Authror's Note: My apologies for taking so long to update, changing jobs was giving me a real hard time.
Shout outs go to my beta reader for making this chapter not suck as much!
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The first rays of sunlight shone through the opaque windows of the warehouse signaling all inside that they had survived through the night. While the Konqueror's base was spacious and could hold a great number of people, it was still in the beginning stages of development. Some scattered tables and an old sofa composed what little furniture had been left by the previous occupants of the abandoned factory, leaving most of it bare.
Though the place was starting to finally look like people lived there again, Frost's laptop and Sektor's security cameras weren't very accommodating in terms of making sleeping there more comfortable. Most of the Konquerors would have to spend the night on the floor.
For some, this wasn't really an issue. Sektor took a chair next to the laptop, hooked himself to an electricity socket and underwent sleep mode. Noob Saibot didn't even need to sleep; he merely sat down on a secluded shadowy corner and meditated to conserve energy.
These left the rest to sort out sleeping arrangements, knowing they would need rest for the upcoming challenges. With the sudden appearance of Slade none of them wanted to take their chances and try to take whatever surprises this realm could throw at them exhausted.
In the end, Jade took the sofa whilst Nightwolf being far too accustomed to sleeping out in the wilds simply slept on the bare floor. They were all hardened warriors; a night spent on uncomfortable furniture would hardly give them pause.
Upon further inspection, it was found that the abandoned factory did have a place where someone could sleep in relative comfort. It appeared that one of offices had been used by one of the junkies to sleep in as it had a usable bed, a closet with clothing, a bundle of cash and some drugs. This discovery was, however, reserved for Frost, letting the girl have a comfortable place to sleep for the night.
This wasn't an offering from the rest of the group to the young fighter simply because she was their self-appointed leader. Even if Frost was the type that would take commodities for herself leaving her teammates to their own resources, the girl had a very good excuse to take the bed.
Raven.
To everyone's surprise, including Frost, Raven had decided to spend the night with the Konquerors instead of returning to the Tower. Supposedly her main intention was to at least place some seals to ward off Slade in case he came back at night to kill them all as Jade feared. This process would leave her considerably weakened and a prime target for capture if she were to try and fly back to her home, thus the least they could do was offer her a place where she could recover in safety. Raven could rest easy knowing that she was surrounded by demi-gods from another dimension ready to jump at the opportunity to defend her. It wasn't as cozy as the Tower, but it would do.
There was of course a much less noble reason why Raven decided to spend the night. Frost had pretty much ruined the sorceress' leotard after their 'encounter' at Jump City's harbor. It would be incredibly uncomfortable for Raven to fly back to the Tower with her soiled clothes. Plus, Raven would prefer dealing with an infuriated Robin than face her curious teammates who would wonder why she was trying to cover herself so much as she made a mad dash to her room. Something that wouldn't be likely since Robin would intercept anyway.
Thus the magician accepted the offer to let her clothes dry off and share a bed with Frost, who also took her clothes off even if she really didn't need to.
It was too obvious what would happen next; Raven was no fool and Frost was just a little too predictable when it came to matters of bed.
Raven sighed when she felt arms circling around her body while she slept, knowing perfectly well what was coming. She allowed herself to be turned around, to feel those cool lips touch hers once more and to be embraced by the other girl as she climbed on top of her. There wouldn't be a whole lot of sleeping involved after that for any of the girls.
Neither of them would have woken up at the time they did if it weren't for Raven's communicator. Raven could almost swear it sounded angry.
"Hmm…don't pick up baby, come back to bed." Frost stirred next to the girl as she too woke up from the loud beeping noises, she couldn't help but grin sleepily feeling almost like a married couple.
The sorceress wasn't very amused and pushed the covers off both of them, drawing an annoyed grunt from the cryomancer who tried to cover her face from the blinding rays of sunlight.
"I have to." The Titan's expression turned grim and she swallowed loudly, grasping the blaring communicator with slightly trembling fingers. There were very few souls in the universe that could make Raven nervous, or even give her pause. Robin was one of those select few.
"Raven here." She cringed out of reflex, expecting a severe warning from the Titan leader.
Instead she heard a worried sounding Robin who asked her if she was okay.
"Yes… I'm fine…" Responded the girl, ignoring her nakedness as she sat down on the bed to try and relax. From the sound of it Robin was under the impression that she had been out meditating. Raven didn't argue and acted as if he was in the right; an easy thing to do since Robin often was.
