Yu Yu Hakusho/Teen Titans:

"Darkness Returns"

Chapter 6: "Let the Shadow Combat Begin"

Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho and Teen Titans do not belong to me. Yu Yu Hakusho belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi, Shonen Jump, and Cartoon Network. Teen Titans belongs to DC Comics, Warner Brothers, and Cartoon Network.

Author's note: At last, the event that the Titans and Spirit Detectives have trained so long and hard for has come. Along with the mysterious new fighter, they will challenge Rando's forces. Will they succeed, or will they fall?

Timeline: YYH, a few years after the series. TT, a few years into the future.

"Terra!" Changeling exclaimed. "It's you! It's really . . . you!"

The now-revealed Terra looked into the faces of her former teammates. Surprise was written on all their faces, even those of Raven and Hiei. However, there was also anger, outright hatred (in the cases of Raven and Hiei), and tortured love (in Changeling's case).

"How did you survive?" Raven asked bluntly.

"Genkai!" Raptor exclaimed. "What the hell is this?"

Genkai just looked at Raptor, brown eyes staring into masked eyes. "Do you really think I need to explain myself to you?"

"She's a pretty one, that's for sure," Chu commented.

"Apparently, this girl has a very bad history with the Titans," Touya deduced. "There are many unresolved feelings where she is concerned."

"I didn't know you were a psychic, Touya," Jin said.

"I don't need to be," Touya stated. "It's written all over their faces and in their body language."

"Former friend, what brings you into our lives again?" Starfire asked, in a voice that was, for her, unnaturally cold.

Terra said nothing.

"I found her, after your last battle with her," Genkai explained. "I used the power of the Spirit Wave to restore her, and then I brought her here. Over the past few years, I trained her, slowly cleansing her of Slade's evil influence."

"What makes you think she won't stab you in the back like she did us?" Cyborg asked, just as bluntly as Raven had asked her question.

"It all comes to a matter of faith," Genkai replied. "And I have faith in Terra."

"So did we," Changeling said in a low, sorrowful voice. "And look what happened."

"What's everybody's problem?" Rinku asked.

"She betrayed us," Raptor spat, as if that was sufficient answer. "To our worst enemy."

"I'm not surprised that you reacted this way to seeing me," Terra said, her voice soft and rueful. "Honestly, I still have a hard time not smashing any mirror that reflects my face."

"As well you should," Hiei intoned coldly.

"I don't care if you hate me," Terra said. "My only reason for being here is to help you stop Rando and Slade."

Silence followed those words, a silence filled with tension so thick that Hiei could have cut it with his katana.

"Enough," Genkai said. "We should rest now, as the next night will be a hard one and I am not sure that we will all emerge from it alive."

"There is no need to worry, sweet Genkai," Shishi said. "We will defeat Rando and his allies for certain."

"Yeah, we'll wipe the floor with them, no sweat," Chu said. Then he pulled out a bottle of beer. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go get drunk." He opened it and drank deeply as he walked away. "Ahh, that hit the spot."

Everyone retired to their rooms, or sleeping mats in the case of the Titans and Reikai Tantei. However, not everyone was able to sleep.

Changeling tossed and turned, trying his hardest to sleep, but the tormented whirlwind that was his thoughts wouldn't let him.

Terra's back, he thought. Is that good or bad? It hurts . . . seeing her again, after what she did. Is she really sorry? My heart wants to believe her, but my brain tells me different.

He pulled back his blanket and got off his sleeping mat. He walked out of the temple and to the pond, where he sat down. He picked up a stone and tossed it, watching it bounce a few times on the surface of the water before finally sinking.

"Mind if I join you?" a familiar voice asked.

Changeling turned and saw Terra standing behind him. "Hey, Terra," he said glumly.

"You're not happy to see me, are you?" Terra deduced.

"How could you tell?" Changeling asked sarcastically.

"I'll leave, if you want," Terra said, turning to walk away.

"Don't," Changeling said, reaching up to hold her hand before he was aware of what he was doing. "You can stay."

