The Teen Titans were in the living room of the tower watching Raven who sat cross-legged in a meditative position floating just above the air, the dark blue Chaos Emerald hovering around her with a faint pulsating glow. The emerald radiated soft light. The atmosphere was quiet and the other Teen Titans watched her with a mix of confusion and concern.
"Uhm what is Raven doing, shouldn't we be focusing on finding this Shadow guy instead of watching Raven meditate?" Beast Boy asked as he shifted nervously from one foot to the other.
"I requested Raven to try and figure out the location of the other Chaos Emerald by using her own as a sort of beacon. If Shadow has a similar ability with the one, he possesses. That could give us an advantage. Especially since Shadow won't expect us to know where the emeralds are." Robin said and Beast Boy nodded.
"Are you sure we shouldn't ask for the leagues help?" Starfire asked, still not fully convinced on dealing with a guy that showed the ability to incapacitate all of them with ease. She knew with time they would be able to beat him but still a worry in the back of her head.
As Raven continued to meditate, her forehead creased in concentration. "I can sense the emeralds," she murmured, her voice a low whisper. "It's chaotic, but also… alive. Like a heart beat slow and steady."
"Raven, are you alright?" Starfire asked, a bit worried for her teammate as she gazed at the glowing gem.
Raven muttered something, her eyes fluttering open as she felt a connection to the emerald. It was temporary but she could sense the Emeralds. "This energy is so vast and ancient, tied deeply to Shadow."
"Whoa, that sounds intense but what exactly does that mean?" Kid Flash asked, rubbing the back of his head. Raven took a deep breath as she closed her eyes again.
"The Emerald's are intertwined with his very being. It's as if he was created with a natural connection with the Emeralds." Raven said as the Emerald seemed to glow brightly.
"Four of the Emeralds are in close proximity to one another. I can't feel one of the Emeralds. The last one is somewhere I can't get a clear idea of where it is" She spoke softly.
"Wait, did he already collect four emeralds!?" Beast boy exclaimed they only fought him like a day ago. How did he already gather half of the emeralds?
"Do you know the emerald exact locations?" Robin pressed; eyes narrowed.
"No, I only managed to sense their energy, I couldn't get their exact location." Raven said, getting up from her meditative position and Robin sighed.
"I guess a lead is better than going in blind. We better get on the move. And Raven since you're the only one with an idea where the Emeralds are you will be our compass." Robin said and Raven nodded.
In Central City Shadow stood on a rooftop looking down at Central City. Daybreak just arrived and he closed his eyes as sunlight hit his eyes.
"Are you in position yet?" Shadow asked over the Com's and heard Rouge scoff over them, making him frown. The plan was in motion and here she was scoffing at him like this wasn't that important.
"Don't be so impatient. Took me a while to impersonate one of the guards. How about you continue to be on standby while the professional jewel thief does her job huh." Rouge whispered into her com's as she walked through the base after getting clearance from the staff. Robotnik was surprisingly great at creating fake IDs but that wasn't what she was focusing on. Rouge made it to the server room. She took out a real ID she snatched from one of the actual guards and placed it onto the control panel. The light turned green, and she entered and walked in closing the door behind her.
"Alright so where do you want me to place this USB drive?" Rouge said, taking out the USB Ivo gave her. It made her want to slap her head seeing the mustache design on it.
"Alright Rouge you're looking for a security server on the third row 34th cabinet." Ivo instructed over the coms and Rouge walked down the walkway.
"Tch, when will I be sent in?" Shadow asked and the other two sighed.
"What part of 'on standby' do you not understand? You will be sent in if anything goes wrong on Rouge end." Ivo explained this was the third time he complained about being on standby and he was getting sick of it. He sat in the jet they used to get here having one of Central Cities finest pies.
"This would be very simple if I grab the Emeralds and use Chaos Control to leave before anyone could do anything." Shadow said as he tapped his foot on the roof he stood on.
"Trust me, I've got this handled." Rouge interjected confidently, the USB drive in her hand as she reached the cabinet Ivo had referred to.
"I'm only saying—"
"I said, I've got this!" Rouge snapped, her voice low but firm. She slid the USB into the specified slot, as the device chimed softly in response. The server room's color goes from blue to red. "There, now let's just hope this works."
"Just keep an eye out before you get caught," Shadow replied, still tense on the rooftop, ready to spring into action at the first sign of trouble. "If you see someone coming, you'd better make yourself scarce."