"I apologize… I just had to sneak out to find a spot to meditate. The stress was affecting me too much..."
Raven breathed out with a shudder of relief, Robin wasn't angry with her and in fact ended up saying he was the one that was sorry. As he told her, Robin had sent Starfire out to look for her and the alien princess had informed to him Raven was in a deep trance by the harbor.
Raven's heart froze. She had indeed been in a 'deep trance' by the harbor, but it was obviously not what Robin was thinking. The sorceress felt a knot in her throat tightened, while her entire body trembled lightly. She had been discovered; someone had watched lewd meeting with Frost. Could it have been Robin himself and he was just toying with her? Pretending he didn't know the full story to not bring up any issues? It did sound like something he would do.
Robin however, had declared that it was none other than Starfire who had brought this to his attention. That made Raven stiffen even more if possible, but Robin then continued on to say Raven could rest up for a while if she needed to, though he urged her to return as soon as possible.
"Thank you, I'll be back shortly. Raven out." The spellcaster turned off her communicator and released the breath she had been holding ever since she answered.
The thought dawn upon her that it had been Starfire who watched them and she had purposely lied to Robin to cover her up. She had not gone back on her word, and for that she was grateful. But she dared not think what kind of reaction Starfire would have after catching Raven in the act of doing improper public displays of affection with Frost. Never mind that Frost was an enemy, she was another girl! Starfire had a very delicate grasp on Earth's culture and this would no doubt confuse her to no end.
"..Damn it." Looks like she'll have some explaining to do to Starfire when she got back to the tower.
"Who was that honey bunny?" Raven gave a soft gasp when she felt Frost's body drape around from behind her, the girl's chest poking against her back.
"Robin." The girl responded, feeling as though she wanted to pull away from Frost's hug; however those overwhelming, foreign emotions rushed back to her causing her to lean back against the hug, her hand fluttering upwards to rest on the icy girl's own. Even now, being around Frost felt good; it felt right, as if she belonged there. Inexplicably, it felt like she could unleash her emotions around Frost without fear of her powers going out of control.
But she still had a duty to attend to and needed to draw away. "I have to return immediately."
The kunoichi smacked her lips and pulled Raven down causing the spell caster to yelp in surprise. "Pft! Robin! What do you see in that guy anyway?" Asked Frost as she pinned Raven to the bed; blue eyes locking on those purple orbs of the sorceress. "He's probably nothing but a punk."
"The same could be said about you." Raven had lost none of her sarcasm and dry humor; she easily turned the conversation around to mock Frost. "His hidden talents more than make up for the shortcomings of his personality. Something you two share."
Frost didn't know if she should feel flattered or insulted, so she decided to simply feel aroused and leaned down to kiss her magician lover.
Raven accepted the caresses and puckered her lips up to meet those of Frost, but started to push away before she could be goaded into another round of love making.
"Seriously Frost, I need to go."
"Killjoy." The girl gave an exasperated sigh of defeat and pushed herself away from her young sorceress lover. She figured it was high time she got out of bed too; judging by the sunlight it would be noon soon. If she were still living in the Lin Kuei temple, sleeping in would have meant a cold shower, no breakfast, topped off with a 'friendly' spar with Grandmaster Sub-Zero.
In retrospect Frost decided that she was faring much better now waking up in a warm bed next to a comely spell-caster girl.
"I do have to ask though." Frost rolled out of bed and reached for her assassin uniform to start dressing herself. "It almost sounds like you're scared of him when you can clearly squash him like a bug. What's he got that he has you wrapped around his pinkie?"
Raven checked if her leotard had dried off before placing it on and glanced at Frost. Her gaze was distant and unloving, but the kunoichi knew that was the girl's normal expression. It would be folly to think that she would be staring at her with love struck eyes after just one night of fun.
"Because I see in him the same things I see in you." Raven answered with far too much honesty for Frost's liking. The assassin gave a groan of despair and tossed herself to the bed back first, hands grasping at her own face.
"Here we go again."
"I know your contempt for him comes because you probably don't sense any superhuman energy, but there's far more to him than just that. In our team, we may all be great fighters, but out of us all he is the one that had to train the hardest to become who he is."
