Thank you to the reviewers and that one person from Switzerland that seems to like reading my work (according to Story Traffic.) I hope to continue making you happy while at the same time I'd like for YOU to keep me happy with reviews. Reviews mean better QUALITY.
a/n: After discussing this story all night to myself at work, I've come to realize that this is going to be a good series. Not because its a rough story, or a brutual one, or even a kind one, but because I honestly give a shit about it. Not many stories I've written (or read) have done that...
We're coming into the end of the first Arc of this series (oh yes, this isn't going to be 12 chappies.. this is gonna be BIG). The question is (no pun there), will Garfield's future land on Good Heads... or Bad Heads?
Disclaimer: None of the characters, locations involved in the story are property of Erick von Long, only the idea. Scarecrow and Teen Titans belong to DC Comics and Animated Series belong to Cartoon Network and the WB. Don't sue me, I'm broke as is.
The Watchman
---
Inside the walls of the bar, a couple dozen of the underworld are hosting a party. With the announcement over the television of Deadshot's escape, the tavern erupts into roars of cheers. Despite the common belief that criminals are out only for themselves, in times of great opposition from the League and Titans, it pays to band together. The HIVE FIVE, excluding an injured Gizmo, exchange shots of cheap beer, despite their young age.
"Its about time those Titans got the shit stick!" Mammoth bellows out, laughing at the TV screen.
"You said it! Those Titans' always hoggin' the limelight!" "I agree Billy!" "Thank you Billy" the duplicitous Billy Numerous congratulates himself.
"Damn it, we need some music!" Mammoth looks over at the jukebox. "And no Punk music, Punk!"
"Aww c'mon mate, you don't know good music when y'hear it!" The British villain curses at the "musically un-educated" hulk of a man.
"Your music gives me a headache. Put something good on the radio, I'm getting bored over here!" His knuckles cracking is reason enough as a warning.
The argument between the two villains doesn't lend itself to noticing a new arrival at the bar.
"Oh aye? I leave this place for barely a tick and you blokes start bellyachin' about good ol' rock and roll? As your elder.." Mad Mod states, tapping his cane on both of their heads "I say we put on some a'the Beatles."
"NO!" most of the bar yells at the Englishman. "You ALWAYS play the Beatles!" See-More points out.
"You know lad, for a child with all those fancy eyes, you're awfully blind to good music." Mod feigns indifference, checking out his fingernails and leaning on his cane.
"I say we put on Eye of the Tiger!" See-More counters.
"Eye puns again, little man?" Adonis, not in his armor, asks, patting both Mod and See-More's back. "Who needs classic rock when you got Heavy Metal? I say we listen to AC/DC!"
"Go pump your 2 Iron, geek!" Private HIVE yells, ordering another beer. "You kids have it all wrong! We don't need no Euro-trash music or your shitty 80's music. What better music to listen going into battle than some scream metal? Disturbed or nothing else!"
"Justin Tmiberlake!" Kitten yells across the room, forcing all of the boys' arguing to cease for a moment.
"NO!", for once the boys' agree on one thing. There will be no boys bands being played tonight.
"Well, if all you fools are don' bickerin'!" "Hehe, bickerin'.." "We think we should be listen' to good ol' Southern Rock! And whhhhhatttt bett'er music than that there Lynyrd Skynyrd?! I mean, shoot, we're all free as birds now, right?" "Good point Billy!" The multiple number of men in red suits has the bartender yelling at him to keep it down to four or less forms.
A thunderous smash comes from the middle of the bar, sending every villain jumping back from Mammoth's impact.
"ALL OF YOU SHUT UP! I'M THE BIGGEST, BADDEST MOTHERFUCKER IN THIS ROOM, AND I'LL BE SAYING WHAT WE PLAY!
No one has any objections, none want to piss off the giant... especially when beer and music's involved.
"So, I say we listen to.." Mammoth begins but gets cut off by the sound of music starting to play on the radio.
"There must be so kind of way out of here... Said the Joker to the Thief. There's too much confusion.. I can't get no relief..."