"Relax, Shadow." Rouge rolled her eyes, adjusting her clothing slightly as she walked out the server room before anyone found anything suspicious. "I'm not about to let some second-rate guard ruin my cover. In and out, like a whisper in the wind."
"Well good work Rouge. The security cameras and most of the security traps are down. The emerald is on floor B6, and the elevator is on the right." Ivo explained and Rouge walked down the hall and as she entered the elevator, she took off the guard clothes revealing her own outfit.
Rouge now wears a black bodysuit which includes a skin-tight and strapless low-cut unitard that sports a pink, heart-shaped chest plate outlined with thin white-trimming. She also wears elbow-length white gloves and thigh-high high-heeled boots with pink cuffs to match them, with the latter featuring both gray soles and heels, along with steel toes in the appearance of pink hearts, matching her leotard's chest plate.
"Now this feels much better." Rouge says to herself, flexing her wings as the elevator door opens. She stepped out of the elevator and walked through the dimly lit corridor of the hallway passing multiple doors. The air was thick with the smell of cold metal and the faint hum of machinery.
"Rouge, keep your focus," Ivo urged through the coms." You're almost there. Remember, just get the Emerald and get out."
"Easy for you to say," she responded, smirking as she moved stealthily down the hallway. The security measures Ivo managed to disable had certainly made her task easier, yet she couldn't shake the lurking unease every heist had its risks, especially in a facility this secure.
Meanwhile Shadow kept his perch tapping his foot as he continued to wait for Rouge. As he looked around a blur of lightning caught his eye, and he narrowed his eyes. He then looked and saw two people flying on who had her hair on fire and the other in a purple cloak. "I'm guessing you saw it Ivo."
"Yes… you know what go wild." Ivo sighs giving Shadow full permission to fight which made Shadow grin as he skated down the building and after Kid Flash.
But Kid Flash ran through the city after Raven teleported them here. They made it to Central city after Raven explained that the emerald was somewhere around, but he had a good guess where it was. Star labs was made for a multitude of reasons, powerful unknown artifacts were one of them even if it was a rare situation but this time, he had a good feeling it was there. As he ran suddenly something kicked him in the back making him eat dirt. He turned and sighed seeing Shadow standing there.
"Hey how have you been? Sorry but I'm pretty busy with something so if you wouldn't mind, I will be going." Kid Flash said, and Shadow narrowed his eyes and skated towards Kid Flash who dodged. Kid Flash immediately started running around Central City Shadow close on his tail.
"Hey guys I found Shadow." Kid Flash said over their coms and Starfire looked down seeing the two blurs running around the city.
"You figure out where the Emerald is, I will help Flash." Starfire called out to Raven who nodded and flew towards Star Labs as Starfire followed the two blurs as they continued to race across the city.
"Can't catch me, slowpoke!" Kid Flash taunted as he zigzagged down the street kicking dirt into Shadows face.
But Shadow was relentless. "You're going to regret that!" he shouted back. Shadow boosted forward now matching Kid Flash in speed that made Kid Flash gulp.
"Okay, gotta think!" Kid Flash thinks to himself, and then an idea sparks. He changed direction sharply, leading Shadow toward the sea.
"Why are you here?!" Shadow demanded as he grabbed Kid Flash but was pushed off and had to jump over a car and kick a garbage can at Kid Flash who dodged.
"Well, we are just taking in the sights, what else." Kid Flash responded as they continued to run/skate across the city, occasionally clashing, Shadow got ready for another attack as they made it to the sea and started running/skating on the water. Shadow eyes widened as the water snatched his leg and pulled him down.
Shadow looked around and spotted someone he hadn't seen before but those tattoos on his arms were glowing meaning he was probably keeping him down in the water. Probably plans on knocking him out by filling his lungs with water. Shadow immediately threw a Chaos spear forcing the guy to dodge and his air shoes went into high gear as he rocked out the water only for a large green Shark to come out.
Shadow kicked the snout of the shark and then twisted doing an axe kick sending it back into the water only to have to block a blast of green energy. It burned but he managed to get out of the way seeing the flying girl again. Kid Flash tackled Shadow and ran to a shipping yard across the city and threw him into the side of it skidded to a stop in front of him. Shadow groaned as he got up as Starfire landed next to Kid Flash.
"Surrender now or we will have to use force." Starfire said, making Shadow scoff as he got back up.
Shadow dusted himself off, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Force? You really think you can take me on? The Ultimate Lifeform." He flexed his fingers but was stalling for time. He was only distracting them the moment Rouge got the emerald they were out of there.
Starfire raised her hands, glowing with energy, as she prepared to launch a star bolt. "I will not allow you to harm my friends or take the Emeralds you desire!"
