"The Crow: Dark Game"

Chapter 3: "Nightmare Rhapsody"

Disclaimer: DC Comics and Warner Brothers own Teen Titans. Kazuki Takahashi and Shonen Jump own Yu-Gi-Oh. James O'Barr owns The Crow. I am not any one of those entities or people, so I don't own anything.

Author's note: In this chapter, the Titans will meet the Nightmare Soldiers. Also, the title for this Crow fic is the translation of Yami Yugi's name. "Yami" is Japanese for "dark" and "Yugi" means "game" or "to play." That's where "Dark Game" came from.

"I've got the understanding of a four-year-old

I've got the peace of mind of a killer's soul

I've got the rationale of a New York cop

I've got the patience of a chopping block, yeah.

"Trip like I do (oh my god, this is the best)

Trip like I do (oh my god).

"I've got the acumen of a seasoned pro

I've got the lack of say of a billion souls

I've got the world on my back but I don't seem to care

I've got the comprehension of a world unaware, yeah.

"Trip like I do (oh my god, this is the best)

Trip like I do

Trip like I do (mm . . . I want you to trip like I do).

"Can't you, can't you trip like I do?

Can't you, can't you trip like I do?

"Laid down on my back, I can't sleep 'cause I'm falling

Eyes in my teeth, I can't see 'cause I'm eating

Head full of noise, I can't think 'cause it's crushing

Back on my feet like a freight train, I'm coming.

"Can everybody feel like I do?

Can everybody feel like I do? (oh my god)

"Can't you, can't you trip like I do?

Can't you, can't you trip like I do? (oh my god)

Can't you trip, can't you think, can't you feel like I do?

Can't you walk, can't you breathe, can't you trip like I do . . .

Like me . . ."

Filter - "(Can't You) Trip Like I Do"

The next morning, the residents of Titans Tower came down for breakfast. The only ones who didn't eat were Robin, Yami, and Skull Cowboy.

"We weren't so loud this time, were we?" Robin asked, referring to himself and Starfire and what they'd done last night.

"No, and thank God," Superboy replied. "I like being able to sleep."

Yami just sat at the table and regarded everyone. As long as he was here, he decided that he should try to get to know the Titans.

After breakfast, everyone went their separate ways to do what they usually did. Starfire went to her modeling job, Cyborg went to tune up the T-Car, Beast Boy played videogames, Raven meditated, and Superboy and Wonder Girl trained.

Robin had returned to his flat in the city to resume his life as Aidan Draper. During the day, he had continued his education. In fact, he was currently attending the local university.

In the Tower, Yami had begun his quest to get to know each of the Titans. He decided to start with Raven. To that end, he went up to the rooftop where she meditated.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos . . ."

Not wishing to disrupt her flow, Yami Yugi simply sat next to her in the lotus position and began to chant with her.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos . . ."

Raven paused and opened one eye when she heard Yami Yugi's voice. "What brings you here, Yugi?"

"I simply wished to get to know you better," Yugi replied. "I figured that if I joined you in meditation, I'd be able to do that."

"You can stay," Raven said. "Now where were we? Oh, yes."

They began to chant again.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos . . ."

After the meditation session was over, Yugi went to find Cyborg. He found him in the vehicle bay of Titans Tower, working on the T-Car.

"So is this the T-Car?" Yugi asked.

"Yeah, this is my baby," Cyborg replied with a big smile on his face. "Built her myself."

"I see," Yugi said, smiling.

"You do?" Cyborg asked.

"Yeah, I do," Yugi replied. His smile was warm and bright. "You put your heart and soul into building this car."

"And don't forget circuits," Cyborg added.

Yami chuckled. "Yes, those too. You dedicated every fiber of your being into making sure that the T-Car was perfect. Reminds me of my grandfather, in a sense."

"Your grandpa?" Cyborg asked.

"Yes," Yami confirmed. "He taught me that to succeed in anything, you must put your heart into it. Even if you fail, it doesn't matter because you still put your heart in it." He smiled wistfully.

"You really miss him, don't you?" Cyborg remarked.

"I do," Yami Yugi confirmed. "I miss him very much."

"In the meantime, you wanna help me tune up the T-Car?" Cyborg asked.

"I would be glad to," Yami Yugi replied.

Cyborg tossed him a rag. "I'll handle the mechanics. You help me make her shine."

