Light & Shadows

Introducton
Writers block is, as many of us know all too well, a cast iron pain. In my case I write the same paragraph over and over again. Each time with only one or two words changed. The same one or two words, flip flopping from one to the other. No matter what I do I agonise over the same handful of words until I throw the whole thing into the corner and brood about it.

The only way I've found to break this block is to take a sharp left turn. Write for a show that I've not done before. So here we go with an experiment.

This is one of three stories, all loosely connected to one another as part of a series. It's not quite a trilogy, not quite stand alone. They're all Turtles Crossovers but with different shows so, unfortunately, you'll have to see my bio to pull them all together.

Disclaimer

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird and is owned by Mirage Comics. Teen Titans on the other hand was created by a succession of writers and is owned by DC comics.

Robin ducked just in time as a sword whistled over his head, he felt the razor sharp edge cut a couple of gelled locks from his scalp as it passed. Swearing under his breath the boy wonder was suddenly picked up and off the ground by a sweet snap kick that would have sent him sprawling, if it wasn't for his training. Rolling with his momentum Robin bled off most of the blow before he came to a stop on the wall just behind him. This… well creature being the closest word he could come up with, was good.

Stunningly fast, skilled and acrobatic. Something they demonstrated as Starfire let lose with her laser vision. It jumped with a back flip and a mid-air roll, emerald energy beams following haphazardly and scouring the brick work in the cramped tunnel.

With Starfire keeping his opponent busy Robin took the chance to catch his breath and get his bearings. This was not going as well as he'd planned. New York was supposed to have been a holiday, after all the recent troubles they'd been having it was just what they needed. Just coming back from a film the team ran into a street gang that was helping themselves to an electronics store.

It had been fun, no life or death battles against impossible odds, no demons from the dawn of creation and no alien invasions. The fate of the universe wasn't in the balance for one little mistake. Just some punks looting a shop and the five heroes looking to blow off some steam.

Looking back at it he shouldn't have listened to Cyborg when he suggested looking for more of them. At the time his adrenaline was pumping and he'd just had too much fun. Surprisingly even Raven had been up for it. They stopped another group, from the same gang apparently only this time they were going for jewellery, before Cy picked something up on his in-built sensor package. Something not human.

None of them had liked it when the traces lead them to New York's infamous sewer system but, afraid they had stumbled on something possibly a lot worse than a few kids, had gone down.

They'd been down here for nearly an hour and Robin had been about ready to call it a day, head back up top and enjoy a nice long shower, when they literally stumbled upon these four things in a service tunnel. They were short, green and had a solid looking shell on their backs. If anything they looked like turtles, only turtles standing like men. Each was a slightly different shade of green and had coloured bandanas over their eyes, like domino masks.

Keyed into the slightest movement Robin and his team acted without thinking. Leaping into action and thanks to their training each knew what the rest would do. Their opponents were all armed with their own lethal collection of weapons, but no obvious powers. Robin had ended up facing against the one with a pair of katana swords and a blue mask. Right now it was still busy dodging Starfire's optical blasts, but it was only a matter of time before she caught them.

The one with a red bandana was facing off against Cyborg. It shouldn't have been a problem, but the creature had found Cy's weakness. At range his sonic blaster was dangerous, so was his cybernetic strength up close, but in the middle distance he couldn't get either into play. The red creature on the other hand had dual Sai's and knew what he was doing. Prefect for what it needed. Right now Robin couldn't guess who'd win that one.

Raven was fighting the one wearing orange that used a pair of nunchaku. Dangerous, but if there was something, anything, for her to get hold of with her powers they'd probably lose. 'Azarath Metrion Zinthos!' The spell caster shouted. With a flick of her wrist Raven took control of the spinning weapons and sent them flying off into the darkness further down the tunnel.

The orange one didn't even slow down, with viper-like speed it lunged to one side, grabbing the corner of her cloak. Not stopping it pulled her off balance before wrapping Raven up in her own cape.

