Epilogue Part 1: Liquid Courage
He set the gravity to three times normal and stepped inside, his breakfast suddenly becoming much heavier than he expected. 'Man, just a breakfast wrap, and it feels like a brick!' He took a bite, and pulled his shirt off, setting it on a bench, and his food on top of it. He reached out with a faint tendril of energy and turned on a stereo set up nearby, and turned up the music. He spent an hour working out and cycling between different exercises. He was into his fifth one-armed pull up when he heard some yelling. He made a gesture, cutting off the stereo, and he looked to the door.
"Two tickets to the gun show, please!" Kathryn sang. Argon realized he had stopped halfway up on the bar, his arm muscles flexed and bulging. Katy and night looked at each other for a moment, Katy mouthing 'wow'. He dropped, and walked over to the girls, and before he could say anything, they stepped inside, shifted oddly, surprise on their faces, and fell to their hands and knees.
"Shit, help!" Night cried out, Katy grunted in agreement, slowly starting to get her feet back under her.
"Okay, I'm installing a light next chance I get. Scimitar A. I., reduce gymnasium gravity to normal, now!" Argon ordered, and the computer complied. He helped them stand back up.
"Well, now I see why you're ripped. What was that? Are you feeling better today?"
"Sorry, should have said something sooner, the room was at three times gravity, and yeah, fell off the bed at some point last night, didn't even wake up."
"That's tired, even for you." Night observed. She could remember many a night he offered to stand watch. He rarely slept back then. But as far as Night knew, it was only a couple years back.
"No kidding." He replied. She had a point, he was usually a light sleeper, when he did sleep.
"I'm gonna go, I wanna pick out some new clothes from that machine in the room I picked out." Katy spoke up, taking her leave.
"By all means, have fun with it!" he called after her, and then turned to Night. "This works out, there was something private I wanted to talk to you about. You go ahead, though, since you came to me."
"Alright. How long were you planning on keeping us here? I want to get back soon, and see what's changed in the city. We've got a hideout to rebuild, too."
"Keeping you? I'm not holding you all here against your will, this was just the first safe, comfortable place I could think of. Any time any of you want back down, let me know. Hell, I'll park this thing planetside, and everyone can use it as a new hideout if you guys want. Look, I didn't want to say anything to everyone, but worst case scenario, everyone is welcome to come home with me. I've already spoken with my father about it, and between all of us, everyone can find peace and comfort, and stop having to scrape by and steal to make a living. I have a lot more clout back home than I used to, even with how things turned out in the past hundred years. I could explain, but no one would believe me yet…"
"That's… very generous. Let's find Raze and Sinner first, though, okay? We'll talk about it when everyone is together."
"No problem. Remember that when I say total freedom, I mean it. If someone wants to operate a farm, it's theirs. If someone wants to fight, they'll be at a military post before they can finish the sentence. Someone wants to break in places and steal shit, I'll get them a job at a security firm testing out security systems, so they get PAID for it."
"A utopia back home?"
"Not quite. We're, in a way, like refined… Oh, what's the name of that Star Trek race… Cuh… Cah… Klingons! Don't worry, we don't eat our food alive and kill each other at random, we're fairly civilized, but our culture is based around warfare. Been fighting for… I think the earth term is millennia. My homeworld is fairly safe, though. There hasn't been a successful invasion in hundreds of years."
"Okay, I get the picture, I'll keep that in mind! What was it you wanted to talk to me about?"
"Take a seat if you don't mind. Everything is clean." Argon said, walking to the door. He ran his fingers over the buttons on the keypad, rapid fire beeps coming from it.
"You sure know that thing, don't you?" Night wondered. Argon looked practiced at entering the code. He hadn't even looked at the console.
"It's my old ship. Served on it for ten years. I know the Scimitar-II like I know my swords." He replied. He dragged a bench closer to Night and sat down, putting his shirt on. He sat there for a minute, thinking over what to say. He sighed, and dragged the bench a little closer, and he looked into her eyes.
"Clara, I'm talking to you on a very personal level. Rav and I have spent a lot of time together over the past several days, and, I'm not sure what's going on, but I think I might be becoming mentally ill, and I'm worried. I don't know if I'm becoming a liability or not." Argon started. Night gave him an odd look.
"I think I know where this is going, but go ahead and continue." She responded. Argon explained his feelings and experiences with Rose. He shared a few things that happened that he didn't explain when he told his story to everyone the night before.
"I'm sharing all this with you in confidence, Clara. It may have been a hundred years for me, but out of everyone I've ever served under, I had some of the most faith and trust in you. I'm not afraid to admit I am way out of my element right now.
"Argon, wow. I almost don't recognize you right now. I don't remember a time when you weren't confident or a little cocky. This is new!" She said with an amused smile.