"All right, then," Yugi agreed.

Later . . .

"Man, my baby is really glowing!" Cyborg exclaimed. "You waxed her up real good."

"Thanks," Yugi said.

"You're welcome," Cyborg replied, shaking Yugi's hand.

Yugi tracked down Beast Boy and found him playing Soul Calibur II in the living room. Beast Boy's character was Mitsurugi and he was currently playing against the computer, which had selected Link from Legend of Zelda.

"Ha!" Beast Boy shouted as he pulled out a combination that completely drained Link's remaining health. "I win again, elf-boy!"

"I hope you realized you just insulted your own species," Yugi said, chuckling.

"Yugi!" Beast Boy shouted, jumping up from his seat. "I didn't even know you were there!"

"What can I say, I have a talent for sneaking up on people," Yugi said, smirking. "Now, would you like to go up against a living player? Ok, so I'm not really living. Still . . ."

"You're on," Beast Boy said. "Just don't smear your makeup crying when you lose."

"Oh, you'll find me a far harder opponent than you anticipate," Yugi said, picking up the second controller. The character selection screen came up. Beast Boy chose Mitsurugi and Yugi chose Spawn. "Let's go."

So they fought.

"Ha!" Beast Boy shouted. "Mitsurugi's way faster than necroplasm-boy! You're so going down, Yugi!"

"Really?" Yugi asked, raising a black eyebrow.

Beast Boy gasped in surprise when Yugi pressed several buttons in quick succession, triggering a move that finished Mitsurugi.

"How did you do that?" Beast Boy asked.

"It's simple," Yugi replied. "In any game, one must use strategy to compensate for one's weaknesses and capitalize on one's strengths. Then you can be victorious regardless of your opponent's abilities."

"That was just round one?" Beast Boy said, regaining his bravado. "Bet I kick your butt in round two."

"Then let's go again," Yugi said.

When round two concluded, Yugi was the winner once again, making him the winner of the match itself.

"You're good," Beast Boy conceded.

"Thanks," Yami replied.

"Wanna play a new game?" Beast Boy asked.

"Yes, but first I'll teach you to play my kind of game," Yugi replied. "Duel Monsters."

"Duel Monsters?" Beast Boy echoed.

Yugi removed six or seven 9-card booster packs from his pockets. "Use these to build a deck."

Beast Boy opened the booster packs and looked at the cards, puzzled. "I don't get it."

"The cards with numbers at the bottom and stars at the top are monster cards," Yami replied. "The first number denotes attack strength. The second number denotes defense strength. The stars at the top denote a monster's overall strength."

"Why are some of these monster cards orange?" Beast Boy asked.

"The orange-colored monster cards are armed with magic effects," Yami replied. "Certain conditions may need to be fulfilled in order to use them, or you can just flip a card from facedown defense position to face-up attack mode."

"What's the difference between defense mode and attack mode?" Beast Boy asked.

Yami opened up a two-sided Duel Monsters field mat and placed it on the table. "In either mode, a monster can be destroyed by another with higher attack points. The difference is that if your monster is destroyed while in defense mode, you won't lose life points."

"Life points?" Beast Boy asked.

"Each player starts out with 4000 life points," Yami explained. "The way to win this game is to reduce the other player's life points to zero. When two monsters in attack mode are pitted against each other, the monster with higher attack points wins and the losing monster is sent to the graveyard."

"What's with the mat?" Beast Boy asked.

"It's where we place our cards," Yami replied. "The five card zones farthest from us are the monster zones. That's where we place our monsters. In attack mode, you place them vertically and they must be face-up. In defense mode, you place them horizontally and you have the option of placing them facedown to conceal them.

"The five card zones closest to us are where we place our spell and trap cards. Spell cards are blue-green and are generally benevolent or neutral. Some can be used to protect your monsters when your opponent's monsters attack, or make them even stronger. Trap cards are generally used to attack your opponent with magic or counter your opponent's cards. Most spell and trap cards only last for one turn, but equipment spell cards and continuous magic or trap cards stay on the field for the duration of the match. However, if the monster using an equip card is destroyed, the equip card is destroyed as well."

"That's a lot to take in," Beast Boy said. "What about the other card zones?"