The pulsing sound of "All Along The Watchtower", Jimi Hendrix's voice mixing with the bar's environment, sends a wave of attention towards the person choosing the music. For the most part, their expressions are a mix of anticipation of Mammoth beating the person's ass and fear of the same thing...
That fear quickly changes as the person in question turns around and looks at the crowd. Goggles gone, hat removed, only the coat remains...
"What the hell? Its Beast Boy!" one of the crowd yells out.
"Oh yeah, its him..." Mammoth announces, standing up. "You got balls coming in here."
Gar walks over to the bar, next to the hulking mass. "Of course I do. Between the two of us, someone has to."
A collective gasp can be heard across the room just before Mammoth's face starts turning red.
"What did you say you little.."
"I said of the two of us, I'm the only one who can call himself a man! You deaf or something Cromag?!" Gar cuts off the large teen.
"Oh you're fucking dead now."
"Before you start going caveman on me, caveman.." Gar motions with a polite finger up, he asks "You help me with some information, I help you with something you want."
The proposal halts the big man for a moment. "You're going to do me a favor if I tell you something? Since when do you Titans work with the bad guys?"
"Since I was kicked out a few days ago... Anyone wanna guess why?" Gar asks out loud, flipping his lighter out.
"Who cares?" See-More points out, "Lets beat his ass anyway! He's obviously bluffing."
"What? About where Jinx is going to be in a few days?" Logan answers nonchalantly, staring at the lighter intensely.
"You.. you know where she's heading?" See-More and Mammoth ask in disbelief.
"That depends actually on if you answer my question." Gar's bored tone is beginning to crack, hiding his brewing rage below. "Where is Ripper hiding?"
A few murmurs around the room as the attention is now entirely on Garfield.
""Who the fuck is Ripper?" Mammoth asks, folding his arms across his chest. "You makin' that name up pipsqueak?"
Once bored, Gar's eyes now meet Mammoth's tiny ones nearly alight with anger. "Do I LOOK like I'm making it up you ten-ton sack of shit? SOMEONE had to kidnap his hostage for him and I'm willing to bet SOMEONE in this room had a hand in it!"
Silence now, something Gar was expecting. "So... SOMEONE in here DID do it?"
"We ain't tellin' you nuthin'!" "What he said!" Billy replies.
"Besides.... why should we care about where that traitor's going to be? Who needs to break her when we have YOU!" Mammoth laughs, fist in his hand.
"Oh I'm all up for that.." Private HIVE motions, picking up his shield from the floor next to him.
Gar takes a step back, next to a glass of what appears to be whisky. The HIVE approaches him, ready to punish him for yesterday's attack on Gizmo.
"I'm going enjoy this.. About as much as I did kidnapping that girl of yours..." Mammoth sneers... He'll soon regret it.
As soon as he finishes the statement, Gar grabs the whisky. Taking a chance, he lights it on fire (Yukon Jack, for example, is flammable) and throws it into Mammoth's face. The mighty teen roars, falling back and trying to put out the flame. Despite the initial shock, the others rush Garfield.
The melee turns even more violent as Private HIVE charges for the attack. Kicking away the Private's weapon, Gar turns around, grabs a barstool, and smashes it across the boy's skull. The impact sends him flying back into Billy before he multiply.
See-More fires at Gar now from his eyepiece, sending the vigilante reeling back into the arms of some waiting thugs. Instead of holding him down though, they throw him back into the fight, cheering all the while.
Mammoth, now recovered, growls angrily and rushes towards Gar himself. "YOU'RE DEAD, SHITFACE, YOU'RE DEAD!"
Thinking quick, Gar turns into a Gorilla, grabbing one of Mammoth's arms, and tossing him into the thugs that had previously thrown Gar. A loud smash is heard as the group goes flying into another table, adding further to the damage this bar has had over the years.
"Who's next?!" Gar hisses, feeling the adrenalin kick in full-speed. "You're lucky I don't just burn down this hellhole right now!"
The mob of villains begin to band together again, all converging on Gar, slowly and cautiously. Each one has an evil grin and even more horrible ideas in mind for the vigilante.
"No need for that Beast Boy!" a young voice echoes from the doorway. As the group turns and looks, Kid Flash and Jinx stand together in dramatic pose.