Before Robin could rush to help free her someone he didn't recognise shouted; 'Gang way!' Spinning to see the source of the shout he saw Beast Boy, in the form of a rhino, being ridden by the remaining creature. This one had a quarterstaff across it's back and a bag over one shoulder. With a sharp blow either side of BB's oversized head it stunned him enough to send the shapeshifter colliding into a tunnel wall. As Robin was torn between helping him and the dark spell-caster something else went wrong.

Starfire's beams suddenly changed direction, carving a line between Robin and the other two before arcing back to the flying girl. 'Hey, Leo, watch where you point those things!' Another of the creatures shouted, but Robin wasn't worried about that right now. He was too busy catching the falling Starfire. The blue one had used the flat of his blades to reflect her own fire back at her. There was a nasty scorch mark on her shoulder and she looked dazed. It was a trick Robin hadn't thought possible.

This was bad. They hadn't been ready to face trained fighters, certainly not another well coordinated, resourceful, team, but it wasn't over yet.

Starfire was already recovering. Beast Boy had switched back to his human form and was shaking the stars from his hard head and it was only a matter of time before Raven untangled herself from her cloak. 'Booyah! cried Cyborg, he had gotten one up on his creature, trapping one of the sai's in his arm, he picked up the creature and was about to throw them to the floor

'Mikey, limbo!' The purple one shouted again and thrust the end of his staff to the orange one. The two of them, each holding an end, charged either side of Cyborg. The staff picked up the half human at the stomach, doubling Cyborg over as they carried him away.

A well honed sixth sense told Robin to look behind him. Remembering his opponent the Boy Wonder was on his feet in a hot second, his telescopic staff exploding out in time to catch the pair of falling blades. He was still at a disadvantage though, the thing he was fighting was an expert with his katana and had two of them. Robin had to keep up and defend himself from what was a literal whirlwind of steel. After a few seconds he could tell it was only a matter of time before one of them made a mistake. This had to end now.

It wasn't going to be honourable, but Starfire was ready to go and it didn't look like he could stop her from blasting the creature full force. Silently Robin signalled that he knew what she was doing and he tried to force his opponent around, giving her a better shot.

Behind the blue bandana Robin could have sworn he saw a flicker of understanding. It was like the creature knew what he was thinking. In that moment there was something familiar, almost human behind that mask. It didn't matter, nothing he could stay would slow Starfire down. As she floated up a blur tackled her back down to the ground. 'Hands off my brother lady.' It was the red one and it had her pinned. Robin and the other one were locked, pitting their strength against one another as they both watched out of the corner of their eyes.

The red one raised it's three fingered hand, ready to punch, but stopped themselves at the last moment. Star took the opportunity and blasted it off from her. Blue flipped away with more agility than it had any right to, landing next to it's fallen partners side. 'Couldn't do it bro. I couldn't hit a girl.' Red said and Robin couldn't keep the shock from his face. They'd held back because of honour. He had no idea what they were fighting, but suddenly he had a bad feeling about this.

'I know Raph, it's okay.' Blue kept a weary eye on the two of them. 'Donnie, need a hand over here!' it ordered. The other two were still trying to keep Cy busy. Between them they were doing a good job of it. As a pair they swept his legs out from under him. Purple delved into his bag and pulled out a handful of small objects.

Beast Boy was still trying to free Raven and couldn't stop them in time. Acting on instinct Robin protected Starfire, only to be more than a little embarrassed when he realised it was nothing more than smoke and a few flashes. The tunnel made them a lot louder and brighter than usual.

Robin's head was ringing from the concussive blasts as the smoke began to clear. The first thing he saw was a shadow moving in the fog. On instinct Robin jumped it, tackling the shadow to the ground. He had the end off his staff at their throat before he released who it was. 'Whoa. It's me! It's me!' Beast Boy shouted. A gust of wind blew the smoke away and Robin flicked the switch in his hand, contracting his staff again. 'Thought you were one of them for a moment.'

