A Shadow of the Titans

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A Shadow of the Titans is a Crossover between Jackie Chan Adventures and Teen Titans by Eduard Kassel.

Following an offscreen battle with a demon, Jade is accidentally banished along with it, ending up in some sort of pocket dimension. While there, she is confronted by a mysterious being (whom Word of God names "The Cackler"), who offers up a cryptic monologue before forcibly transforming Jade into her Shadowkhan form. He then tosses her into another universe—specifically, the universe of Teen Titans, where a series of events soon sees Jade forcibly drafted into the HIVE. Now, under the identity of Zhu Chan, Jade must play the role of supervillain while searching for a way to return home, and also dealing with the Titans, who—due to unfortunate circumstances - end up viewing her as just another criminal to be defeated.

First part in a planned trilogy.

Tropes used in A Shadow of the Titans include:
  • Academy of Evil: The HIVE. Jade is actually surprised at how much like a regular school it is.
  • Alternate Universe: The Titans universe is this to the JCA universe. The point is hammered home when Jade realizes the Jump City is the counterpart to San Francisco, with Titans Tower revealed to be where Alcatraz is supposed to be.
  • Another Dimension: The pocket dimension Jade ends up in in the prologue—it consists solely of a small island floating in a multicolored void.
  • Anti-Villain: Jade is a definite Type IV. She'd very much like to not be a villain at all, but circumstances forced her into the role, and have been keeping her in it.
  • Ax Crazy: Gadjo, all the way.
    • Mumbo is compared by Robin to The Joker as an unpredictable force of Chaotic Evil.
    • The adult Jade who appears in the "Destiny" interlude has shades of this, especially if you've read the oneshot she originally showed up in.
  • Bad Guy Bar: The HIVE has one (apparently, being villains, they don't care much about age limits).
  • Baleful Polymorph: The Cackler forcibly transforms Jade back into her Shadowkhan form (although she still has her normal mindset).
    • She also gets turned into a monkey by Mumbo (to serve as his assistant), but that is undone rather quickly.
  • Berserk Button: Jade suddenly seems to have a whole bunch of them. Her transformation and the stress of her situation seems to have given her a seriously short fuse. Naturally, this doesn't help her situation with the Titans any.
    • Zombies appear to be one for Gadjo.
  • Big Bad: Brother Blood seems to fulfilling this role for the time being.
    • Bigger Bad: The Cackler, possibly. It's not very clear at this point.
  • Blood Knight: Gadjo enjoys nothing more than a good fight.
  • The Brute: Mammoth and Gadjo. Also Susano, to an extent. And while we haven't seen much of Machete, from what little we have seen, she appears to be a rare female example.
  • Clingy MacGuffin: Jade had the Rooster, Dragon, and Pig talismans on her when she was sent across dimensions, and after the Cackler's interference, they end up fused into her body.
  • Clothing Damage: During Jade's first fight with the Titans, Robin hits one of the Talismans (presumably the Dragon), which causes an explosive release of energy that—among other things—fries most of her clothes.
  • Combo-Platter Powers: In addition to the shadow powers that come with being a Shadowkhan, Jade also has the Dragon, Pig and Rooster talismans at her disposal 24/7.
  • Continuity Nod: When Jade realizes she's been accidentally banished in the process of banishing a demon, she's upset that it's happened again, a reference to the time she was banished to the Netherworld along with Bai Tza.
    • She's also not happy when she gets turned into a monkey by Mumbo, remembering the last time it happened (the original Monkey talisman episode).
    • At another point, she lists all the spells she's learned and used over the course of the show.
  • Crossover: Obviously. But in addition to crossing over JCA and TT, it also partially crosses over with another story by the same author—the evil adult Jade who appears in the "Destiny" interlude is (or is based on) the Cult-leading adult version of Jade who appeared in the oneshot "When I Grow Up".
  • Cutting the Knot: During one Physical Feats class, Jade is presented with the task of traversing a Death Trap-ridden obstacle course and ringing a bell. Upon noticing that the course is circular, she just turns around and rings the bell that's a few feet behind her.

HIVE student: Can she do that?