"You guys still hanging out at this dump? Yous really need a life." Jinx jokes, hand on her hip with a smile on her face.
"You're late." Gar reminds, still keeping his eyes on the group gathered around him.
"Hold that thought.." KF remarks, zipping around the bar and attacking various people.
Jinx moves into action too, leaping over the crowd and next to Gar. "You Titans always pick the worst places to party..."
"Ex-Titan, Jinx." Gar reminds, standing back to back with her. "Your old teammates weren't being cooperative."
"They never were..." she laments
"Jinx, what the hell are you doing?" See-More asks, confusion not exactly hidden from his oversized eye.
"She's a Benedict Arnold, cyclops.. That's what!" Private HIVE answers, glaring daggers at her.
"Good, now I don't have to hunt you two down!" Mammoth announces as he stands up, dusting off his hands.
As the HIVE leaps forward again to attack, the green vigilante and the pink-haired Titan smile at each other before answering the fight in earnest...
---
"Well... that was fun.." Jinx comments, breathing deep from the fight.
"Did you really have to throw Billy through the bar though?" Kid Flash asks Gar, though he seems to be smiling under the mask.
"I never liked him. Its like watching a horrible TV show at an electronic store with all those screens." Gar replies, shaking his fist from obvious soreness.
"At the very least you didn't have to set Mammoth's face on fire.." Jinx admonishes, the trio standing over a dazed and partially burnt-faced Mammoth.
"Personal reasons. He helped kidnap my newly paralyzed friend..." Gar crouches down, lighter in hand. He leans next to the large teen and asks quietly "And now he's going to tell me where I can find her and Ripper?"
A groan.. "Why should I tell you? You're just going to get fucked up by him anyway..."
Gar flicks the flint, starting a spark "Not helping your case."
"Ripper's insane, dude. He'll kill you too."
Flame sprouts forth from the butane lighter, casting the tiny area in an orange glow. "Hair's flammable, Mammoth. You want to look like Gizmo too?"
"Why are you asking me anyway? You hurt my friend first, asshole." Mammoth retorts, not caring about the flame.
"What happened to you Mammoth?" Jinx asks now, looking at her friend with a slight bit of sympathy. "You never were this bad. If he's crazy enough to set your face on fire, he's not gonna bluff about the rest of your head."
"Jinx, beat it. At this point, I'd rather not even bother trying."
"C'mon big guy, don't give up now." KF adds in, surprised he's doing therapy with the big man who, months prior, wanted to kill him.
"I tell you, you'll leave?" The stinging starts to well up in his face though he tries to hide it as best as he can.
"And I'll get the ambulance down here." Gar reminds him, surprising Jinx in his soft tone. "He just used you and Gizmo, just like he did Deadshot. She's still alive don't forget. Where are they?"
---
The trio stand outside of the bar minutes later, waiting for the ambulance to show up. The cold wind blows through the group but no one seems to mind.
"Back there, with Mammoth.. I thought you were really going to light him on fire." Jinx asks, looking up at the moon.
"I was." Gar, just as cold as the wind, answers.
"Titans don't do that," KF starts but his expression changes "or did Robin change the rules?"
"I take it Boy Wonder hasn't told yous yet? About why you two were recruited?" Gar absently begins flicking on and off the lighter.
Two blank faces look at the green teen, beckoning him on.
"You both know I was... ahem, suspended from the Titans, right?" A double nod. "Did he tell you as he suspended me, I... hehe.. I kinda loudly quit?"
"No, wonder boy didn't tell us that." Jinx answers, smiling at the thought of Gar telling off Robin.
"How bad?" KF asks, eyebrow cocked up but not as happily as Jinx.
"Although Cy and I are cool at the moment, I basically tore into all four of them. If you get a chance, ask Cy to show your the security tape of it. I think I dropped a bomber-load of F-Bombs. Finished it by throwing my communicator at Robin."
"Holy shit.."
"Because he suspended you?"
Gar keeps the lighter lit now, eyeing both of them with a serious side-glance "That's the cover reason. The real reason's more personal... He won't be telling you that part at the briefing. Speaking of which, shouldn't you two be there now?"