"You're not worth my time. I'm getting that emerald one way or another." Shadow stated as he immediately skated off dodging Starfire blast. Kid Flash started to chase him. Shadow took a sharp right turn and jumped kicking one of the metal crates that nearly fell on Kid Flash if Starfire didn't catch it. Shadow took this time to skate off again but halfway towards the Star labs water came out of nowhere and hit him slamming him into a wall. Shadow looked up seeing the guy from the ocean.
"No more moosing around, let's get things done!" Shadow turns to see a giant green moose charging at him. He grabbed it by the horns only for it to shift into a bear and try to slap him, but Shadow easily dodged. Then it shifted into a Tiger and pounced on him, but he kicked it away.
"Where do you think you're going?" Aqualad asked and Shadow legs were chained by water because of this he was sent flying by a green Rino and into a building.
Meanwhile Rouge kicked another security guard, broke his hand then slammed a high kick into his nose and threw him to the ground and slammed her heel into his head with enough force to knock him out. More guards rushed in and started to fire their weapons at Rouge, but she managed to dodge the gunshots and got behind a wall.
"We need backup… why aren't the communicators working?!" One of the guards yelled in shock but Rouge wasn't done throwing a heart-shaped sphere at their feet. All the guards looked down and were confused by the weird sphere until it exploded filling the hall with smoke. The guards were startled and couldn't react as Rouge took them out one by one.
She dusted off her clothes as the smoke dissipated all the Guards on the ground. She walked over to a door and opened it. She couldn't help but smile seeing the emerald but sighed seeing the laser grid. She looked at the lasers and they were constantly moving so she couldn't just parkour through them, and she didn't want to know what might happen if she touched them.
She tosses another heart shaped sphere with this one having a blue heart. It released an EMP causing the laser to shut off. She walks towards the pedestal. As she looks at the emerald, she takes out the fake emerald Ivo gave her. She carefully reached out and in a split second she switched the emeralds. A moment of silence and then she sighed holding the Cyan Chaos Emerald in her hand not noticing the two figures behind her.
Meanwhile Shadow got up from getting thrown into the building and got to thinking.
"Dammit that hurt, I can probably deal with most of them, but that speedster will be annoying. Wait, where is that girl with the cloak or the boy with that R on his chest?" Shadow thinks as he skates out the building and slams a kick into Beast boy then dodges Aqualad's attempt to contain him in water. He dodged a blast of green energy and threw a chaos spear at the second blast causing a flashbang. He recovered only for Kid Flash to hit him with rapid attacks until he caught one and elbowed his stomach and threw him into the green gorilla and teleported behind the Starfire and kicked her into Aqualad.
"Shadow something wrong with Rouge, her coms went down." Ivo said and Shadow scoffed.
"Why should I care?" Shadow asked as he teleported to a rooftop after a T-rex tried to slam its tail into him. "Why it matters is because the last time I checked in she had the Chaos emerald. Not to mention the fake emerald I gave her was supposed to blow up the base after we grab the emerald. If we want to know what happened to the Chaos Emerald, we need her alive"
Shadow cursed under his breath as he teleported away as the Teen Titans chased him. He had no time and got an idea seeing a Tank Truck. He skated towards it and slid underneath it but immediately turned and threw a Chaos spear straight into it causing it to explode. The Teen Titans who were close to them immediately had to cover their eyes as the civilians started to panic from the sound.
Rouge groaned as she returned to consciousness the last thing, she remembered was the emerald and having an overwhelming sense of fatigue and blackness. Wait, the emerald where was the Emerald?! She looked around seeing she was still in the room right next to a wall looking at the fake emerald that had a small tick. Shit, her limbs still felt heavy, and her mind was still foggy.
"Damn, of all ways to die… A failed heist." Rouge muttered as the ticking got louder as the ticking stopped, she looked at the emerald she sighed. As the emerald exploded the last words, she heard was a loud.
"CHAOS CONTROL!"
The Teen Titans helped the civilians who were close to the blast as Raven and Robin returned to the group with a Chaos Emerald in Robin's hand.
"Oh, you got the Emerald, that's good." Starfire said, landing on the ground as the rest of the team walked over. "Yes, we managed to retrieve the emerald from a jewel thief apparently. The police are already at the base to investigate what happened and to arrest the Thief and hospital staff came to take care of the guards that were injured, where's Shadow?" Robin asked giving the Emerald to Raven. Raven caught the Emerald, and it disappeared in a black mist.