"Wait, I know where you're going with this." Frost interrupted with recognition in her eyes. "Those that aren't natural born fighters become the best warriors, because theirs is the path of perseverance" The kunoichi frowned as she tried to recall where she had heard that before "That's something Sifu told me." She purposely omitted the fact that Sub-Zero was referring to her when he said that.
Raven gave a slow nod of her head as she wrapped her cloak around herself. "His family was killed as a young boy. He lived in the streets for much of his infancy and was taken under the wing of one of the most controversial vigilantes on the planet."
"Without a doubt, his has been the toughest path to follow, and because of it he has a certain strength that the rest of us don't. When we have our backs to the wall we can count on him to push through any obstacle. He fights where other far more powerful people would fold, simply because he has never known surrender."
"It makes him look pigheaded to many, even arrogant, but to us he's our pillar of support; our core, our balance."
The whole spill just made Frost arch a quizzical eyebrow at Raven's little monologue. "It sounds like you're in freaking love with the guy."
Raven rolled her eyes, expecting such a crude comeback from the ice ninja. "I have a lot of admiration for Robin, it's true, but our relationship has always been professional. Besides he and Starfire have been… courting one another, I think that's the right word, ever since the foundation of the team. That and I don't get attached to people."
Again, Frost's overactive eyebrows were raised giving Raven a knowing expression, causing the Titan to give a scowl and flush slightly "With certain exceptions apparently. At any rate, you didn't get my meaning at all, from what I understand of your past and how you manage your team I think it is no mere coincidence that you share all these traits with him."
"Frost, I think that you may be your dimension's version of Robin."
Somewhere in Titan Tower Robin starts having a sneezing fit. He looks left, right, pulls cloak closer and shivers.
"Pfeh!" Frost had no words how to express her disapproval of such a proclamation, so she crossed her arms and gave a grunt. "No way we're alike. He's just one them teacher's pet, boy toys; whereas I knew better and betrayed my master."
"You're also a girl." Raven added as a matter of fact statement. "I didn't say you were twins, just parallel versions of each other."
Frost's lips tightened as she thought about what Raven was telling her. All the information was doing to her was annoying her as far as she was concerned. Ever since their first meeting at Jump City's bank Frost knew that she had found a rival in Robin. Being the overly competitive sort, Frost always relished the idea of fighting against someone worthy of her skill; but there wasn't anything healthy to her competition. It wasn't about making each other stronger. What the kunoichi wanted was to utterly crush her rivals and then move on to the next bigger target. Being compared to Robin irked her as much as if someone was comparing her to a bug she was about to step on.
There was something else that caught Frost's attention however. That devilish look that Raven was starting to recognize washed over her and she glanced at the sorceress like a cat that just caught a pigeon.
"See, all you're telling me with this is that you did have a crush on Robin and couldn't act out on it because he was a boy."
Raven clenched her teeth and flushed terribly, both embarrassed and annoyed that Frost would jump to such a conclusion.
The ice ninja was also going to milk that for all it was worth as she demurely walked over to Raven, hips swaying dangerously, attempting to pin her impromptu girlfriend to a wall.
Knowing perfectly well that if she got pinned again, Frost would most likely be able to distract her enough so she couldn't get back to the tower until late in the evening, Raven deftly moved her gaze away from Frost shutting herself down.
"I don't really care for such things. Gender is… irrelevant." Raven shrugged while still hugging herself, the dark sorceress looking like the very picture of antisocial.
"So you did have a crush!" The ninja kept prodding, unable to back down until she got a straight answer.
"No I did not! There was respect but I..." Frost gave a ferocious grin which prompted Raven to quickly change the topic. "Listen, Frost… d-darling." The sorceress felt like stabbing herself in the face after saying such a nauseatingly endearing thing, but she needed to get Frost's attention somehow. "There is something you need to know about me, my emotions are dangerous."
Raven turned her gaze to meet Frost's piercing blue eyes and related her tale of how she was the spawn of a human and a demon, cursed to herald the coming of his father when she grew older. A curse that could only be avoided if she had absolute control of her emotions, never to allow herself to feel anything lest she attracted her demonic father.
Eventually, Raven explained, she and the Titans defeated her father ensuring the continued existence of this world, but even then she would never be free from the danger that were her emotions. One wrong titter of the delicate balance of her center and it could send a wave of devastating dark energy to an innocent bystander.