"The card zone on the left of the spell/trap card zones is where we place our fusion monsters," Yami replied. "Those monsters are created by using a special spell card known as Polymerization to merge two other monsters. The card zone on the right is where we put our decks. The card zone above the fusion monster zone is for field magic cards, which can increase the strength of a specific type of monster while weakening other types in some cases. The graveyard is above the deck zone."

By this point, Beast Boy had finished assembling his deck. He placed it on his deck zone. "Let's go, dead man walking."

Yami Yugi chuckled and pulled out his own deck. "One more thing: With monster cards that have five or more stars, you need to tribute, or send one of your monsters to the graveyard to summon them. Five- or six-star monsters require only a one-monster tribute. Seven- or eight-star monsters require two monsters as tribute. Also, some spell cards can enable you to summon specific monsters, provided you sacrifice a number of monsters whose stars total the same number of stars as the monster being summoned. Finally, if your opponent has no monsters on the field, you can attack directly."

"Thanks," Beast Boy replied.

As they played, Yami Yugi observed Beast Boy's deck. He seems to use mostly beast-type and beast-warrior-type monsters. However, the monsters he uses are as varied as the animals he can change into. He chuckled silently. Grandpa always used to tell me that a duelist's cards could tell a lot about the duelist.

By the end of the duel, Yami was down to 900 life points and Beast Boy was at 700.

"You're a very good duelist, Beast Boy," Yugi said.

"Thanks," Beast Boy replied. "You're good, too, but not good enough to beat my Bazoo the Soul Eater! I activate its special effect, allowing me to increase its attack strength by 300 for each discarded monster I remove from play. And since I'm removing three monsters, its attack strength rises to 2500! Say bye-bye to your life points!"

"Not quite," Yugi replied. "I play the trap card Mirror Force, reflecting your Soul Eater's attack back at you and taking your life points instead of mine."

"Aw, man, you beat me," Beast Boy said.

"Don't be too upset," Yugi replied. "You did very good for a beginner. I've just had more experience at this game."

"Mind if we play again soon?" Beast Boy asked.

"You're on," Yami Yugi replied. "In the meantime, I'm going to find the other Titans."

So Yami Yugi tracked down Superboy and Wonder Girl. To his chagrin, he found them making out. So he hightailed it out of the room before either one could notice his presence.

"Oh, that was just funny," Skull Cowboy said.

"Did you know they were making out?" Yami Yugi asked, slightly irritated.

"Yeah," Skull Cowboy replied. "I just wanted to see the look on your face."

Yami growled. "Funny. Very funny." He stalked away, shaking his head in annoyance.

"C'mon, lighten up, Yugi!" Skull Cowboy shouted after him.

After Starfire returned from her modeling job, she found Yami. "How have you been, Yugi?"

"I've been all right," Yugi replied. "I spent some time getting to know your friends. I couldn't spend that much time around Superboy and Wonder Girl because they were . . ."

"Were they doing the 'making out'?" Starfire asked.

"Yes," Yami replied. He would have sweat-dropped, except the undead didn't actually sweat. At least, he never did.

"Do you wish to spend some time with me until Robin comes back?" Starfire asked.

"I'd like that," Yugi replied.

"Come!" Starfire exclaimed, grabbing Yugi by the arm and dragging him toward her room. "I shall teach you about the customs of my people!"

Later . . .

That was . . . interesting, Yugi thought. I liked learning about her people. Although, her sister sounds like a real . . . I'm not finishing that sentence. Anyway, it was fine until she started singing the Tamaranian folk songs. Thank God that I can't feel pain anymore, otherwise I'd be screaming in agony from my exploding eardrums.

He fingered the silver-and-green snowflake-shaped pendant that now graced his neck with the Millennium Puzzle. "Still, this Tamaranian good-luck charm makes up for it."

He went down to the gym, where he found Robin practicing martial arts on a punching bag.

"I had no idea you'd returned," Yugi said.

Robin turned to face Yami Yugi, raising his arm to backhand the punching bag without looking. "Hey, there, Yugi. How do you like the Titans?"

"They'd be good friends," Yami Yugi replied. "I see why you miss them so much."

"Yeah, I do," Robin admitted. "Especially Starfire."

Yami Yugi chuckled. "She's very interesting, and very pure of heart. Just one thing."

"What?" Robin asked.

"Don't let her sing to you," Yami advised. "You'll be thanking God that you can't feel pain anymore."