Terra was surprised. "Thanks." She sat down next to him and tossed a stone with her powers. Like the stone Changeling had tossed, it bounced a few times on the surface of the water before it sank. There was a seemingly interminable silence before Terra finally spoke.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" Changeling asked sarcastically. "Ripping my heart out and stomping on it until it was just a red mess on the sole of your boot?"

"I suppose I deserve that," Terra said sadly. "And far worse. But I'm truly sorry for how I hurt you."

"You didn't just hurt me," Changeling said. "You crushed me. I loved you; I would have done anything for you, including keeping your secret. I never told Raptor; he just figured it out on his own."

"I should have known that," Terra admitted. "I was so frightened, though. Everyone I ever tried to befriend before you guys took me in rejected me after my powers went out of control. When Raptor told me that he knew, I thought you'd be like everyone else and reject me. So I ran."

"And that's when Slade found you," Changeling deduced.

"Yeah," Terra confirmed. "He trained me, helped me control my powers. I figured I owed him. You see, Changeling, he was like a father to me and in some weird way, I loved him like one. And when you told me you weren't my friend anymore, that crushed me, too."

"How did you expect me to react, Terra?" Changeling asked. "I just found out that you'd been feeding Slade information on us. That should have killed any feelings I had for you, then." His voice grew soft. "But it didn't." His voice was so low now that it was almost inaudible. "I still love you."

"I love you, too, Changeling," Terra said. "I really mean it." She reached out and held his hand. Changeling gently squeezed her hand.

However, Changeling and Terra weren't alone. Hiei had been watching them the whole time, concealed in the branches of a convenient tree. With the speed of thought, he returned to the temple.

"So Changeling and Terra have made their peace," Raven said after Hiei had told her what he'd found.

"I sensed no ill intentions from her when I scanned her mind with the Jagan," Hiei said.

"I still don't trust her," Raven stated.

"I know, aisuru, I know," Hiei said, sitting beside her on their sleeping mat. "Besides, she wasn't aware I was reading her thoughts, so she had no time to form any shields against the Jagan."

"I. Still. Don't. Trust. Her," Raven stated, pronouncing each word as though wielding a dagger.

"You have every reason not to," Hiei said.

"But?" Raven prompted.

"We're about to fight in what may be the toughest battle of our lives," Hiei said. "So it wouldn't be a good idea to be distracted by your distrust of Terra." He kissed her softly. "Besides, we must rest, my love."

"Guess you're right," Raven conceded and lay down on the mat, Hiei lying next to her.

"On second thought, I can make it so that you won't be thinking of Terra at all," Hiei suggested, smiling wickedly.

"What do you have in mind, Hiei?" Raven asked, her tone inviting.

Hiei kissed her passionately and wrapped her left leg around his waist. As he kissed her, his hands found the catch that kept her leotard on and undid it, freeing him to peel it off her.

Meanwhile, Raptor was practicing his katas, moving with an unhurried, fluid grace.

"Raptor?" Starfire asked.

Raptor turned to face Starfire. "Kory? Aren't you supposed to be in bed?"

"And are you not supposed to be in bed, Tim?" Starfire countered.

Raptor sighed. "I walked right into that one, I guess," he said. "I can't sleep, Star."

"Why not?" Starfire asked. "Are you anxious about the Shadow Combat?"

"Yeah, you could say that," Raptor replied. "I know I can take Slade, but he said he and Rando had already formed their teams of three and I don't know who's going to be on his team. I've seen what the Toguro Brothers, Karasu, Rando, and Suzaku are capable of."

"Do not worry, Raptor," Starfire said. "We shall emerge victorious in the end."

Raptor stared at the ground for what seemed like forever, and then looked up. "It's not just that I'm worried about. There's Terra to consider, too. She says she's sorry and that she wants to help us, but I'm not sure."

"Perhaps it is what you humans call 'once burned, twice shy,' am I right?" Starfire surmised.

"That's in a romantic relationship," Raptor corrected. "But I see your point. She betrayed us once before, and I'm not sure she won't do it again."