'Where'd they go?' Beast Boy asked.

Robin gritted his teeth and looked around. 'No idea. How is everyone?'

There was a chorus of grumbling from the gang, they were all fine. Cyborg had activated the tiny fans on his forearms and was clearing away the smoke. 'I am confused. Why did that one stop himself from hitting me?' Starfire asked.

'Be glad they didn't.' Cyborg growled. 'They had a mean right cross.'

'I don't know, but if I had to guess he, it, didn't want to hurt you.' Robin said uncertainly.

Star blinked in blank shock, but it was Beast Boy that said; 'What kind of sense does that make?' He asked. 'They're green alien frog things with shells…'

'Turtles.' Raven growled as she brushed creases from her cloak. 'They were more like turtles.'

'Karate alien turtles that won't hit girls?' Cyborg asked. 'What kind of sense does that make?'

'Since when did anything we ever do make sense?' Robin asked. 'You ever seen or heard of anything like these things Star?'

'It is a very big universe Robin, but no I have not heard of anything like them before.'

'What's wrong Robin?' Raven asked looking at him suspiciously.

He couldn't hide his wince. 'It didn't feel right. One of them holding back, then running away like that.'

'No, what's not right is that they got away. You telling me there's nothing fishy about a group of trained fighters cowering in the sewers of New York planing who knows what?' Cyborg pointed out.

'We need to follow them.' Robin agreed. 'Find out just who they are and where they come from.'

'How? I'm not going to change into a blood hound. Do you know what kind of smells there are down here?' Beast Boy shuddered.

'I should be able to lock onto their pheromones again.' Cyborg told them, bringing up his arm console he frowned. 'Got it.' He said after a moment turning around in a circle and taking a few steps before changing direction. 'Four of them, they went this way. Come on.'

The rest of the Titans looked at each other and followed their friend. 'Where are we going?'

'They probably know these tunnels very well. I could do to know them less.' Raven grumbled as she floated down the hall. She didn't want to get her boots in the filthy sewer water, not that Robin could blame her. He didn't like it either, but didn't have her powers, he also didn't want to tire her out. It had been a long night and they were going to need all their strength before this was over.

'This way.' Cyborg pointed, 'I'm getting a strong reading.'

Starfire looked uncomfortable. 'How strong? Do you think there could be more of them?'

That was something Robin hadn't thought of and he didn't like it. 'No, at least not here.' Cyborg said after a moment. 'I think, whoa.'

Whoa was right, the service tunnel lead to a massive junction. 'All the toilets in the world must use this place.' Beast Boy gasped. It was huge, deep and foreboding. A web of pathways and sealed pipes crossed a deep pit. Service tunnels with ladders and rusty chain bridges opened up above and below.

'From here you must be able to get anywhere in the City. Like a underground express way.' Raven gasped then pulled a face. 'If you can stand the smell.'

'Is it normal for underground waste passageways to be this well illuminated?' Starfire asked looking around.

By now the five of them were well into the junction and Robin followed her lead. 'I would have said no… but that's Gotham. With New York I don't think anything could surprise…' He was cut off by the heavy sound of a junction box master switch slamming shut.

In the fraction of a second it took the lights to die he was blinded. It was an ambush and he'd walked right into it. Cyborg snapped a flashlight up from his shoulder and pierced the darkness, only to have something fly out and slam into him. 'Wha?' It looked like two magnets, held apart from each other and some heavy duty batteries. 'Get it off, before…'

They were too late, Cyborg was covered in lighting before collapsing. 'What was that?'

'Energy leach.' Their big friend said. Without energy he was paralysed. 'Leave me, get out of here!' he gasped from between clenched teeth.

'No way buddy.'

'Not happening, Star light us up.' Nothing happened. 'Star?' By now his eyes had gotten used to the darkness, he could see enough to make out shapes. The only one he was looking for was Starfire. She was on the floor. Behind him there was a muffled shout shortly before a thud.

