"The Crow: Dark Game"

Chapter 4: "Knowledge of Darkness"

Disclaimer: Teen Titans, The Crow, and Yu-Gi-Oh do not belong to me. People luckier than me own them.

Author's note: I have nothing else to say, except that what befalls Starfire in this chapter will cause some of you to hate me. Also, there is a nice little hint of femslash, depending on how you look at it.

"I am so alike you,

In so many ways.

I know I'm just a copy,

That carries on the stain.

"But, we make the same mistakes.

'Cause, we're one and the same.

But, we leave behind the stain.

I cannot separate.

"All that lies in me,

All that dies in me.

How can I live without you?

All that lies in me,

All that dies in me.

How can I live without you?

"I am your mirror image,

I'm all you left behind.

You made me what I am,

Then who the hell am I?

"But, we make the same mistakes.

'Cause, we're one and the same.

But, we leave behind the stain.

I cannot separate.

"All that lies in me,

All that dies in me.

How can I live without you?

All that lies in me,

All that dies in me.

How can I live without you?

"Why, you're nor guess or forget,

I know that our lives are the same,

Maybe we've got,

Just a guessing game,

A dirty stain,

That I cannot play.

But I follow your steps,

In the same way that you just walked away,

And blocked the way through.

I . . . will . . . not . . . live!

"Do you think of me?

Do you dream of me?

I always dream about you.

"Do you think of me?

Do you dream of me?

I always dream about you.

"All that lies in me,

All that dies in me.

How can I live without you?

All that lies in me,

All that dies in me.

How can I live without you?"

Ill Nino - "How Can I Live"

Robin stood in the middle of The Buzz, numb to everything, except for one thing. Starfire was gone. Gone.

"Starfire," he whispered. Then, the pain in his heart and soul transmuted into an unholy fury. With an agonized yell, he kicked over a table.

"Robin!" Cyborg exclaimed.

"Get a hold of yourself!" Superboy ordered.

Robin collapsed on his knees, tears threatening to escape his tightly shut lids. "I failed."

"Failed? What do you mean you failed?" Wonder Girl asked.

"I failed to protect her," Robin replied. "I should have known. She needed me, and I failed her!"

"Robin," Yugi said, stalking over to him. Then he reached down, grabbed him by his neck, and pulled him up to his feet. However, he knocked him back down with a hard punch.

"What the hell was that for?!" Beast Boy asked. He started toward Yugi, when Raven extended an arm to hold him back.

"You didn't fail her, Robin," Yugi said, his voice even. "How the hell were you supposed to know that Kazan was going to pull that stunt? Do you think your powers will enable you to protect everybody all the time? Not even we can be everywhere and know everything at once."

"He's right," Raven said, the voice of wisdom as she always was. "You can't blame yourself for something you had no control over. Besides, sitting here feeling sorry for yourself isn't going to save Starfire."

"To put it bluntly, cut the bullshit and get off your ass," Yami Yugi added.

There was a seemingly eternal silence. Then it broke, and Robin rose to his feet.

"You're right," he said. "I can't sit here feeling sorry for myself. That's not the Robin I am, and certainly not the Robin who died to protect Starfire in the first place. Damn sure it's not the Robin that's going to save her."

"That's the spirit," Wonder Girl said.

"I'm going to hunt them down," Robin said, his voice tinged with cold resolve. "I'm going to hunt them down, and I'm going to make each and every one of them die painfully for what they've done."

"That extreme isn't so good, either," Superboy said.

"Yeah, you need to chill out and think this through, Robin," Cyborg agreed.

"They're right," Yami said. "You may not be able to die, but Starfire is."

"If you go in there fighting with only rage and hatred as your weapons, then you can kiss your chances at saving Starfire goodbye," Raven added. "Your recklessness will lead to her death. That isn't the Robin who'll rescue Star, either."

"You're right," Robin conceded. "The Robin you guys know, and the Robin I am, would be coming up with a plan right about now."

"So what are we waiting for?" Wonder Girl asked. "Let's return to the Tower and see what we can dig up on these Nightmare Soldiers."

[Mikanus's office]

"You have the girl?" Mikanus asked.

"Yes, we do," Kazan confirmed. "Mirage and Xero are presently guarding her. I'll take their place soon."