"Oh, the Tamaranian folk song?" Robin surmised. "Yeah, I know." He smiled slightly.

"You think you could go for an opponent that isn't an inanimate object?" Yami asked.

"Are you challenging me to a spar?" Robin asked.

"Yes," Yami replied, smirking.

Robin shifted into a fighting stance. "You're on."

Yami shifted into a fighting stance as well and made a beckoning motion with his outstretched hand.

Robin started out with a fast roundhouse kick. Yami blocked the kick with his forearm and knocked Robin's fist aside. Then he went on the attack, kicking Robin in the solar plexus. Robin retaliated with a low sweeping kick that knocked Yami's legs out from under him.

"You're good," he said.

"So are you," Yami replied. With a twist of his hips, he spun back up onto his feet and into a fighting stance. "Come."

Robin punched him, then followed up with a kick and an elbow jab. However, when he attempted the elbow jab, Yugi grabbed his arm and flipped him over onto his back. Robin just flipped back to an upright position and was ready to fight again when a female voice interrupted.

"Is this an 'undead-only' fight, or can any living girl join in?" Wonder Girl asked.

"The more, the merrier," Yami replied.

"How about I take you both on?" Wonder Girl suggested.

"Sounds like fun," Robin replied. "What do you think, Yugi?"

"I think I like this idea," Yugi replied.

So the fight began. Robin did a crescent kick, but Wonder Girl caught his ankle and spun him onto the floor. Yugi did a roundhouse kick to her solar plexus. Wonder Girl retaliated with an elbow jab that knocked the breath out of the tri-colored-haired boy.

"By the way," she said, "Raven's in love with you."

"She is?" Yugi asked.

Wonder Girl flew at him and assaulted him with a flurry of midair kicks. "And I thought you crow-guarded ones were supposed be empathic."

"Only if we touch them, or something that belongs to them," Yugi amended as he blocked her kicks. "It's actually a form of psychometry."

"Whatever," Wonder Girl replied as she dropped back to Earth and knocked his legs out from under him. "Are you trying to tell me that you haven't noticed how she looks at you? She's attracted to you, Yugi, and somehow I can tell you don't feel the same way."

Robin rejoined the fight with a whirling kick that knocked Wonder Girl into a wall. She removed herself from said wall and flew at him. Robin slipped under her and delivered an elbow jab. Or he attempted to. Wonder Girl grabbed his wrist and twisted him into a hold.

"Word of advice, Yugi," she said. "Tell her fast before she gets too attached and you really break her heart."

"You really care about Raven, don't you?" Yami said.

"Yeah," Wonder Girl replied.

Robin grabbed Wonder Girl's bracelet-clad wrist and spun into a throw that should have sent her flying into the wall again. Instead, she flipped back in midair and kicked both him and Yami.

"Nice moves," Robin said.

"You too," Wonder Girl replied.

Just then, Raven showed up. "Hello. If you three are done showing off your fighting styles, the other Titans feel like going dancing."

"Where?" Wonder Girl asked.

"At The Buzz," Raven replied. "The 'hottest' new club in town."

"Sounds like fun," Yami said.

As the Titans were preparing to leave, Yami gently gripped Raven's wrist. "May I talk to you in private?"

"Sure," Raven replied.

Yami looked at her and caught the expectant glimmer in her eyes. He also felt her hope. When he'd touched her, he'd caught a psychic glimpse of her feelings: hope, fear, and love. Actually, it wasn't quite on that level, but it would get there if he didn't tell her the truth.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Raven asked.

"I know you have feelings for me," Yami replied. "I'm sorry, Raven, but I can't return those feelings." He caught the hurt look in her eyes. "I do care about you, Raven, but as I would a friend or a sister. Not the way a lover would, and I can't be that for you."

For what seemed like an eternity, there was a poignant silence. However, Beast Boy broke the silence when he shouted, "Yugi! Raven! You gonna hurry or what?"

"We should get going," Raven said.

"Yes," Yami agreed, his heart heavy. In another time, another place, there could have been something between them. But this was here and now, and he loved Téa. That would never change, no matter what.

[Mikanus' office]

Six shadowed figures stood in front of Jason Mikanus.

"The six of you are the best of my Nightmare Soldiers," he said. "The cream of the crop. The crème de la crème."