'Raven? Beast boy?' Robin asked his staff in his hand but there was no answer. Remembering his training Robin closed his eyes and tried to listen past the sound of his heart pounding in his ears, but again it was too late. Something cold touched the pressure point just under is right ear.

He never even felt himself hitting the floor.

Waking up Robin tried to flip to his feet, only to find that he was tied up. Silently cursing he opened his eyes only to discover he was blindfolded as well. 'I'm sorry Master,' A voice said of to one side. 'But they had a way of tracking us…'

'A very cool sensor system built into the big one's cybernetic endo-structure.'

'Donatello.' A third voice snapped, this one sounded old and faintly Japanese.

'Sorry master. Didn't mean to interrupt Leo.'

'No problem Donnie. Even if we could have found a way to stop them tracking us we couldn't leave them in the sewers, or on the surface. With the Foot and Purple Dragons looking for us they could have been hurt.'

Robin struggled with his shoulder on the floor, trying to brush the blindfold off but being careful not to dislodge his mask underneath.

'Master Splinter, one of them's awake.' A younger sounding one said.

'Indeed they are Michelangelo. Help him to sit up.' the Japanese one instructed. Whoever had tied the ropes knew what they were doing and Robin let them lift him to his knees. He noticed, as he expected, the creature that was holding him only had two fingers and a thumb.

After a second the blindfold was removed and Robin found himself looking at one of the creatures, this was the one with a orange bandana that had wrapped Raven up earlier. 'Oh man, you're him aren't you? I mean really him. The boy wonder, the Dark knights Squire!'

Robin resisted the urge to try his ropes again. 'I am.' He said carefully. 'Who, or what, are you?'

'Man this is so cool!'

'You know these guys Mikey?' Robin was beginning to recognise some of the voices, that one was Donnie, or Donatello, and had the purple mask. Mikey was the one in orange and if he had to guess Leo was the one he'd first heard and the one with the swords.

'Know them? They're like my all time favourite superhero team! The Teen Titans! wha-ho!' Mikey punched the air in joy. 'This is Robin, he's their leader. Kinda like you Leo. Starfire's the pretty one, like me.' One of the turtles reached around and slapped him on the back ob the head.

'Can it, shell for brains. We can find out who they are after they tell us what they were doin' creapin' round our sewers.' It was the fourth one, the one that wouldn't hit Star.

'Patience Raphael, as always.' Their master said. Robin practically leapt out of his skin when he got his first good look at them. It was a giant rat dressed in a rough brown kimono, it's fur grey with age and long face gazing calmly at Robin. Both it's long nimble looking hands rested on a stocky cane, worn smooth from years of ownership. 'I do believe that this young man asked his question first, however it would be terribly impolite to answer before all his companions were awake.'

Robin felt like he'd been put under a very exacting microscope. The title Master was right. He'd spent enough time around martial artists to recognise a true master when he saw them, no matter the species.

It didn't take the others long to revive, the first was Star who blasted herself free and was about to lay waste to the whole place before Robin got her to cool down. Cyborg just needed a jumpstart which Donatello was more than happy to provide. Next up was Raven who's loud squeak after seeing the rat would have given Beast Boy years of material to tease her with. As it was it just woke him, and probably several bats all the way back in Gotham.

With his friends all awake and his ropes finally undone Robin got a look around the place. It was a vast underground cave, obviously made but the question was by who. It didn't look human, more like the inside of an egg with two levels. The bottom was open plan leading to a series of doors. Different parts of the ground floor had been set aside for different jobs, there were punching bags and crash mats in one part, what looked like a complex workstation and tech lab in another and a large ban of screens surrounded by battered, mis-matched furniture. In all it looked both well lived in and well cared for.

'Anyone going to tell me what the heck is happening?' Cyborg asked after he had run a diagnostic program.

'I will.' The rat said calmly watching all of them with the same neutral expression. Robin had no doubt they were coiled and ready to kick all kinds of ass, but you couldn't tell that from it's face. 'Our story starts many years ago, in the home of my master, Hamato Yoshi.'