"That's good to hear," Mikanus said. "I like it when my employees can take care of business efficiently. What of the Crows? Have you killed them?"

"They live," Kisei replied. "Or continue their undeath."

"It doesn't matter," Mikanus said. "By the time they arrive, it'll be too late. I'll have already gotten what I need from the girl."

[Starfire's cell]

Starfire sat in a chair, her arms bound behind her back and her hands encased in gloves that would prevent her from firing her starbolts. She also wore a black visor that would prevent her from emitting her starbolts through her eyes.

The door opened, and someone entered. Then that someone closed the door behind her and locked it.

"Hello, Starfire," Mirage said.

"Mirage," Starfire replied. "Why do you keep me here? What does your employer want with me?"

"Such purity," Mirage said. "How beautiful." She walked over to Starfire and circled her, taunting the Tamaranian girl with her very presence. Finally, she reached out to stroke Starfire's hair, catching a lock between her fingers. She let the crimson lock slide between her fingers. "Such perfect hair. So soft, like silk."

Starfire shivered inwardly at Mirage's touch.

"Oh, do I frighten you?" Mirage asked. "I do, don't I? That's the fun part of being an empath: You can always tell how someone's feeling."

"You are a horrible person," Starfire declared. "You kill without conscience or mercy at the whim of your employer."

"I admit that," Mirage said, inhaling the scent of Starfire's hair. "Ahhh. Like a wild rose." She chuckled. "But you don't want me near you. You want ---" she moved in front of Starfire, shifting into Robin's image "--- him."

"Stop it!" Starfire exclaimed. "Stop looking like him! You are not Robin, so do not wear his face!"

The false Robin chuckled. It wasn't anything like she'd ever heard out of the real Robin, either the sweet boy she'd known him to be in life or the dark, tortured being he had become in death.

"But this is what you want, isn't it?" Mirage asked, still wearing Robin's form. Specifically, she now looked exactly like Robin had when he was alive, dressed in his red-and-green costume, yellow-lined black cape, and white-eyed black mask. "Your Robin, the one you knew and loved when he lived, restored to you."

"No . . ." Starfire protested. "I love Robin!"

"Yes, but you fear him now, too," Mirage replied. "The Robin you knew is dead, and that tormented boy you know now is little more than his remains, tainted by the darkness within his soul. You fear it, don't you? Even when he smiles at you, even when he comforts you with his touch." She walked closer to Starfire, so close that their lips almost touched.

"Get away from me, you horrible creature!" Starfire exclaimed, angry tears threatening to spill out from under the visor. "You are not Robin! You are wrong! I love him completely, with all my heart and soul!"

"Mirage," Kazan's voice said from outside the door. "I'm taking over, so finish your game with the girl."

"Until later . . . my love," Mirage replied. She kissed Starfire on her lips, only to pull away mere seconds later. When she did, she had shifted back to her true face. She unlocked the cell door and exited, leaving Starfire alone with her tormented thoughts.

"You're nasty," Kazan said.

"But you like me that way, don't you?" Mirage retorted sultrily.

Xero sighed in annoyance. "Save it for the bedroom, you two," he grumbled.

A ghost of a smile appeared on Kazan's face before it vanished entirely. "Both of you are dismissed. I'll be guarding the girl now."

Mirage and Xero obediently departed.

Innocence is so delightful to corrupt, Kazan thought. If only business didn't dictate that she has to be finished off so soon.

[Titans Tower]

"Where did those freaks come from?" Cyborg asked. "And what did they want with Star?"

"It's the force I warned Yugi of," Skull Cowboy replied. "From the very beginning, there's been a darker power behind all this."

"What does it want with Starfire?" Robin asked.

"Her purity," Skull Cowboy replied. "Only a being with a pure heart can release this evil into our world, and only if said being is dead."

"You mean a sacrifice," Robin deduced.

"Always the detective," Skull Cowboy remarked.

"We have to find out who these Nightmare Soldiers are," Raven said. "If we find them, we find the emissary."

"I can clear up some things right now about a number of them," Skull Cowboy said. "The schoolgirl's a death eater --- a being that can feed off the energy of the dead, dying, or undead. That's how she was able to feed off Yugi's energy. The death energy she "sipped" probably came from some terminally ill patrons looking for their last hurrah."