"You are an anomaly Frost, all those things that I have done with you, the dancing and the caresses, they're things that I have never been able to do with anyone else as it would endanger everything around me." "But for some reason, my powers don't get out of control when I'm with you. I have yet to understand the reason why, but it's clear to me that there are no consequences to tapping into my emotions just as long as it's with you.
As it was quite common with Frost, she reacted in an unexpected manner and graced Raven with a cheeky smile. "I see, so you've just been using me to get your squeeze hmm? I never thought you'd be the type to take advantage of an innocent girl like me."
"Don't say such things!" Raven recoiled staring at Frost with disbelief on her eyes. "How could you even think that? I would never-"
Before the offended sorceress could keep going, Frost couldn't contain herself any longer and burst out laughing "Relax toots! I'm just kidding!" She tittered, enjoying the flustered look Raven was giving her. "You're so cute when you get defensive. Besides, a pretty girl like you can take advantage of me any time she wants."
The magician girl gave a sigh and started to move towards the door. "I've really lingered here too long; it's time for me to return."
In a strange show of politeness, Frost reached for Raven, linking arms before leading her out of the room. "Let me walk you there, wouldn't want any of the guys jumping ya. They can get awfully frisky in the mornings; especially Nightwolf."
The truth was that the gesture was completely unnecessary, Raven could have easily just teleported out of the building and directly back to the tower. Yet, she had to admit it was nice for Frost to act courteous for once instead of her usual lecherous self. The magician glanced sideways to her escort and braved to give her a light peck on the cheek, surprising Frost.
"Please don't get the wrong impression, Frost. It may be true that you're the only one I've ever been able to show any affection to without running the risk of things randomly exploding, but I really do… care for you." Raven's light purple eyes softened, feeling that unfamiliar emotion of caring well up on her chest, letting it run free but still with great hesitation. "You are a good person; no matter how you carry yourself you can't hide who you really are. Despite what may have happened in your dimension, I'm glad that you are here with me."
Why, Frost's cold heart felt like it was melting at such a kind gesture, prompting her to ease into Raven and return the kiss.
They were already out of the room and heading downstairs however, so at least Raven had ensured that Frost wouldn't try any other funny business while the rest of her team were looking.
"So wait a minute, if you're saying that couldn't show affection to anyone before me, doesn't that mean that I'm your first?"
Attempting to not make a big deal out of the situation, Raven simply closed her eyes and refused to answer directly, yet her silence was all the ice kunoichi needed to know.
"Eldergods! I'm..so sorry, I should have taken it slower!"
"Don't be." Raven smiled. "It was an enjoyable experience." Said she leaning up against Frost, letting the other girl feel warm breath blowing on her ear as she whispered demurely. "One that I wouldn't mind doing again."
As Frost purred eager to return the gesture, the two girls were interrupted by the sound of scuffling heard from downstairs. Thinking that they were under attack, the two girls rushed to railing that overlooked the first floor of the abandoned factory to see what was happening.
Much to their relief however, they saw that it was Saibot and Nightwolf engaging in some light sparring. No doubt the shadow wraith had been informed of the shaman's affliction and he had volunteered to assist with his uncontrollable fits of rage.
Sparring for a participant for the Mortal Kombat was no easy feat, not when one had the capability of piercing flesh, stone and steel with their mere fists; any stray blow could be fatal. Their endurance wasn't directly proportional to how much harm they could cause and as a rule it appeared that they could deal a lot more damage than they could take. Most of the participants were, or at least originally started as, regular human beings.
Because they truly wanted did not want to hurt one another, Saibot and Nightwolf were merely scoring points with Sektor acting as a referee to separate them when they got too tangled up. It wasn't true semi-contact however; a stray kick sent the shaman skidding backwards where he landed on the other side of the factory even if he had taken the blow on his forearms. Sektor decided to give Noob the point for a ring out.
Jade came and interrupted the proceedings by dragging the shaman off before he had a chance to get up, taking him to their improvised kitchen where he had promised to teach her how to cook grits. Murderous martial artists they may be, but some of them still had to eat, and with their meager resources grits was the best they could come up with.
"Our groups seem to be very similar." Raven could almost see a mirror image of the Titans in the Konquerors; though to be honest their rough housing was far more disciplined than in her team. The mystic Titan could hardly imagine Cyborg and Beast Boy solving their arguments via sparring with Robin used as the referee.
That was as all quite normal for someone like Frost, save for the fact that it was just a spar and not a fight to the death, and so she just shook her head. "There you go again with your little comparisons. Next you're gonna tell me we're each our dimension's versions of your guys."