"With all due respect, Mr. Mikanus, do not flatter us," one of the figures said.

"Of course, Kazan," Mikanus replied. "In a way, it's refreshing to interact with people who aren't easily impressed with flattery. With so many others in this world, all you have to do is boost their ego and they're yours forever."

"What is required of us?" another figure, petite and feminine, asked.

"You are to find the 'Crows,'" Mikanus explained. "Find them and their friends, and get rid of them."

"Yes, Mr. Mikanus," Kazan replied.

"We won't fail you," a third figure said.

The six Nightmare Soldiers departed and Mikanus sat back in his chair. "It's all coming together now, Master Thartoc."

"Make sure that it stays together," Thartoc's "voice" whispered. "We cannot have those children interfere with my resurrection."

[The Buzz]

As soon as the Titans, Robin, and Yugi entered the club, their ears were assaulted with loud techno-rock.

"Wanna dance, Superboy?" Wonder Girl asked.

"I don't have super-hearing, Wonder Girl!" Superboy shouted over the music.

"Do you wanna dance?" Wonder Girl shouted over the music.

"Yeah, I'd like to dance!" Superboy replied.

The two moved onto the dance floor and began dancing. The song happened to be a remix of Rob Zombie's "Living Dead Girl." Robin and Starfire moved onto the dance floor as well, while Beast Boy and Cyborg began trying to pick up girls. Raven and Yugi found a pair of stools to sit down on by the bar.

"Don't feel like dancing, huh?" Yugi asked.

"No, not really," Raven replied.

"Me neither," Yami Yugi agreed.

Raven let out a small giggle.

"What's so funny?" Yami Yugi asked.

"There are several girls looking at us with envy," Raven replied. She giggled again. "They think I'm your girlfriend."

Yami blushed, something you could actually see since he had resumed the glamour that concealed the ghastly cosmetic mask he wore. "Really?" Then a wicked thought came to him. "Raven, would you like to dance with me?"

"What are you up to, Yugi?" Raven asked suspiciously.

"Don't worry; it's nothing serious," Yami replied. "I just feel like making some girls boil with jealousy." He chuckled wickedly.

Catching onto his plan, Raven smiled back at him. They moved onto the dance floor and moved to the music with a sensuous grace.

"Whoa, check out Yugi and Raven," Beast Boy said.

Cyborg looked, and saw them. "Damn, she got moves."

"Yeah," Beast Boy agreed.

Suddenly, Yami found himself seeing through his crow's eyes. He saw six people enter, three male and three female. Then his vision shifted back to his own eyes and he looked at the entrance.

"Raven," he said.

"What is it, Yugi?" Raven asked. Despite knowing that he didn't return her feelings, she still enjoyed dancing with him.

"Trouble," Yami replied. Raven looked where he was looking and saw what he meant by trouble.

There was a woman with dark hair tied in a high ponytail and dressed in a black leather combat suit that laced up in front.

"Mirage," Robin said, catching sight of her.

There were five others with Mirage. One was a man in a black shirt, pants, and boots wearing an amulet with a green stone set in it. Another man was with him, with short dark brown hair with sideburns, pale blue-gray skin, and tattoos on both arms. One could see the tattoos because he was wearing a dark gray denim vest and black pants and boots. The third man wore a black duster, black-and-white combat pants, and black combat boots. He was bald and wore sunglasses, with piercings all over his face and ears.

The other two were female. One looked like a very cute blonde girl with big dark blue eyes and dressed in a short-skirted Japanese schoolgirl uniform. The only remarkable thing about her was that her skin was a deathly pale blue color. The other was a woman with purple-highlighted black hair, dressed in a black T-shirt and leather miniskirt with thigh-high boots and a necklace of skulls.

"Is a person supposed to be pierced in so many places, Robin?" Starfire asked.

"No, I don't think so," Robin replied. "But that's not what we really need to worry about."

"Greetings, Robin and Yugi," Mirage said, her voice a silky purr. "I wondered when I'd run into you again."

"Mirage," Robin snarled.

"Is this the woman you spoke of?" Starfire asked.

"Yeah," Robin replied. "She's the one who killed that neuroscientist and his family."

"You must be the Teen Titans," the amulet-wearing man said. "I am Kazan. The six of us are the Nightmare Soldiers."