"I feel that she does not intend us any harm this time," Starfire said. "Rather, I wish to believe that, but I am also suspicious of her."

"You're right," Raptor said. "We should be in bed."

"Then let us retire to that bed," Starfire suggested.

The next morning

Everyone ate breakfast, Chu, Cyborg, and Changeling pigging out on their servings.

"Goddamn, you're like a bunch of pigs," Rinku muttered.

"Rinku! What did I tell you about using that kind of language in front of ladies?" Chu asked in a mock chiding voice.

"That I shouldn't?" Rinku replied sarcastically.

"Yes, that's right," Chu said and resumed his eating.

"Genkai, you're the best cook I ever met," Changeling said even as he rapidly consumed his meal.

"I remembered that you preferred tofu, so I made a tofu breakfast just for you," Genkai said. "I would ask if you liked it, but your rapacious behavior has already answered my question."

"I still don't get why he eats that shit," Cyborg said.

"Hey, I've been most of the animals that you've eaten, bastard," Changeling retorted.

Hiei sighed in annoyance. "Miserable ningen fools."

"Aw, come on, fellas," Jin said cheerfully. "It's breakfast time! Save the fighting for when we hafta beat up on those nasty blokes."

"Jin's right," Touya agreed. "It's pointless to fight over something as simple as breakfast."

"I think I like this guy," Raven commented, smiling in Touya's direction. The ice ninja simply blushed slightly, just enough to turn his cheeks a faint pink color.

Jin just laughed when he saw Touya's blush. "Touya is blushing, Touya is blushing," he sang. "Touya is blushing, Touya is ---"

The subject of that little song interrupted him with, "I am no such thing, you silly sylph."

"There is no shame in the reddening of the face, Touya," Starfire said with a smile on her face.

"I. Am. Not. Blushing," Touya denied, although the further reddening of his cheeks belied him.

"Perhaps the ice ninja doesn't have such a heart of ice after all," Kurama joined in.

"Not you too, you damned fox," Touya murmured. He buried his face in his hands, probably praying to Kami-sama to strike him dead.

"Let's lay off Touya," Raptor suggested.

"Yes, this ridiculous teasing is getting rather boring," Hiei added.

"Yeah, but it was fun while it lasted," Yusuke commented. "I've been waiting to see that icy bastard's armor crack."

"Me too," Kuwabara agreed.

"That isn't very kind, Kazuma-san," Yukina said. "As cold and reserved as he is, it's still not kind to tease him."

Kuwabara sighed. "You're right, Yukina-chan," he conceded. "Sorry, Touya."

"What's there for you to be sorry about?" Touya asked, having resumed his cool demeanor. "You weren't the one who made up that ridiculous song."

After breakfast was done, Raptor opened a sleek laptop.

"What are you doing?" Terra asked.

"It's a little something Genkai and I came up with," Raptor replied. "We created a program that would select our teams for us. The way it works is that I put down all our names and then the program groups them together in threes based on who would work best with who."

"And how does the program decide that?" Suzuka asked.

"When we came up with it, we also put in all the information about our abilities and fighting styles," Raptor replied. He began typing commands into the laptop. "Here we go."

Everyone gathered around Raptor and the laptop, anxiously awaiting the results.

"There we go," he said once it was finished. "Looks like I'm with Terra and Jin." That's a good thing. Everyone deserves another chance, but I wanna watch her so I can make sure she genuinely intends to help us.

"That program knows its stuff," Blackfire said. "Looks like you and I will be teaming up, foxy boy." She winked at Kurama.

"It's not just the two of us, Blackfire," Kurama said. "Touya's there, too."

Touya said nothing, regarding everything impassively.

"It appears that Shishi, Kuwabara, and I shall be working as a team," Starfire said.

"A grand match-up indeed, my shining Star," Shishi said, taking Starfire's hand and kissing it. Starfire blushed, while Raptor glared daggers at Shishi.