Frost jumped down to the first floor and landed with all the grace of a true ninja. She teasingly looked up and offered to catch Raven in her arms, but the sorceress casually declined by floating down.
Once both the girls were down below, Sektor and Noob Saibot broke the conversation they were having to cordially wish them a good morning. Yet another thing the Titans could learn from the Konquerors; respectfulness.
"Thank you again for the protective wards Miss Raven, in the future I would like to get together with you to exchange notes on such things. I've always been particular interests for that particular school of witchcraft. If you don't mind sharing your knowledge that is." Out of all of the Konquerors, Saibot had been the one that was most grateful for Raven's intervention with Slade. The barrier she had created could even distinguish from Slade and Saibot, allowing the shadow wraith to utter a password to be given entrance while prohibiting entrance to Deathstrike.
Raven was unsure at first of how to respond. She could feel undeniable evil from the man in all black, hidden beneath his respectful nature. However, she decided to agree for now and worry about that bridge when she crossed it. Who knew? Perhaps she could sway all the Konquerors from the destructive path they had taken and not just Frost.
Noob Saibot and Sektor bowed to Raven as she announced her departure in traditional Lin Kuei fashion, while Nightwolf gave her a parting salute. Strangely enough Jade was acting remarkably antisocial and hid quietly, looking around the corner of the improvised kitchen the group had set up.
Frost on the other hand shamelessly pulled Raven in for a deep kiss in front of everyone embarrassing the poor mystic to no end. The Titan gave a soft smile despite her disapproval of such public displays of affection and with one parting wave she enveloped herself in darkness, teleporting herself back to the tower.
"I take it this means our grand schemes for world domination are botched." Saibot voiced everyone's thoughts out loud, adding just the right amount of snide that was common for the shadow wraith. It was no secret for the Konquerors what it was that Raven planned to do. With their so called 'leader' dating one of the Titans it was obvious that Frost would want to change their plans turning them from conquerors to defenders of the realm.
But it was not to be. Frost was a deceitful ninja by nature and her ambition was dead set. She gave a playful slap to the shadow wraith's chest and placed her ninja mask back on her mouth, the look on her blue eyes letting everyone know she meant business.
"That'll be the freakin' day! I haven't made no promises yet. I told Raven I would consider her offers, but until I'm fully convinced we'd be better off doing things her way we're sticking to the original plan."
Turning around, hands placed on her hips with billowy plumes of cold air exhaled from her mask, she looked at each one of her warriors in turn. Nightwolf, Noob Saibot, Sektor and Jade; with such powerful fighters at her command, Frost knew that no force in this realm would be enough to stop her.
"It's high time we took some initiative if we aim to conquer this city."
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Jump City liked to operate with the facade that it was an upbeat, economically secure city, where most if not all of its citizens where well to-do, good hearted people.
To the untrained eye this easily held true as Jump City was very aesthetically pleasing to look at. It wasn't a dark and brooding, gang infested city like Gotham for sure. Neither was it an industrialized smog covered citadel like Steel City, or a business oriented pearl of technology like Metropolis. It was a large city which walked the middle path; almost a tourist attraction with its beach and nice weather. A place were one could easily both live and work.
It was why someone really needed to know what they were looking for when picking spots were crime could flourish. Because Jump City had such an upbeat and outgoing community, it was easy to tell where the money stopped flowing.
Entire downtrodden neighborhoods or abandoned warehouses usually sprang up in between busy malls or popular universities, where criminals could easily make their bases of operation to ambush students and shoppers alike. Like in any other place, for every bright side of the coin, Jump City had its dark and ugly side. Places where it was simply not profitable for companies to spend their funds and were therefore left neglected.
Usually such places were condemned and set to be demolished at a later date as there was really no need for them, at least not by the regular law abiding citizens of Jump City. But there were always those who could benefit from such structures.
Many a high ranking criminal organization had seen the use of such abandoned districts as emergency hideouts, or even for their lower recruits to set their own bases of operations. The more of them scattered across the city, the harder it was for authorities to track any of them down. Therefore syndicates like the Brotherhood of Evil and the Hive Academy had gone through ample lengths to corrupt government officials and stall the demolishing of such buildings indefinitely.