  • Dark Is Not Evil/Light Is Not Good: Jade's villain persona (a Shadowkhan dressed in black and blue) is contrasted with Brother Blood, who wears gold and white (Jinx comments at one point that rather than the traditional light and purity, Blood's colors seem to represent greed and death).
    • The two adult Jades who appear in the Mind Screw-y "Destiny" interlude are a similar contrast. The good (or at least, non-psychotic) Jade is in all black, while the outright villainous Jade wears white.
  • The Dreaded: Gadjo has quickly earned this reputation among the other HIVE students—they're all scared stiff of him.
  • Either or Title: Most of the chapters have these.
  • Elaborate Underground Base: The HIVE. Jade compares it to Section 13, stating that it has a better aesthetic appeal.
  • Enemy Civil War: At the beginning of the story, the HIVE is recovering from one, wherein Blood overthrew the previous Headmistress and ended up having to wipe out the Russian branch of the HIVE.
  • Enemy Mine: Jinx briefly teams up with the Titans after he captures both Jade and Starfire and forces them to be his "assistants". Jinx describes it as "sharing a mutual problem", and as soon as Mumbo is defeated she grabs Jade and runs off.
    • The possible Bad Future glimpsed in the "Destiny" interlude has another apparent example: whatever "Omega" is, it's so bad that the Demon Sorcerers and the Eight Immortals (or a version of them, anyway) team up with each other and Good!Jade to stop Evil!Jade from releasing it.
  • Evil Costume Switch: Naturally, Jade is forced to take on a new outfit when she's recruited by the HIVE (and after the above mentioned Clothing Damage, it becomes necessary). She ends up with a mildly complex ensemble composed of a cloak over a robe over a karate gi, selling the fact that she's a magic user who can also fight hand-to-hand.
  • Fantastic Racism: Much like another story by the same author, there's a lot of subtle (and not so subtle) hate directed towards Metas and other non-humans. This ends up contributing to Jade being pushed towards the HIVE.
    • Played for laughs when Jade accuses Beast Boy of doing racial profiling after he comments that she and Mumbo have a lot in common (them both being blue-skinned magic users).
    • Susano appears to hate Jade based solely on him being partially divine and her being part Oni.
    • And Gadjo seems to really hate zombies.
  • Gratuitous Japanese: Jade tends to slip into this when under duress. Presumably, this is due to the influence of her Shadowkhan side, seeing as she herself is Chinese.
  • Grievous Harm with a Body: When the Titans are watching footage of Gadjo fighting zombies, it mentioned at one point that he's apparently "whaling on zombies with a zombie".
  • Groin Attack: Jade suggests this to Starfire when they're pummeling Mumbo.
  • Hero with Bad Publicity: Due to her short temper during her interactions with the Titans and the random Jerkass civilians of Jump City, Jade ends up being labeled a public threat. And matters aren't helped any by her having to pretend to be a villain so that the HIVE doesn't kill her.
  • Humanoid Abomination: The Cackler has shades of this.
  • Insane Troll Logic: Gadjo's "explanation" for how romantic relationship "really" work, which basically boils down to women using sex to force men to take out the garbage so civilization doesn't collapse. When he gives this speech to the Titans, they are all left dumbfounded... except Beast Boy, to whom it somehow makes sense!
  • Machete Mayhem: The aptly-named villain Machete (Gadjo's partner).
  • Magic Versus Science: Gizmo and Jade seem to be quickly developing a rivalry based on this (the fact that they hate each other and are forced to share a lab space doesn't help).
  • Mind Screw: The interlude chapter "Destiny" features two adult versions of Jade—one evil and one good (apparently) -- fighting each other. It borders on being a Non Sequitur Episode, except it's implied that it actually will be important later on.
  • Noodle Incident: At one point, Jade is sentenced to detention in the ominously-named "Pit". The narration then cuts to the following morning, with stating that it was no big deal.
    • The Titans view footage of Gadjo fighting zombies, but we only read their reactions to what they see and a few of his lines. We don't actually get to see what he did.
  • Odd Friendship: Jinx and Jade seem to be forming one.
  • Original Characters: Gadjo, Machete, Susano
  • Politically-Incorrect Villain: Subtle example, but Mumbo does seem to have a tendency to force women into being his "assistants". When he magically places Jinx in a rather revealing outfit, she comments on it being harassment.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: At one point, Jade discusses this trope with Beast Boy, and whether or not it necessarily makes someone evil.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Susano and his team try to corner Jade for a beating at one point, only for Gadjo to show up and curbstomp one of them. The other teammate runs off, and Susano wisely leaves too after a few parting insults.
  • Set Right What Once Went Wrong: After Starfire's trip into the Bad Future depicted in the "How Long Is Forever?" episode, Nightwing sends her back with a letter to the present-day Robin, warning of some unspecified incident involving Jade that caused the Titans (already unstable following Starfire's disappearance) to fall apart completely. While the letter doesn't give details, Nightwing does imply that there's a moral quandary involved, and implores Robin to do the right thing.
  • Shipper on Deck: Gadjo ships Robin and Raven, since it fits his Insane Troll Logic for romance.
  • Shout-Out:
  • Spit Take: When told over breakfast that she's being teamed up with Gadjo, Jade spits her miso into Jinx's face. The latter is not amused.
  • Stealth Hi Bye: Jade, naturally, now with the added help of her ability to hide in shadows.
    • She actually ends up on the receiving end herself a few times, usually from Gadjo and Jinx.
  • Two Aliases, One Character: Jade takes on the name Zhu Chan ("Bad Omen") as her villain persona. Notably, this is the only name any character in the Titans universe know her by, and most seem to think its her real one. Meanwhile, the narration switches back and forth on which to refer to her as, depending on the situation.
  • Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: There's an odd variation here, in that Jade was apparently traumatized by the experience the last time she was turned into a monkey, so she's understandably freaked out when it happens again.
  • Worthy Opponent: Gadjo apparently views Jade as one, and she can't decide whether that means he wants to be her friend or if he wants to kill her.
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