"Looks like I'm stuck with you blokes," Chu said to Cyborg and Changeling, wrapping an arm around each one. "I'll just have to make the best of it, I suppose."

"Hey," Changeling protested.

"So I'll be working with Suzuka and Rinku," Yusuke said. "I'll be looking forward to what you've got."

"Uh, we're not going to fight each other, we're going to be fighting Rando's and Slade's teams," Suzuka said.

"I know," Yusuke said. "I'm just looking forward to it so we can really kick some ass!"

"Amen to that," Kuwabara agreed.

"That leaves me with you and Genkai, Raven," Hiei said. Good. This way, I can make sure that bastard Rando can't touch her. If he tries, he'll be in for an unpleasant surprise.

Just then, a familiar and hated face appeared on Raptor's laptop monitor.

"Rando," Genkai uttered coldly. "What do you want?"

"To give you the coordinates to where we'll be having our Shadow Combat," Rando replied. He smirked. "Those of you who participated in the final rounds of the Dark Tournament should know it well."

Then his face vanished, replaced by an image of the island where Team Urameshi had had its final battle with Team Toguro.

"That's where we moved for the semifinals and final round of the Dark Tournament," Kuwabara remarked.

"Of course it is, you twit," Hiei snapped.

"Hey, I was just making an observation," Kuwabara protested. "No need for you to get so tweaked over it."

"How fitting," Genkai commented.

"How so, Genkai-sensei?" Terra asked.

"This island we're seeing is where Yusuke bested Toguro," Genkai replied. "Apparently, he wishes to defeat Yusuke on that island to blot out the memory of his own defeat."

Rando's face reappeared on the screen. "There's more, but why tell you now? We'll explain once you get there. Later days." The monitor returned to its original depiction of the teams that had been selected for the Shadow Combat.

"We'll leave tonight," Raptor said. "The T-Bird can move at speeds of Mach 10, so we should get to that island in practically the blink of an eye."

"There's just one more thing to decide," Genkai said. "The leadership of our teams. Based on what I've seen of your capabilities, I've decided that the leaders should be Raptor, Kurama, Cyborg, Shishi, Yusuke, and myself."

"Hey, where'd Starfire and Blackfire go?" Changeling asked.

"Dunno," Cyborg replied. "They must have slipped out while we were all talking."

"We can wait for them," Raptor said, deftly concealing his own puzzlement over his beloved Tamaranian's absence.

"Should we train?" Rinku asked.

"Don't be ridiculous," Touya replied. "If you're not ready to fight them by now, you never will be."

"He's right," Genkai said. "We've pushed ourselves to our limits and beyond for the past month, barring that one day of leisure. The Shadow Combat will prove just how prepared we are."

At that moment, Starfire and Blackfire returned.

"Hi, Star. Hi, Blackfire," Raptor said coolly. "Where'd you . . . go?" His surprise at their new attire caused the pause in his speech.

The Tamaranian sisters were dressed in midriff-baring tops with studded armored collars and miniskirts. In addition, they wore studded armored wrist guards that ended in triangles over the backs of their hands, studded armored armbands, and thigh-high armored boots that had studs adorning their tops. Their outfits were completely identical, save in color. Starfire's outfit was purple and Blackfire's was black.

"What's with the makeover?" Changeling asked.

"Tamaranian battle attire," Blackfire replied.

"Ok," Raptor said. "We leave for the island tonight."

That night

Everyone piled into the T-Bird. As it was designed to fit sixteen people total, some had to adjust. Specifically, Starfire was sitting on Raptor's lap and Terra was sitting on Changeling's lap. Despite the fact that that had provided more sitting room, Blackfire sat on Kurama's lap. Needless to say, none of the men minded in the least.

"We ready to fly, Cyborg?" Raptor asked.

"Yeah, we're ready," Cyborg replied.

"Then let's go," Raptor ordered.

The T-Bird took off and flew to the island. Due to its hypersonic speed, there wasn't much time for stargazing, as the super-advanced fighter plane had transported them all to the island within mere minutes.