In one such building, or underneath one of them to be more specific, resided the local Teen Titans antagonists; the rebuilt Hive Five. They were currently busy testing the skills of the newest members that completed their quintet.
Jinx wasn't satisfied with their run against the Titans, even if it was successful. Her return to the crumbling Hive Five had seen her with redoubled efforts to join the Brotherhood of Evil at all costs; convinced that with their newest members she could achieve the greatness that she sought.
Sure, they had managed to best the Teen Titans in battle once again; however for Jinx that wasn't really an accomplishment. They had been able to do that before until their group was dramatically plagued with a severe case of the stupid. She wanted to be able to beat the Titans every time they met, not just every once in a while when they got lucky.
The young hex-caster leader of the Hive Five was an ambitious girl, there was no doubt of that. She knew that her group was destined for great things and therefore expected all their members to act accordingly. Her strict behavior may have contributed to many of their members calling it quits, aside from their continued beatings by the Titans. But despite this she showed no signs of easing down any time soon.
Inside their rather spacious secret lair, located beneath one of the many abandoned districts of Jump City, Jinx had placed her team's powerhouse, Mammoth, against the four armed Sheeva.
It was a short sparring session: Mammoth had no idea how to outwrestle someone with four arms, showing his inexperience and all around younger age to the hardened shokan warrior. He went for his typical habit of trying to overpower his opponent by locking hands with them and start pushing them back. Roaring to try and intimidate her.
But really, how does one intimidate a Shokan?
Sheeva thought this to be a laughably amateur tactic to do as it was something that Shokan /children/ used in practice. She decided to go along with it though, giving Mammoth the false sense that he was winning by purposely walking backwards.
This caused the burly hulk to lean forward a little too much exposing his chin giving Sheeva the opportunity to throw a double uppercut with her lower arms directly onto Mammoth's jaw. The giant's massive body arched backwards due to the blow and Sheeva finished him off with a quadruple simultaneous palm strike directly on his chest and abdomen.
Mammoth crashed on the ground doing several rolls due to the momentum tumbling head over heels again and again, only to slam into the opposing wall of the building numerous meters away.
"Yeah!" Baraka cheered on from the sidelines, jumping up from where he was seated next to Gizmo and Jinx, pumping one large fist into the air.
"Now it's my turn!" The fierce Tarkatan warrior extended his forearm blades eager to sink them on soft flesh, his long serpentine like tongue flicking to coat them with saliva so as to cause as much damage possible. All eager and excited with a happy-puppy expression on his face… well a puppy with rabies anyhow.
Jinx saw this and wisely decided to intervene, much to Gizmo's own relief as well. "I think we've had enough sparring for this morning. Let's take a break." The tiny inventor slumped with relief, sweat drops forming on his forehead knowing full well he had lucked out from having to fight the insane Baraka.
"Aww" Baraka looked disappointed (puppy ears go all droopy, tail stops wagging); Jinx thought he resembled some kind of dog at times due to the way he acted. His pointed ears drooped down in a clear sign of regret along with the rest of his body; those long sharp blades of his retracted back to his body now that they were no longer needed. The Tarkatan kicked the ground and a little dust poofed up.
He at least seemed to comply despite his annoyance and moved towards the ring to meet with Sheeva. There the Shokan warrior was helping Mammoth back up to his feet by pulling him up with two of her four arms, then dusting his shoulders with the other two once he was standing up straight.
"A fair attempt young warrior, you have much untapped potential."
"Thanks, you too." Mammoth wasn't much of a conversationalist, being somewhat on the thick side. Besides, the multiple blows to his chin had rattled his brain something fierce and he missed the compliment entirely. He was far more focused on trying to pop his jaw back in place.
Once everything had been adjusted, Jinx reached for Mammoth's arm and started tugging on him. "Alright, good job today guys. As a celebration to the newest members of the Hive Five we're going to cook you something grand! I'm just gonna borrow Mammoth here for a bit and you guys just stay put."
The colossus stumbled looking bewildered, Jinx had nowhere near enough strength to pull him yet he felt complied to follow if unsure why. "But Jinx, I can't actually cook any-"
"I /said/ you're coming!" The hex caster stressed, making Mammoth mutter a grumbling 'right..'
"If it's too inconvenient we can assist you with the festivities," offered Sheeva and was strangely followed by Baraka who nodded. "I can help too! Wait 'til you get a taste of some fine Tarkatan cuisine. We use three different types of meats in all our dishes!" Hopefully none of the Hive Five original members were vegetarians.
