Fan Fiction ❯ Rearing Your Shadow ❯ The Murder in the Storm- Part 4: The Final Stretch ( Chapter 20 )

Chapter 20

The Murder in the Storm

Part 4: The Final Stretch

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Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, or anyone else who appears in the television show. Everyone else is mine, so don't steal them.

 

Note: I thank my friend Ashraf for the title he gave me.

 

~GxJxR

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Shade stands up, now starting to fall apart, the same moment Crow does. All of his body is doing what the impaled part was, as particles chunk off endlessly. Shade and Crow stare at each other; now in the forms they met each other in just two hours and fifty-five minutes ago. They stand on the parallel sides of the tower. Every wall between them is merely rubble. Shade's red abyss eyes cut through the shadow of the tower like knives, as Crow stares back. His eyes are abysses of gray, and equal magnitude. They stare at each other in fear, pure hatred, and the feelings of betrayal.

 

“This is it…” Crow mutters.

 

“… The final stretch of this fight…” Shade continues.

 

“And only one will die here…” They both say at the same time, “And it won't be me.”

 

They both burst forward, their weapons in hand. They clash, and sparks shoot in all directions. They both push forward, and they glare into the eyes of the other.

 

In Shade's eyes, Crow sees the bowels of hell; forever burning, and a vile evil lingers inside. He sees a man who had slain a million innocents, and killed his friends. He saw a man he could never offer forgiveness.

 

In Crow's eyes, Shade sees light; Pure, bright, and virtuous. It makes him sick. The same virtuous light he saw in the eyes of the men who killed Tamuril. The false feeling of accomplishment that the all had for killing an innocent woman, just because she loved a man who was hated. He feels that if Crow were to die with that look in his eyes, he would once again get revenge on humanity.

 

And if he died… Well, then he would destroy humanity.

 

“You fucker!” Crow screams, slamming into him, and knocking him back.

 

Shade falls. He is weak from before. He had taken a lot of serious blows that could have even killed Trigon in an instant. He stumbles back to his feet, and draws the Shade blade.

 

“You are pure fucking evil!” Crow screams, as eh slams the Scythe into him.

 

“True…” Shade says, and he looks up. Suddenly, the dark matter begins to seep up the Scythe. “And I forgot that I can just absorb you and just get stronger…”

 

Crow drops his weapon, and it disappears. Shade stands up once again. “And I'd gain your abilities, and every single one I didn't have…” Suddenly, he disappears, and two of him appears.

 

“How…” Crow asks, fear in his eyes.

 

“Beast boy. I merely turned into an amoeba, and split. Then my forms returned to normal size.” One Shade says.

 

“And now, we can double Team…” the other says.

 

Crow smirks. “Two can play at that game…” Suddenly, he screams, and splits. He stands beside The Murder. The two attack the Shade copies, and strike with a fury.

 

“Uh-uh-uh…” One taunts. Suddenly, its dark matter disappears, and it reveals a demonic looking Beast Boy. “You don't want to hurt me, do you? Buddy?”

 

The Murder smashes its head in, and it screams, merging back with Shade. Suddenly The Murder disappears.

 

“I'll only use that if you duplicate… It takes a lot out of me…” He says, as he pummels Shade.

 

The two of them fisticuff throughout the tower. They seem to do nothing to the other except for tire them out. Suddenly the stop, exhausted in the middle of one of the halls.

 

“You monster…” Crow insults, he can barely move, and sweat falls down his face.

 

“Human bastard…” Shade insults back, in the same condition.

 

The two of them fall to their knees, unable to fight. Shade then reverts back to his form that had no tentacles.

 

“Azarath,” Crow gasps, “Metreon… Zinthi…” Suddenly, gray energy surrounds Shade's body. Crow sends him flying into one wall. “All I need to do is beak the eye…” He says, as he draws his Scythe, and holds it like a baseball bat. “And then he's dead…”

 

Crow notices that they are on the opposite side of the hall from where Raven is, and the rest of the building is utterly destroyed. “Two more minutes, Raven…” He pants. There is one minute until sunrise, and he swings at Shade's chest.

 

“GAME OVER!” He screams, as the scythe cuts through the air, hurtling toward Shade's chest.

 

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Raven sits in the main room, on her knees. “Two more minutes.”

 

This is the only room left standing. The door is closed, and she is crying.

 

She heard so many sounds. Crashes, screams; it was driving her crazy. She was afraid to watch telepathically. She hated to see Crow as The Murder.

 

But she had nothing to fear. No one could possibly kill her. There is almost one minute left, and sunrise is so close. The sky is orange on the horizon, and she can see it seeping closer. She shuts the window. Her eyes hurt, because she had been running in darkness all night.

 

She hears footsteps. They sounded hurt, and she could hear blood dropping. Her back was turned, and she sighed in relief. The presence, she could feel, was really fatigued.

 

It had to be him. Shade wouldn't present himself in such a sloppy manner. She smiled. “Crow… Is it over…”

 

She merely heard panting. She turned, and merely saw Darke. He was bleeding, battered and his leg was fucked up.

 

“CROW!” She screamed. Everything was silent.

 

Darke merely catches his breath. He returns into his Shade form. She notices his hand is out of the room. He pulls it in, and tosses something her way.

 

She looks down to see the severed head of Crow. His hair is torn, and he's covered in cuts.

 

“YOU BASTARD!”

 

“Only a minute left…” He says, drawing the Shade Blade, “I need to make this quick…”

 

He lunges forward, “YOUR ZINTHOS DOESN'T WORK AGAINST ME!!!”

 

“AZARATH METREON ZINTHI!!!” Raven screams, and Gray energy surrounds Shade's body.

 

“WHAT?! BUT YOU CAN'T USE THAT SPELL!!!”

 

“I can, and I did…” Raven says, darkly. “And now, you're dead…” She says, as an alarm goes off.

 

“NO!” Shade screams in fear, as she pulls a chord and the curtain opens.

 

She closes her eyes, as sunlight pours into the room. Shade screams in a high-pitched screech, as he begins to smoke, and his skin bubbles.

 

Raven turns, as a burst of light fills the room, and half of the tower is obliterated. She turns, as she sees the open part of the tower.

 

The tower is in the shape of an upside down “L” and half is completely destroyed. She turns around, and falls to her knees, crying.

 

“I lived… They'll all come back now… He promised… and they all will return to life…”

 

She closes her eyes, and thinks of the bliss of having her friends back. She is lost in the moment, and the silence, completely happy, with tears of joy running down her face. However, she never re-opens her eyes, as the feeling of bliss is too great for her to realize what else is going on around her. She was so caught up in joy that she didn't notice the sword stabbing in her back; or of Shade holding the sword in her back completely unscathed.

 

“Foolish kid. I don't die…” shade pulls the sword out of her back and admires the crimson color.

 

“Game Over”