing the poker chips at Tyson.
The poker chips flew toward Tyson and exploded right in front of him. While Tyson was blinded from the flash of the explosive poker chips, Ace took advantage and stabbed Tyson in the eye with his dagger. Tyson screamed in pain while Ace laughed in triumph but Tyson's scream then turned into evil laughter. Tyson pulled the dagger out of his eye and dropped it to the ground as he said, "You can do better than that, Ace!"
"No fuckin' way, man!" Ace exclaimed.
"Way," Tyson hissed.
"You're not god damn human!" Ace cried out.
"You're right, I'm not human," Tyson said. "Now it's my turn to stab you."
Tyson pulled the knives out from the pockets of his jeans, he charged forth at Ace and stabbed him in the chest with the blades. Ace let out a gurgled scream as blood oozed from his mouth then afterwards he was dead. Tyson released the blades from Ace's corpse. The body plopped to the ground as Tyson stared at the knives now soaked in blood. Tyson wiped the blood from his knives and decided to leave a little message to King, Queen, and the surviving members of the Wild Cards with Ace's own blood. While sneaking around to find the entrance to the Saint Shields' hideout, the Wild Cards lost track of their comrade, Ace.
"Hey, where the fuck did Ace run off to?" Jack asked.
"I don't know but we better find him," Queen replied.
"But what about the parts?" Ten asked.
"That can wait. Right now, we gotta find Ace," Queen replied.
The Wild Cards searched around the warehouse to find Ace, they didn't find anything until they found a body slumped against the warehouse. As King walked toward the body, he realized the body slumped against the warehouse was Ace.
"Holy shit," King said quietly. King yelled out, "You guys, it's Ace! Looks like he's dead!"
"He is dead," Queen said.
"It appeared someone stabbed him with two knives," Ten said pointing at the stab wounds on Ace's chest.
"Our killer also left us a message," Jack added.
The Wild Cards turned their attention to a note written in blood above Ace's head. The message read:
"King and Queen,
Enjoy your time on Earth while you still can.
Soon, you both will feel the wrath of the Dark Dragon!"
"Shit," Ten said.
"We are so fucked," Jack added.
As the Wild Cards were reading the crude written message on the exterior wall of the warehouse, Queen noticed King's hands were already clenched into fists while he shook in anger.
"What's the matter, King?" Queen asked.
"Whoever did this is gonna pay," King said his voice ice cold. "If the killer thinks he's gonna scare us with murder, he's got another thing coming."
"Yeah," Jack said.
"We should get outta here," Queen interjected. "There's no sense in staying here while the 'Dark Dragon' is looking for us."
"What about the Saint Shields' beyblade parts?" Ten asked.
"We'll get those parts next time," Queen replied. "Right now, our lives are more important."
The parts hunters ran from the warehouse while Tyson and his crow watched them from afar. After the Wild Cards were out of sight, Tyson looked at his bloodstained hands.
'Your time in this world is nearing its end, King and Queen,' Tyson mentally said, licking the blood from his fingertips. 'I will taste your blood and its taste will be sweet.'
It wouldn't be long until the whole city would be gripped in fear by The Dark Dragon.
To be Continued...
Finally, I'm done with chapter 1. It took me awhile because of my other stories but now I'm finished. If ya're wondering how I got the names of King and Queen's henchmen, I'll tell ya, the members of the Wild Cards were named after the members of the Royal Flush Gang from both the Justice League Unlimited and Batman Beyond cartoons. Anyway, there's a lot more action comin' up in the next chapter of The Crow: Dark Dragon Rising. By the way, be sure to read The Crow: Armageddon and Samurai Moon. That's all for now, fellow wolves. I'll cya soon.
Vae Victus!