"Let's go," Raptor said, steely resolve in his voice. Starfire, Terra, and Blackfire got off their lovers' laps and exited the T-Bird with the others. Cyborg set the cloaking option on it before leaving.

Together, they all walked into the stadium and came face-to-face with their worst nightmares embodied.

Rando.

Slade.

Suzaku.

The Toguro Brothers.

Karasu.

"Greetings, beautiful fox," Karasu purred. "I am glad that you could make it tonight." He removed his mask and inhaled the air, then growled low in his throat in a jealous rage. "So you took the Tamaranian whore as your lover."

"Don't you ever call her that, you sick-minded creature," Kurama snarled, his voice cold as ice.

"I should blast you right now for that, you freak!" Blackfire yelled.

"Don't worry," Karasu purred. "You may just get the opportunity."

"Enough, Karasu," Rando ordered. "You will have your chance against her soon enough." He gestured to a machine that looked like a twin-headed fire dragon with a clear dome on its back and eight orbs inside. "See that machine? It's an automated selector. On each orb inside is the name of a team leader. The selector produces results that are completely random and all the balls are of the same size and weight to ensure fairness."

"Since when did a shape-changing assassin like you care about fairness?" Genkai asked.

"I can be a fair-minded individual when I wish to be, Genkai," Rando replied. "Anyway, two names will be selected at a time and their teams will be set up to fight. Got it? Good. Let's begin."

The automated selector juggled the eight orbs so quickly that even Hiei and Chu couldn't follow it. Finally, it revealed two names.

Raptor and Yusuke.

"I guess we're up first," Yusuke said. "Best of luck to ya, Raptor."

"Yeah, you too," Raptor replied as their respective teams got into the ring.

"Let's go!" Rinku shouted. He reached inside his pockets and removed his hands, revealing a yo-yo wrapped around each finger. "Cobra's Yo-yo!"

The strings of his yo-yos glowed with crimson youki and the yo-yos extended at Raptor, Terra, and Jin, who all took to the sky in order to avoid the attack. Raptor used his force powers to levitate, while Jin used the winds to carry him, and Terra broke a large boulder off the ring and floated on it.

The yo-yos didn't give up, though. They just twisted into the air and shot themselves at the three.

"Wind Dragon, strike now!" Suzuka shouted, and wind wrapped around his Dragon's Fang before shooting itself out at Jin as a tornado.

"You forget, Suzuka, I'm a master of wind!" Jin shouted and wrapped the Wind Dragon's energies around himself. The tornado moved so that it was now wrapped around his leg. "Tornado Kick!" He spun like a whirlwind as he dropped toward Suzuka, preparing to funnel the force of the whirlwind around his leg into his kick.

However, Suzuka was more clever than Jin had anticipated and he held up the Dragon's Fang to block, shouting, "Fire Dragon, strike now!"

The flames erupted, fanned to greater intensity by Jin's wind powers. Jin had to fly back to avoid being burned, although just being near the flames left his skin a little pinker than usual.

Meanwhile, Terra was dodging Rinku's yo-yos, but they were slicing up her boulder. Finally, she leaped off the boulder just as the yo-yos shattered it. However, that didn't prevent her from firing the pieces of the boulder at Rinku. Unfortunately for her, he was faster than she had anticipated and he dodged the rocks.

"Super Spirit Gun!" Yusuke shouted, and fired a supercharged spirit bullet at Raptor, who blocked with a force shield. Raptor then shot a force blast that sent Yusuke flying out of the ring.

Just then, an automated voice began counting down from ten.

"Ten . . . nine . . . eight . . ."

"What the hell is this?" Yusuke asked.

"Your last chance to get back in the ring," the younger Toguro replied.

"Three . . . two . . . one . . ."

Yusuke leaped back into the ring just before the voice reached zero.

"Good," Raptor said. "I'd hate to think we'd have to end this so soon."

"Block this, bird-boy!" Yusuke shouted. "Shotgun Double Barrel!"