"Xero," the duster-clad man introduced. He threw off his duster and sunglasses, revealing that he had no shirt on and one of his eyes and both arms were cybernetic. "Surprised? Your metal friend's not the only cyborg. I'm just more advanced."

"Kisei," the deceptively cute blue-skinned blonde introduced.

"Exodus," the blue-gray-skinned man introduced.

An energy sword was held at Superboy's throat. "Call me Trinity," the miniskirt-clad woman said.

"Be careful, Robin," Yami said. "These are the emissary's minions."

"Our employer wants the eight of you gone," Kazan said. "Actually, he wants seven of you gone; the eighth he has a purpose for. And you will not be around to interfere."

"Bring it on!" Wonder Girl challenged.

"Metal-arms is mine!" Cyborg declared.

"So be it," Xero replied.

The battle began. Robin and Raven were fighting Kazan, Beast Boy was fighting Mirage, Superboy was taking on Trinity, Wonder Girl was fighting Exodus, and Starfire and Yugi were fighting Kisei. Of course, Cyborg and Xero were going at it.

Kazan's amulet glowed and he fired a bolt of dark energy at Robin and Raven. Raven attempted to block the blast with a telekinetic shield, but the black bubble was shattered and she was thrown into a wall.

"Raven!" Robin shouted. He ran to her. "Are you all right?"

"I'll live," Raven replied, getting up.

Robin turned to Kazan, dropping the glamour that had until this point disguised him as a normal boy. Now his face was deathly white and black makeup accented his eyes and lips, slashes drawn through the eyes and an evil smile extending from the corners of his lips.

"At last you reveal what you are," Kazan said.

"And I already know what you are," Robin retorted. "Dead."

"We'll see," Kazan replied. The amulet glowed again, and he fired another bolt of dark energy. Robin leaped out of the way and crescent-kicked Kazan, who stumbled back, surprised at Robin's strength. "You're strong. But let's see how you do when it's one against seven."

Before Robin could ask what he was talking about, Kazan's amulet glowed. Kazan's form seemed to blur and stretch, and then the blur divided into seven glowing figures. Once the glow stopped, Robin could see clearly. They were all . . .

Kazan.

"What the hell?" Robin asked. "How can there be seven of you?"

"Through the power of the Azima Stone amulet I wear, fool," the seven Kazans replied, alternating as they spoke.

"Holy shit," Robin murmured.

Meanwhile, Beast Boy was fighting Mirage, shifting into various beast forms. As fast as some of his beast forms were, and as strong as some of his others were, Mirage was dodging him with ease.

He's good, she thought, but he wears his emotions on his sleeve. She chuckled silently. And I think I know what form I need to get under his skin.

Mirage's form shifted, into a small blonde girl dressed in a gray T-shirt over a long-sleeved white shirt and blue jean shorts.

"Beast Boy?" she asked, looking into his eyes with her big blue ones.

"Terra?" Beast Boy asked, back in human form.

"Don't, please," the faux Terra pleaded. "I'm sorry, Beast Boy."

"Terra, I . . ." Beast Boy started to say, but was interrupted by "Terra's" kick, which sent him flying into the stack of beverages. "Crap. Now I smell of soda and alcohol." I can't believe I fell for her, again! Ok, so it's not really her, but still . . .

"Beast Boy!" Superboy shouted, flying to him. "Are you all right?"

"Worry about yourself, Superpunk," Trinity replied, forming her energy into what looked like an Uzi and firing energy bullets at both boys.

Superboy and Beast Boy dodged. Specifically, Superboy flew out of the way and Beast Boy turned himself into a rat and scurried out of the way. Then he morphed into a cheetah and charged at Trinity at 65 mph. Upon the end of his charge, he turned into a gorilla and body-slammed her.

Trinity flipped back and blasted him, knocking him into a wall.

Wonder Girl and Exodus fought, fists and feet flying. Exodus made a punch for her head, but she ducked and gripped his arm, then tossed him. However, Exodus flipped in midair and landed on his feet.

"You're good, Wonder Girl," he said, smirking. "But I'm better." Then he vanished from sight.

"Where'd he go?" Wonder Girl asked, looking around. She got her answer when a tattooed arm wrapped around her waist and blue-gray fingers touched the center of her forehead. She struggled in his grip, but felt energy being drained from her. "What's going on?"