"Hey, I may be the fastest boy alive, but I'm not always on time."
Jinx winks at Gar "Blame me for that. Apparently I'm trouble."
An ambulance siren is heard about three blocks away...
Gar rolls his eyes at the two before walking the opposite direction away. "I have someone to meet now. I've wasted enough time here with the kids anyway. Say hi to Cyborg for me, I missed him today by about two seconds. Later."
Gar waves absently behind his back, not seeing the couple as they watch him leave, questions still in their heads unanswered.
For a second though, Gar stops. Turning around, he warns Jinx "By the way Jinx, a little advice. Next time you two will probably see me, you'll be ordered to either attack me or to take me into custody. For both of your futures, don't hold back. We're cool and all, the three of us, but its either friendship or an angry maniac in your face wetting his tights because you didn't listen to him. Later."
---
At the safe house, Gar isn't surprised in the least to see Question waiting for him. Even more surprising is the fact that Gar isn't ready to kill him for ordering him away from Deadshot.
"Anything new in Jump City?" Q asks, not caring for an argument at the moment.
"Yeah, the Burn Ward at the hospital just added a new patient." Gar absent-mindedly answers, reaching into the fridge for some beans.
"You went back to that bar, didn't you?" To his ear's, it sounds more like a statement than an inquiry
"Yes sir." Gar replies, voice swinging in pitch but the sarcasm remains the same. "It was a little warm in there too but not enough to take off the coat."
"Who got burnt this time?"
"Gizmo's big, "me-monkey-me-crush" partner Mammoth. He didn't answer my questions, his whole gang was there, I was cornered. Found some strong alcohol, lit it on fire, and threw it in his face."
"Hmm, inventive. Take it he didn't talk then?" Question's expression never changes, not even his body language.
"After me and my two replacements on the Titans fought them off? Yeah, he did actually. Found out where they're keeping her." Gar's lack of emotion in the answers is a surprise, considering his behavior the past few days.
"Funny, Deadshot told me too."
"Lets hope they match. What did you bribe him with?" Gar asks now, sitting across from question and staring at him like a bored Lion at a tourist. "And before you ask, I'm not stupid. You don't reason with a mercenary, you bribe him."
"I'll tell you after we take down Ripper tomorrow. He isn't getting his payment until we have Ripper in custody."
"Sounds good."
"Strange, Garfield..." Question finally begins to wonder aloud "You're being surprisingly calm about everything. I would have expected you to throw a fit by now. At the least I thought you'd want to run down Ripper already."
"Ripper thinks he's on to me. He expects me to charge in like a fool, get caught in his trap, then hear him gloat about it. Even though I can't stand the thought of him holding Kris.." Gar shivers without thinking as he mentions it, "I know he won't kill her yet. If he wanted to, he could.. He's waiting for me to see it in person."
"Do you always make the connections without letting people you're doing it?" Question asks although sounding impressed by the young vigilante.
"Being the jokester also means you have to be observant. I didn't like being funny but I still knew how to watch."
"True indeed." Q finishes, a smile most likely on his face beneath the mask. "Since you're confident enough to remain calm, I'll be on my way. I'll meet you here tomorrow so we can take Ripper's hideout together."
"If you're about to tell me to sleep, I'd say the same for you." Gar interrupts before Question begins again.
"Can't sleep at the hotel. Ceiling's been giving me trouble at night, don't ask."
"I'll take your word for it..."
As Question leaves the building, Gar finds himself staring at his empty can of beans "And they said I'M quirky..."
---
A/N2: If you're wondering why this chapter's here in the story, look at the grand scale of things before you ask. If you've read my other works (and, if you're following this story, you better have since they're about to become VERY important), then you know that I believe in "everything that has an action, reaction". Keep that in mind as the story continues, eh?
Trivia:
- Alcohol above 50% (100proof) is indeed ignitable. I do, in fact, drink lots of whisky (most of which is at 80 and above). I've mixed 100+ proof shots together (Bacardi 151 / Yukon Jack 101).. trust me, it CAN and WILL melt your face off.