"And the others?" Wonder Girl asked.

"Xero's fairly obvious," Skull Cowboy replied. "Trinity and Mirage are metahumans. Exodus is an energy vampire, though as you've already experienced, the energy he feeds off is magical."

"I'm still a little woozy," Wonder Girl said.

"The Azima Stone amulet is the source of Kazan's power," Skull Cowboy finished. "Remove it, and he's helpless. However, it won't be easy."

"As long as I can get my hands on him," Robin said, his periwinkle blue eyes lurid with cold fury.

"We need a plan to fight them," Yami Yugi said. "We can't just go in there without knowing what we're doing."

"I know," Robin said, standing in front of the computer. His fingers flew across the keys, rapidly entering information.

"Hacking into Interpol's files, I see," Superboy said.

"Yeah, and look at what I found," Robin replied. The Titans, Skull Cowboy, and Yugi gathered around him. " 'Nightmare Soldiers. They are an organization of elite assassins, each one possessing a special skill or power. Supposed to have been created by Jason Mikanus.'"

"Jason Mikanus?" Cyborg echoed. "The tech tycoon?"

"You've heard of him?" Beast Boy asked.

"His company was responsible for some of the more notable advances in computer technology," Cyborg replied. His face fell. "Shit. Guy like that, and he's got assassins working for him."

"There's an entry on him, too," Robin said. He accessed said entry. "From what I can figure out from reading this, Interpol's got no hard evidence. At least, not enough to put him away for good. Look at this: Started out as a small-time gangster, rose to become leader of his gang, then strong-armed Nikolai Mikanus --- his father --- out of his own business."

"Strong-armed how?" Beast Boy asked.

"The official line is that the elder Mikanus committed suicide by jumping out of his own high-rise office window," Robin replied. "After that, the company was willed to the younger Mikanus. The records of this 'will' are there, but I think it's a fraud and Jason Mikanus killed Nikolai Mikanus."

"Why would he kill his own father?" Wonder Girl asked.

" 'Cause his father fucked up his life?" Raven hypothesized with bitter sarcasm.

"Something wrong, Raven?" Yami asked.

"Let's just say my father wouldn't have won a 'Father of the Year' award," Raven replied. Yami caught the haunted, angry look in her eyes and decided it'd be best not to say any more.

"You'd be right about that, Raven," Robin said. He silently dug further into Mikanus's twisted background.

[Starfire's cell]

Starfire sat in her cell, tormented by what Mirage had aroused within her, for she knew in her heart that the shape-shifter wasn't lying.

She supposed that her secret fear of Robin had begun when Nightwing had shown her and the other Titans the security footage of the newly resurrected Robin killing Cinderblock and Jinx. The fury and hatred in his eyes had shaken her, because it had introduced her once again to a side of Robin that she did not like. It was the side that was a murderous demon, existing only to bring death and agony to those that incurred its wrath.

When she'd seen the footage, she'd realized that in death, the demon had gotten stronger. The worst part of it was seeing it for herself when Gizmo had been robbing the tech district. While they had been helpless, he had intended to do horrible things to her. However, Robin had stopped him.

No, not her Robin. Her Robin was sweet, kind, and gentle. Focused and determined in battle, but kind and gentle the other times. The Robin that had saved her had been the demon. The demon had viciously beaten and murdered Gizmo.

But her Robin still lived. Deep within the demon, he still lived and he had managed to break out of its hold to reach her, to be with her again. Still, deep within her soul, she feared the demon.

Just then, the cell door opened and a person stepped through, interrupting her musings.

"Hello, Starfire," a smooth and rich male voice said.

"Who are you?" Starfire asked. "Are you the horrible being that hired those Nightmare Soldiers to attack my friends and kidnap me?"

"Yes, I am," the man replied. "My name is Jason Mikanus."

"Why are you doing this?" Starfire asked. "What can you gain from holding me hostage?"

"I suppose we need to go back to the beginning for you to understand, Starfire," Mikanus replied. "I wasn't always this wealthy. Growing up, I was just gutter trash, the son of a teenage junkie prostitute. I had nothing, not even my mother's love; she was too busy getting high and selling her body for the money she needed to get high to pay me much notice. When I was ten, they finally took me away from her. I bounced from foster home to foster home."