"I'm a vampire," Exodus replied, his voice whispering in her ear. "Get used to the concept."

"I thought vampires drank blood," Wonder Girl managed to say.

"True," Exodus conceded. "But some of us subsist on other things. Some vampires only drink blood for the life energy within. Some drain the life force directly and some feed off the heightened energy humans produce during sex. Me, I prefer magical energies."

"Let her go!" Superboy yelled, flying at Exodus, who simply removed his arm from around Wonder Girl's waist and smacked him aside. However, doing this had allowed Wonder Girl enough freedom of motion to grab his wrist and toss him.

Starfire was shooting her starbolts at Kisei, who was dodging with ease and firing her own energy bolts at the Tamaranian. However, one of Kisei's bolts missed and struck the good-luck charm around Yugi's neck. Surprisingly enough, the charm didn't shatter, but it reflected the blast at Kisei.

"My good-luck charm truly does bring good luck!" Starfire exclaimed in delight.

"Yes, it appears that it does," Yugi said. He leaped at Kisei, and the two began to fight hand-to-hand. Kisei proved that "cute and innocent" could be very deadly with her style of fighting. Specifically, she delivered a series of quick and vicious strikes with her fists and feet.

"How about a kiss for luck?" she suggested, and kissed Yugi on the lips. Yugi struggled in her embrace, feeling something being drained from him. When she finally pulled back, he was gasping for air.

"What did you do?" he asked.

"Thanks," Kisei said, smiling. "You just gave me a nice pick-me-up. Death energy is so easy to find and yet so hard to obtain. Some of those other patrons gave me good sips, but you were like a full glass of fine wine." She charged up a bolt of blue-and-black energy and fired it at Yami Yugi.

However, Starfire blocked it with her starbolt.

"You shall not lay your lips upon his again!" she shouted.

"And who's gonna stop me, you?" Kisei asked.

Cyborg and Xero were fighting it out, but Xero was dodging his plasma bolts. At one point, he blocked a bolt with one of his metal arms. Then he leaped into the air and kicked Cyborg into a wall.

"See?" Xero sneered. "I am more advanced than you."

"More advanced doesn't always mean better," Cyborg retorted, getting up.

As the Titans and Nightmare Soldiers faced off, no one noticed the slithering shadow on the wall that was moving toward Starfire. Thus, no one was able to do much when the shadow emerged from the wall and wrapped around her.

"Ahhhh!" she screamed.

"Starfire!" Robin shouted. He ran to her and managed to grab her wrists, but she was being pulled into the wall by the shadow. "Hang on, please!"

"I cannot!" Starfire replied. "Robin!"

"Starfire!" Robin shouted as she disappeared into the wall.

Kazan absorbed his doppelgangers into himself. "Like the shadow demon I summoned? I brought him out just before we entered this place. Then we distracted you, up until the point where I signaled the shadow ghoul to take your precious Starfire."

The other five Nightmare Soldiers regrouped beside Kazan. "We have what we came for. Let's go."

Then the Nightmare Soldiers vanished into the night.

"I want to fly into your sun

Need faith to make me numb

Live like a teenage Christ

I'm a saint, got a date with suicide.

"Oh Mary, Mary

To be this young is oh so scary

Mary, Mary

To be this young I'm oh so scared

I wanna live, I wanna love

But it's a long hard road, out of hell

I wanna live, I wanna love

But it's a long hard road, out of hell.

"You never said forever, could ever hurt like this

You never said forever, could ever hurt like this.

"Spin my way out of hell, there's nothing this soul to sell.

"Live fast and die fast, too

How many times to do this for you?

How many times to do this for you?

"Mary, Mary

To be this young I'm oh so scared

I wanna live, I wanna love

But it's a long hard road, out of hell

I wanna live, I wanna love

But it's a long hard road, out of hell.

"You never said forever, could ever hurt like this

You never said forever, could ever hurt like this.

"I wanna live, I wanna love

But it's a long hard road, out of hell.

"Long hard road, out of hell.

"I wanna live, I wanna love

But it's a long hard road, out of hell.

"Sell my soul for anything, anything but you

Sell my soul for anything, anything but you."

Marilyn Manson - "Long Hard Road out of Hell"

End Notes: The Nightmare Soldiers have taken Starfire, and wait until you see what they have planned for her. As always, read and review.