"He got away after destroying a Tank full of gasoline. We stopped to help the civilians." Starfire explained as the team continued to help civilians. That was until an explosion was heard and everyone turned looking in absolute shock as Star labs was destroyed, a massive bloom of smoke covering whatever was left.
"Shit." Robin muttered as the team ran towards Star labs. As the sun cast a pallid glow over the wreckage of Star Labs, the Teen Titans stood in a tense silence, absorbing the magnitude of the destruction before them. G.U.N. agents swarmed the area, fanning out as they began assessing the situation. There was nothing left but rubble and Robin scrunch his nose seeing blood pool from under the rubble.
"What the hell happened?" Kid Flash exclaimed, his voice a mix of shock and disbelief as he stared at the smoke rising from the remains of the lab. "You guys were just here! How could this happen!?"
"The explosion feels way too deliberate to be a coincidence," Robin said grimly, pushing his way toward the nearest G.U.N. soldier, his determination clear. "We need to find out who was responsible."
"What happened?!" The Teen Titans turned, seeing Commander Walter running over to the hole that was once Star Labs.
"We aren't sure Commander all of the cameras were down when it exploded." A woman who looked to be an officer said and Robin narrowed his eyes as he walked over.
He was already angry that the lab blew up. But what made it worse was that it blew up underneath his nose. Him the son of Batman missing something as large as this. He needed answers on Shadow because if he was the cause of this, he would make him face justice.
"Alright, I'm tired of this! You obviously know way more about Shadow and his goals. I want answers. Who is he, why have we never heard of him, and why does he want to gather the Chaos Emeralds and use the Eclipse Cannon. And don't bullshit." Robin asked Walter who was surprised but immediately cooled his expressions.
"This is a-"
"Cut your rant and give me the goddamn information unless you want to risk the entire world. He has already collected at least three Chaos emeralds. We managed to stop him from stealing a fourth. But I doubt he will stop searching until he has all seven." Robin cut off Walter who looked down at Robin with a contemplated expression before he sighed in defeat.
"Fine, I know my soldiers can't deal with Shadow so having a hero team on the watch will be good." Walter said, turning and signaling the team to follow him to a small cafe that had been evacuated by G.U.N soldiers. As they walked in Walter put down a small disc that then showed a hologram of a Containment tank holding Shadow.
"Shadow story begins fifty years ago aboard the Space Colony ARK. A man by the name of Gerald Robotnik was assigned by the previous leader of G.U.N to start on a Project labeled Shadow. The idea of Project Shadow was to create an Ultimate Lifeform, a means of immortality. A being that would never grow old or sick, a weapon of war. We don't know what exactly Gerald did to create Shadow besides the use of Chaos Drives but after we found out there were… outside forces in his creation and then a terrible incident occurred on the ARK they decided to put him into Suspended animation on Prison Island Indefinitely." Walter explained to the team who were honestly surprised but Starfire on the other hand was angry and decided to express it.
"You locked away a living being without a proper reason!? Was he even the reason for the Incident?!" Starfire's voice rose, eyes flashing with anger.
"No, he wasn't the cause of the incident. But we had no other choice at the time, Shadow was a dangerous weapon and so we treated him as such!" Walter responded.
"But that doesn't justify the actions taken against him! If he was just a weapon he wouldn't have feelings or emotions which he clearly has! Even if it was the best choice at the time he should have been released way sooner instead of being locked away to rot!" Starfire interjected, tension building in the small cafe as Starfire gripped the table firmly.
"Whatever choice was made in the past, we are dealing with the consequences now, but we need to move on" Walter replied, rubbing the bridge of his nose in frustration.
"You said there was an Incident on the ARK, mind explaining what happened." Raven asked.
"That is irrelevant. What's important is that you find the other emeralds. The Eclipse Cannon takes five emeralds to function and all seven to bring out its true power. There is an emerald already on the ARK and I had a source tell me the last emerald is Somewhere in the Amazon Rainforest. I've already sent a squad to try and retrieve it." Walter said and Raven frowned but kept her mouth shut.
"Fine we will grab the emeralds, but we won't hand them to you. Instead, we will hide the Emeralds where no one can find them." Robin said and Walter frowned but sighed.
"Alright that's fine." Walter said and the team left.
"I could sense he was hiding something crucial." Raven muttered.
"I may be new to this but I'm pretty sure all of us caught on to that Raven." Aquald replied and Raven gave him a blank stare and Aqualad looked away. Raven created a portal.
"Well, we better stop him before he grabs the last emerald." Raven said calmly as the team entered the portal.