He fired several Shotgun blasts out of both fists, and Raptor dodged as many as he could, but even he wasn't agile enough to avoid the entire attack. He cursed under his breath as the remaining blasts hit him, Jin, and Terra.

"My turn," Terra said. "Avalanche!"

Tremors ran through the ground beneath their feet, causing it to explode underneath them. Raptor and Jin flew out of the way, while Suzuka, Rinku, and Yusuke tried to avoid the quaking ground.

"Whoa, I didn't know she could do that!" Changeling exclaimed.

"When I trained her, I didn't just train her to manipulate the earth," Genkai explained, "I taught her to control its very essence and that control is manifest now."

"Avalanche Arrows!" Terra shouted, and rock arrows tore themselves out of the ground, hovering above her. She gestured outward, and the arrows flew at Suzuka, Rinku, and Yusuke.

"No problem!" Yusuke shouted. He fired his Spirit Gun at the arrows, shattering as many as he could. Suzuka used the Dragon's Fang to block, and Rinku caught some arrows with the strings of his yo-yos.

"Our individual efforts haven't worked," Raptor said to his teammates. "I say we combine our powers to take them out."

"Good idea," Terra agreed. "Besides, I wanna last long enough to take down Slade."

"Then let's do it," Jin said.

"You ready to lose yet, Raptor?" Yusuke asked. Besides, if I can beat Raptor's team, then I can fight Toguro again.

"I don't know," Raptor replied with a smirk. "Are you?"

"Bring it on, bird-boy!" Yusuke challenged.

"Consider it brought!" Raptor yelled back, his rei-ki aura surging around him.

Terra's eyes glowed gold and her hair flew up.

The winds swirled around Jin.

Yusuke's rei-ki flared around him, as did Rinku's, and lightning surged Suzuka's Dragon's Fang.

Everyone watched in suspense, anticipation, and curiosity.

Slade just smirked. I only hope Raptor's team wins this fight, so that I can be the one to defeat him.

Finally, they all attacked, both teams combining their powers into singular destructive forces. The energies collided, struggling ferociously against each other and the clash created a wave of sound and light, which made most of the fighters present scream and look away.

The light and sound died down, revealing one wounded figure standing in the ring, obscured by smoke. Once the smoke cloud parted, the figure was revealed as . . .

"Raptor!" Starfire exclaimed. "You have triumphed!"

Raptor just smiled, despite the fact that his face was bruised and his suit was torn in several places.

I knew you could do it, Raptor, Slade thought. After all, your drive to win is just as strong as mine.

"Selector, begin!" Rando shouted.

The selector began its work once more, juggling the six remaining orbs. It spat out two orbs, revealing two names.

Slade and Shishiwakamaru.

Raptor got out of the ring and embraced Starfire tightly. "Be careful out there."

"Do not worry, Raptor," Starfire assured him. "I shall win this fight."

"You may as well release her now, Raptor," Slade said as he stepped into the ring with the Toguro Brothers.

Starfire gently released herself from Raptor's embrace. Giving him a brief kiss on the lips, she flew into the ring as Shishi and Kuwabara stepped in.

"Let's begin," Shishi said.

End Notes: Ah, I'm so evil leaving it there, aren't I? Will Starfire, Shishi, and Kuwabara win and defeat Slade and Toguro Brothers? Wait until next chapter. You'll get your answer then.

Also, all I understand of Terra's betrayal of the Titans in the animated series is what I know from spoilers of "Betrayal" and "Aftershock." They've already aired in the U.K. and I hear they'll be airing this summer here in the U.S.

As for the sylph thing, in Western mythology, sylphs are female. In Eastern mythology, they're male. That's why Silphymon of Digimon 02 was male instead of female.

Finally, Starfire's outfit in the newly re-launched Teen Titans comic book series inspired the Tamaranian battle attire that Starfire and Blackfire wore. Check it out; it's good stuff.

Now for the translations:

Aisuru - love, darling, beloved

"-san" - A suffix added to a name to show respect

"-chan" - A suffix added to a name to show affection

Rei-ki - Spirit energy

That's all for now. Bye-bye.