He scoffed in derision. "Foster kids are like dogs, you realize; they're only wanted when they're young. That way they can really raise them as their own."

"I am sorry for your suffering," Starfire said.

"Oh, don't be sorry for me," Mikanus said. "I managed to improve my lot in life. I started out by mugging any sap that happened to pass me by, but then the leader of this gang called the Blockbusters recruited me, since he was so impressed by how ruthless I was. He promoted me to second-in-command, but that wasn't enough for me. I needed more power if I was to get anywhere, and I wasn't going to get anywhere if I was still taking orders from mere mortals.

"So I found a book on the black arts, and I found a ritual for demon summoning. With this kind of power, I could really turn my life around. So I did. I summoned Master Thartoc. The summoning wasn't complete, as he was sealed away in his hell-dimension by a band of priestesses 3,000 years ago, but it provided me with a link to him. He couldn't act directly, but he could influence things."

"So in exchange for all that you have now, you sold your soul to this demon Thartoc!" Starfire exclaimed. "You are a krahmik vlarnis! You should feel nothing but shame! You are right! I should not be sorry for you!"

"There's more to the story," Mikanus said. "With Master Thartoc's help, I took control of the Blockbusters and once I found out about my heritage, I took control of my father's empire. You see, my father was Nikolai Mikanus, the original owner of this company that I now possess. But he had some things going on behind the scenes that would have horrified the public were they to become aware of them. The miserable bastard knocked up my mother and left me with her, treating us as though we didn't exist so he could go on with his life."

"So that is why you did it," Starfire said, "for simple revenge."

"Yes, Starfire, revenge," Mikanus confirmed. "My father left me to rot for eighteen years of my life. So why shouldn't I have taken everything he possessed, everything he denied me?"

"What do you want with me?" Starfire asked.

"Your purity," Mikanus replied. "Only someone with a pure soul can release Master Thartoc into our world. However, that pure soul must be released from its fleshly bindings."

"You wish to sacrifice me to your devil master," Starfire deduced.

"Yes, I do," Mikanus confirmed. "The ritual will begin soon. Enjoy your last minutes on Earth." Then he departed, leaving Starfire alone once again.

[Titans Tower]

"So many good things could not have happened to one such as Mikanus so quickly," Skull Cowboy said.

"You're right," Yami said. "He obviously had help, and not of the human variety --- at the time, he had nothing to bribe anyone with."

"But he had something that is valuable currency to a demon," Skull Cowboy added. "A soul."

"You're saying that Mikanus sold his soul to the Devil?" Superboy asked.

"Not the Devil, per se, but a devil," Skull Cowboy replied. "He is the emissary to the evil force that threatens our world."

"Who is this force?" Wonder Girl asked.

"His name is Thartoc," Skull Cowboy explained, "an arch-demon of terrible power. He was the terror of heaven and the mortal plane, and all feared him. A cult called Skrios worshipped him and dreamed of invoking his power so that he could emerge into the mortal plane on a more permanent basis. See, Thartoc could only do brief manifestations and during those manifestations, his power was halved because he was caught between this world and the demon plane.

"There was a band of priestesses called Taelos and they fought Skrios. One night, Skrios managed to complete the ritual to bring Thartoc into the world, just as the Taelos priestesses arrived in their temple. They fought Thartoc with everything they had, but Thartoc overwhelmed them all --- except for one. Her name was Haniah, and with the last of her strength, she bound Thartoc, trapping him in his own demon world."

"I don't even wanna think about what could happen if Thartoc came here," Beast Boy said.

"What happened to Haniah?" Raven asked.

"She used her life force to power the spell that cast Thartoc out of this realm, so she died," Skull Cowboy replied. "However, part of her spirit's power was infused in the Millennium Puzzle."

Yami looked at the golden pyramid pendant around his neck. "You mean a part of Haniah resides within this Puzzle?"

"Yes," Skull Cowboy confirmed. "All of this happened 3,000 years ago in Ancient Egypt, and it is tied to the legend of the Millennium Puzzle. According to that legend, its powers can only be unlocked upon its completion and even then, those powers can only be wielded by 'the never-resting soul.'"

" 'Never-resting soul'?" Yami echoed.