Ivo pacing in the Private Jet until a small flash of light appeared showing Rouge and Shadow. Shadow was holding Rouge in the bridal position. Both of their clothes smoked from the explosion, and both looked to be in shock.
"Oh, you two are back, what happened and where is the Chaos emerald?" Ivo asked. Rouge and Shadow seemed to come out of their shock as Rouge jumped out of Shadow arms and dusted her clothes while Shadow crossed his arms glaring at the ground.
"One of the Teen Titans that I'm guessing was Raven knocked me out after I managed to swap the emeralds. I woke up a few minutes later only to nearly be blown to bits if it wasn't for Shadow." Rouge explained, giving Shadow a thumbs up with a smile. Shadow scoffed and turned back to Ivo.
"After Rouge lost the Chaos Emerald, I was able to sense it until suddenly it was cut off similarly to the missing Emerald. I'm guessing they have a way to suppress the Chaos Emeralds Energy meaning they have at least two emeralds." Shadow explained and Ivo put a finger to his chin.
"Mm the only Teen Titan I can see having the ability to suppress the Chaos Emeralds Energy would be Raven. She could also be the reason they managed to find the location of the Cyan Emerald." Ivo said and Shadow frowned.
"Impossible I'm the only one with a direct connection to the Chaos Emeralds energy. A random girl shouldn't be able to sense the Chaos Emeralds let alone hide their presence." Shadow responded and Ivo scoffed, making Shadow glared.
"Believe it or not, Shadow, there are many mysteries in this world that exceed your understanding," Ivo began. "Raven's powers are tied to magic, and she may have developed a method to suppress or enhance the energy of the emeralds." Ivo said and Shadow looked down still with a frown.
"Oh, don't worry that much. Just because they have two emeralds it won't change their plans. We will grab the Emerald in the Amazon Rainforest and then the true fun will begin." Ivo said, putting a hand on Shadow's shoulder. Shadow smacked the hand way.
"Tch how long will it take," Shadow asked.
"From Central city I would say 5-6 hours." Ivo responded and Shadow frowned.
"That's not good enough where exactly are we going?" Shadow asked, crossing his arms.
"6°13'45.7"S 63°41'34.3"W Why?"Ivo asked while Rouge stared at Ivo weirdly. Shadow took out his Chaos Emerald and Ivo's eyes widened.
"Don't you da-"
"CHAOS CONTROL!!" Shadow cut off Ivo as he used Chaos Control on the entire plane to the coordinates. As the flash of light ended Ivo walked to a trash can and threw up his lunch before wiping his mouth and grabbing peppermints.
"Huh, why did that happen?" Rouge asked since she didn't have this reaction to being teleported.
"Maybe it's because of you being able to fly you are used to being dizzy. Or because your body was in shock when I teleported out of the base. Or-" Before Shadow could finish Rouge seemed to turn green as she walked to the trash can and threw up.
"Or your body didn't catch up to the effect of Chaos Control." Shadow finished. After Rouge finished throwing up Ivo coughed.
"Anyways thank you for the teleport… I guess but we still must find the emerald." Ivo said as they walked out the plane
As the hatch of the private jet opened, the thick, humid air of the Amazon rainforest immediately enveloped the team. The cacophony of chirping insects and rustling leaves greeted them as sunlight streamed through the canopy overhead, casting intricate shadows on the forest floor.
"Where are we supposed to find this emerald again?" Shadow asked, his voice low and serious as he scanned the dense foliage.
"According to the information I gathered, there should be an Island nearby," Ivo replied, adjusting his glasses as he pulled out a handheld device that blinked. "It will most likely be protected by various traps and defenses specifically designed to keep out treasure hunters. But it looks like our main competitors just so happen to do this for a living."
"Great more fun and games," Rouge said, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes.
"And do you have a way to distract any heroes from interfering… unlike last time?" Shadow asked and Ivo smiled as he tapped on his glove as hundreds of egg-shaped robots flew out the plane and flew far away. Ten of the drones stayed behind and surrounded Ivo protectively. Then another egg-like machine flew out but was way larger and looked to be made for a human to sit in.
"Where are they going?" Rouge asked until the smell of smoke caught their noses and the first signs of fire.
"Oh, just to burn a chunk of the Rainforest down." Ivo said casually as the Egg mobile started hovering into a cave. Shadow and Rouge followed. Meanwhile animals began to run as the robots used flamethrowers to start burning down the trees creating a chaotic scene that would surely grab the attention of anyone nearby as the smoke raised into the air.