Jinx wouldn't have any of it and firmly shook her head. "No, no. We just couldn't! It has always been tradition for the Hive Five to welcome our new members by throwing a feast!" The pink haired terror smiled so sweetly that Baraka and Sheeva could almost feel their teeth rotting from just staring at her.
"Really? We didn't do that with Seemoore and the other butt munchers." Gizmo felt compelled to add.
This drew Jinx to her very limits and pulled both the evil boy genius and his giant counter part by the ear. "You two! Kitchen! Now!"
Laws of physics be damned, somehow Jinx managed to pull both Gizmo and the massively huge Mammoth by their cheeks and drag them out of the training arena leaving a perplexed Sheeva and Baraka. Both boys went tripping after her, Gizmo's cursing growing slowly softer as the distance increased.
It wasn't often that the Tarkatan General and the Shokan Warden got to talk. The two were quite obviously rivals, both competing for Shao Kahn's favor. It was a little game the emperor played with his subjects to see who was more deserving of receiving his power; pitting them against each other in a violent competition. More often than not the Tarkatans, Shokans and Centaurs under the emperor's service committed horrendous acts of violence against the other in their attempt to become Shao Kahn's favorite. However the benefits of their rivalry far outweighed the liabilities since all three of them pushed themselves as hard as they could in any assignment given to them. This controlled chaos suited Shao Kahn's armies nicely.
In this rivalry there were no fiercer competitors than Sheeva and Baraka. Ever since they were both recruited into the emperor's service the two had been at each others throats to prove that their respective race was better. Which was ironic, seeing as they were often paired up together in missions.
It was this bitter rivalry and partnership that brought the two to fight side by side in the pyramid of Argus and now found them together again in this strange dimension, sharing the same young allies.
"Does it bother you, Baraka?" Sheeva crossed all four of her arms to see the trio of young villains make their way to the kitchen.
"Yes, a lot!" Answered the demon almost without thinking, causing Sheeva to look at him with wide eyes.
"You didn't even know what I was going to say you idiot." The woman pursed her lips and peered sideways at him.
"You weren't talking about if it bothered me that they didn't let us cook with them?"
"NO!" Sheeva exhaled air feeling greatly perturbed by Baraka's lack of intelligence. It wasn't that Baraka was a perfect imbecile; he could be come up with some surprisingly cunning plans. But it was clear that he acquired his rank of Tarkatan general for his battle prowess and not for his intellectual skill. For all the time Sheeva had known the Tarkatan, she had always found him to be incredibly simple minded.
"What I was going to ask you was that, does it bother you at all that we may not be able to return to Outworld?" Seeing as Baraka was, unfortunately, the only person from her realm she could talk to, she decided to hear what his opinion was on the debacle.
Sheeva was certain Baraka would once again answer with some kind of stupidity when he shrugged his shoulders, his ears flicking up and down in a canine fashion. However he paused before opening his fanged mouth, which led Sheeva to believe that he at the very least was thinking about it.
"Outworld…is gone." He began before turning to Sheeva. "Whatever loyalty we had with Shao Kahn died with our universe. If anything survived the explosion of the Pyramid of Argus, I doubt there's enough left to go back to."
"I didn't take you for one that gave up so easily, Baraka. What about your people? Aren't you worried for what may have happened to them?"
"My people, just like me, are survivors. If there are any of them left they will move on with, or without Shao Kahn. They'll find new leadership and a place where they can live, even if it isn't in Outworld." Grumbling slightly, Baraka used his forearm blade to pick at his teeth, his eyes half closing lazily. "Truth of the matter is that I really don't care, as long as there is someone I can sink my blades into I will persevere."
Sheeva chuckled at his response, her arms still crossed. "That sounds more like the Baraka I know. And what of our young friends? What do you think of them?"
"They cook well." Food and violence, the only two things Baraka had ever cared about. "Speaking of which, I'll see if they're about finished. I hunger for one of those mini hot dogs." Sheeva sighed once again, so much for that moment of intellect.
Hiding in the kitchen, Jinx peered from around a wall to spot Sheeva and Baraka talking with one another.
"Okay, so what do you guys think?" She asked her fellow Hive members and frowned when she saw the two frantically stirring some cake mix. Mammoth even had a chef hat on already.
"Uh…I don't think we're gonna be able to finish this cake in time."