The five titans gathered around to listen, Robin watched as even the four creatures seemed to be paying more attention to the story than them. 'I was, at the time, a simple pet but my master was an expert in Ninjutsu and followed the way of Bushido. From my cage I would watch him practice. At all times learning the ways of honourable combat. Then, one fateful day, my master's greatest enemy struck. A foe known as the Shredder.'

'Oh boy.' Whispered Cyborg.

'What is it with super villains and really cool names?' Beast Boy said in awe.

With a glance the rat silenced the pair of them and continued. 'The Shredder sent in his private ninja clan, the Foot, to weaken and tire him, but my master fought well. That was until the Shredder resorted to more dishonourable tactics. Once unable to fight back the Shredder chose to appear. In the fight my cage was destroyed. I tried to protect my master, but was too small and easily cast aside. All I could do was watch as, in defiance of The Shredder, my master was killed.'

Robin took the pause to look around his friends. Beast Boy was enraptured, it would probably take a truck to move him. Same went for Cyborg, those two could be so alike at times. Raven had an odd expression on her face, half amazed at the story and half not believing a giant talking rat was telling it. Star looked fascinated, but couldn't have half the questions he had about it.

'I survived on the streets for many weeks, until I came across a simple accident. A young boy, who had just acquired four infant pet turtles, was nearly hit by a runaway tuck. While the child was saved the turtles were washed down a sewer drain, along with a broken container from the truck.'

'What was in the container, some kind of chemical?' Robin asked before he could stop himself.

'Yes, young Robin. I found the turtles covered in a strange glowing liquid. Taking pity I tried to clean them before gathering them up in an old coffee can. I awoke the next morning to find that they had almost doubled in size. I too was changing, not just physically but mentally. Still nothing could have prepared me for what came soon afterward. They actually began to speak. I too could soon speak and indeed read.'

'Knowing the outside world would reject us as freaks to be feared and monsters to be destroyed I began teaching them, as I had been, the ways of Ninjutsu. The art of shadow and the rules of honour. Eventually I gave them all names, from an old book I found on renaissance artists.'

One by one he began to gesture at the four turtles 'Leonardo. Raphael, Michelangelo and Donatello. For many years we lived in secret, until recently. We have discovered that The Shredder and his Foot are still out there. For what goals we do not know, what we do is that they work closely with a band of robbers, thieves and criminals known as the Purple Dragons.'

'Those punks we tangled with back on the surface.' Cyborg muttered. 'They had purple tattoos.'

'Huh, what punks?' Donatello asked tilting his head.

Robin answered. 'I think we came across some of these Dragons of yours. Do they all have tattoos and dress like they just came of the set of an apocalypse movie.'

The brothers looked at each other for a second. 'Yep that's them alright.' Donnie sighed.

'Damn purple Dragons. Hah.' Raphael growled before spin kicking the punching bag so hard it almost flew off it's chain. 'I say we call Casey, get back top side and bang some heads! Then we go after Shredder, the Foot an' the rest of those pyjama wearing nut-balls.'

Leo got in his way. 'Calm down Raph, by now it's daylight by now on the surface and you know how dangerous it would be for us to be up there.' he cast a look at Robin and his team. 'What if the wrong person saw us?' He explained, 'We'd be hunted,'

'All right, I get it!' Raphael said 'Gees Leo, it's like we haven't had it rammed into our heads all our lives.'

The Rat looked at them. 'The world above would not accept us.' he explained carefully. 'We are too strange, too alien. Were we to reveal ourselves we would become oddities, curiosities to be studied, dissected by certain people you would be far too familiar with.' Robin swallowed. He was right, there were any number of villains that wouldn't think twice of killing them to find out just how they had been mutated. If they found out, and this was what it did to relatively harmless turtles, what would happen if they used what they learnt on a more predatory creature. 'We have entrusted this secret with you.' The rat finished. 'In the hope that you, all of you, will keep it.'

End Light & Shadows