"You got it, Yugi," Skull Cowboy replied. "A departed soul returned to this plane by otherworldly forces can wield the Millennium Puzzle's shadow powers, for those powers are born from darkness and death."

"Enough with the history lesson," Robin said. "We have to rescue Star, and fast."

"That we must," Skull Cowboy agreed. "The time for the sacrifice is rapidly approaching. The stars and planets will be in perfect alignment soon."

Yugi reached out and picked up a black trench coat, swiftly slipping it on. Then he took two Desert Eagle guns and placed them in the inner pockets of the long coat.

"Nice guns," Beast Boy commented.

"May I talk to you alone for a minute, Robin?" he asked.

"All right," Robin replied.

Yugi led Robin into the hallway and once they were out of earshot, he began to speak.

"The Nightmare Soldiers are not to be taken lightly," he said. "They are elite assassins, and the ones we went against were the best out of all of them."

"They won't stop me," Robin said. "Nothing will. I didn't let death keep me away from Starfire, and I won't let them take her from me."

"I understand you love Starfire and you want to avenge her capture, but do not let your anger cloud your judgment," Yugi advised. "If you give over to your bloodlust, then consider Starfire lost to you forever. You'll get careless, and in your carelessness, you will leave yourself and Starfire fatally vulnerable. Do you want that?"

"No," Robin replied. "I don't."

"Then you must fight with your head," Yugi advised. "And not just with your head; you must also fight with your heart." He reached up and removed the Tamaranian good-luck charm from around his neck. "I want you to have this." He placed the charm around Robin's neck. "I figured you would have greater use for this than me."

"Thank you, Yugi," Robin said. He clasped the charm in his hand, and received a sudden flash.

[Flash]

Starfire was in a cell, a visor over her eyes to keep her from emitting starbolts from them and her hands bound so tightly behind her back that she couldn't free herself or emit her starbolts from them.

[End Flash]

"I know where Starfire is," Robin said. He walked back into the living room to join the Titans.

"What is it, Robin?" Cyborg asked.

"I know where Starfire is," Robin replied. "She's being held in a cell in a secret wing of Mikanus Industries."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Superboy asked. "Let's go!"

The Titans, Yami Yugi, and Robin went to the vehicle bay. Inside, there was the T-Sub, the T-Car, and two sleek black motorcycles. One had Superboy's emblem and the other had a stylized R-emblem.

"I figured I'd get a second one made just for you," Superboy said to Robin. "Of course, it was no mean feat repairing my cycle after you trashed it chasing down Slade."

"Thanks," Robin replied, getting on the R-Cycle. Yami Yugi got on behind him and Superboy got on the S-Cycle. Cyborg took the wheel of the T-Car, while Raven sat next to him and Beast Boy and Wonder Girl sat in the backseat.

The three vehicles sped out of the bay, their drivers intent on their twofold mission.

Rescue Starfire and stop Thartoc's resurrection.

"Hey you, big star, tell me when it's over.

"Hey you, big mood, guide me to shelter

'Cause I'm through when the two hits the six and it's summer.

"Cloud

Come (shove it, shove it, shove it)

Shove (shove it, shove it, shove it)

The sun (shove it, shove it, shove it)

Aside (shove it aside).

"I think God is moving His tongue

And there are no crowds in the streets

And no sun in my own summer.

"Cloud

Come (shove it, shove it, shove it)

Shove (shove it, shove it, shove it)

The sun (shove it, shove it, shove it)

Aside (shove it aside).

"Come (shove it, shove it, shove it)

Shove (shove it, shove it, shove it)

The sun (shove it, shove it, shove it)

Aside (shove it aside).

"I think God is moving His tongue

And there are no crowds in the streets

And no sun in my own summer.

"Come (shove it, shove it, shove it)

Shove (shove it, shove it, shove it)

The sun (shove it, shove it, shove it)

Aside (shove it aside)."

Deftones - "My Own Summer (Shove It)

End Notes: And there you have it. The Tamaranian insult Starfire used for Mikanus was made up by me. Short version: It's a reference to a Tamaranian legend similar to the legend of Faust. If you don't know, Faust was a magician in Germanic legend that sold his soul to the devil Mephistopheles for worldly power and knowledge.

The Titans, Yami Yugi, and Robin are ready for a rematch with the Nightmare Soldiers and this time --- it's winner take all.