Jinx puffed her cheeks in anger "We're not baking cake!"
"Brownies then?" Suggested Gizmo.
"WE'RE NOT COOKING ANYTHING!" Screamed the hex caster and took the bowl of baking mix away from Mammoth.
"But you said-"
"I was just trying to get you away from those two so I could talk to you in private." Jinx said, speaking more calmly now to her foolish team mates. It wasn't all that surprising for the pink haired vixen that the two would misinterpret her words like that. "In all seriousness, what do you guys think? Are they in or out?"
"Hey, anybody that helps us knock out those barf brains Titans is alright in my book." Gizmo grinned.
"We have done it without any help before." Argued Mammoth "But, yeah, they're definitely a step up from Billy, Seemore and that doofus Private Hive. Especially, Sheeva!" He exclaimed rubbing his jaw. "She hits like a truck!"
"Heh, figures you'd like Sheeva." Gizmo snickered and elbowed the giant on his thigh, which was the only place he could reach him. "I've seen the way you've been looking at her. I think someone has a crush!"
Jinx laughed "Alright Mammoth! Going for someone who's your own size huh?"
The behemoth didn't look very amused at the teasing and snarled showing his tusks "Gross! She looks old enough to be my mom! If my mom had four arms…and a mohawk. Look, I'm just saying she's strong and a team player. Which is more that I can say for Baraka; that guy is nuts!"
"Yeah." Jinx agreed and rubbed her chin. "I've noticed he's quite the loose cannon. Sheeva has proven to be very reliable so far, I think she told me she used to be a soldier where she came from. But I don't know about Baraka, he's like a frenzied animal."
This would require more thought, for his recklessness Baraka was a powerful warrior as Jinx had seen. He had defeated Robin all by himself and it would be a pity to simply dismiss him from the team; besides, there was no telling how a… creature, like him would react if scoffed. Not to mention Sheeva; maybe if one left the other would follow? Who knew? It was hard to tell.
"Fighting the Titans is one thing; it's a lot more chaotic. Let's see how they deal in an actual mission first before we make any rash decisions."
"Well, I'm not worried." Gizmo said sounding very confident. "He doesn't look so tough! If that snot eater, nose picking fool tries to do anything I'll give 'im a what for!"
Both Mammoth and Jinx froze in that instant, staring wide eyed at Gizmo. Mammoth and Jinx both had cheesy smiles on their faces, trying to cover the 'oh shit' expressions.
He had seen enough shows to know what that look meant.
"He's standing right behind me isn't he?" He said before doing a slow motion backwards, his head tilting as his eyes went all wide.
Gizmo was very glad he hadn't had anything to drink before that, because he would have surely wet his pants the moment he turned around and saw a vision of true horror. Baraka was indeed standing right behind him, and even the bravest of men would have panicked when staring into the demonic, razor teeth filled mouth of a Tarkan. And Gizmo was by faaar not bravest of men.
Baraka made a lunge for him to grapple him causing the tiny inventor to scream like a little girl. Both the hex caster and her brawler ally tensed up ready to stop Baraka from gutting the kid. Much to their relief however, they saw that the horrifying demon had lifted Gizmo by his waist and started giving him a friendly noogie.
"Haha! I like your viciousness, pup! You're well on your way to becoming a proper Tarkatan. Ya even got the head for it!" Baraka placed his gruff hand a top Gizmo's bald head and began rubbing it as he laughed. Mammoth and Jinx relaxed even if their inventor ally was still squealing like a pig.
Eventually Baraka let the little kid go giving him a playful kick on his buttocks, something that Jinx and Mammoth usually did so no harm there, and approached the counter sniffing about.
"Food's not ready yet I see; I'll just have a couple of snacks before we begin with the feast. Gotta work the appetite!"
"Actually." Jinx saw her opportunity to draw her team out of their lair and into the streets for some chaos. "Baraka, we just realized that we don't have enough funds to throw the party that we wanted for you guys."
Baraka's red eyes widened as he stopped inspecting the empty cabinets and looked at the pink haired leader of the Hive Five. "There's no food?" He sounded positively horrified.
"Not enough for what we had planned for you two. But that's why we're gonna go for a raid to earn us some dough!"
"When?" Asked Baraka, eyes filled with expectation, his blades almost ready to burst from his forearms.
"Right now! Let's just get Sheeva and we'll be ready to go."