"Heh, yeah, I've been through some pretty humbling experiences, this past week being no exception. I'm not even sure it's a week anymore, I stopped tracking time when I got my ass kicked for the third time. So, doc, what do you think? Too many blows to the head?"
"No, not quite. I'm not an expert in matters of the heart, but it sounds to me like you're falling in love." Night replied, rather plainly/
"That doesn't sound that bad, what is tha… Haahaaah, are you SERIOUS?!" he looked like he had been told something outlandishly weird and startling. "Ooh man…"
"This is new to you…?"
"Completely! I've never experienced anything like this before."
"What about before you left, when we were still all together?
"I did find a couple of the girls attractive, and there was a degree of curiosity, but I never acted on anything, never had feelings like this I haven't really felt any attraction for, I think, fourty years? Between Aine and Harry, and the occasional moment you and Raze shared, I didn't want to risk altering the team dynamic any. Then, as I do now, have no experience in the matter whatsoever, nor do I know how to proceed. It was scary enough when Ro-…Rav talked me into asking her for a date, now I have a commitment, and a side of me is… ecstatic? I think that's right. That, but at the same time, I'm scared to death I'll fuck it up. Ive also come to understand humans are fairly sexual creatures, and I'm not very knowledgeable of human physiology. What if there are physical incompatibilities, or I am unimpressive-" Night cut him off.
"OKAY, you can stop there. Now we're both out of our leagues. That goes into territory that Kathryn might be of more help with. As far as I can tell, with all due respect to her, she has the most experience out of all of us. Aine and Harry keep to themselves, and my relationship with Raze isn't up for discussion."
"Katy? Shit, You've seen her and Rav, that's an unstable explosive if I ever saw one." Night gave him an odd look again.
"What HAVE you been doing with your life? Seriously, you were never this socially awkward with euphemisms and references before."
"Battlefields and training. This has been practically a vacation for me."
"I can see that, and I know what you mean, the two of them started going at it again this morning, I had to talk them down."
"Fuck, again? What the hell was it this time?"
"It was- Shit, you never noticed before, did you?"
"Noticed what?"
"Katy liked you." Night stated. Argon sighed in agitation and lied down on the bench, his arms dangling to the floor. "We tried to help her catch your attention, but as I thought, you never saw her like that. I'm not even sure you caught on to what we tried to do. The few guys she dated after Andy, I'll bet she would have dumped them for you on the spot if you had asked her out. She thought the two of you together would be a lot of fun, and she wanted to develop some team attacks with your shared pyromorphic ability."
"Gods know I've got plenty to teach her now. If I can keep her from starting trouble with …Rav."
"Why do you stumble over her name sometimes?"
"I know her real name, and I really like it. But whether or not she wants to share that with everyone is her decision, not mine."
"I see..." Night thought of Aine.
"I trust you, but her trust I don't want to risk, for reasons other than the obvious. I've fought her when she actively wanted to hurt me, and I've seen her fight. That girl has something else to her. I don't know it yet, but if that comes into play… She's damn good, especially for a human. I've had years of practice and training with my combat style, and between me and her, if I don't use my powers, and we keep it a straight up fight, I think she can beat me. A lot of my strength comes from my powers now, and my own speed, reaction time, and creative thinking."
"I do wonder how you fight now, compared to how I remember it."
Maybe that'll come up soon, who knows with us. Clara, there's a karaoke bar I know of in Jump, I wanna treat you guys a bit later. I'll pay for all of it. They serve booze there, so I'll have to talk to Katy about it, and if you or the others wanna get… uhh… If you want to drink, the bartender is a pretty cool guy, I could probably bribe him if I take responsibility for you all."
"Harry mentioned earlier when we were all eating breakfast that you sang. Are you gonna sing a song for us? He said you were pretty good, even for just two lines."
"Eeehhhhh… No promises, but I'm in the mood to drink a good bit, especially after finding out that I'm …in love… with my best friend, and that the whole time in the past Katy liked me, amongst other things. Let's not bring up the fact Rav accepted my date proposal, that won't go over too well."
"That's not exactly the best way to handle that." Night said with a surprised laugh.
"Yeahah. I'm not going to dispute that, but…"
Later in the evening, an awkward conversation with Kathryn about drinking, and a thousand dollars in bribes later, the group was at the karaoke bar, enjoying some fresh non-replicated food, and various drinks. At long last, Argon had the hard beverage he'd been wanting. A hundred dollar bill had gotten him a bottle of Everclear, and all the soda he could mix with it. He explained that his people had a high tolerance for alcohol, and he didn't want to mess around. He was celebrating reuniting with his friends. Night knew better, and Rose was suspicious. Night wanted to know how he got all the money to spend that he had, and he refused to tell, citing that no one would believe him. Everyone seemed to be having a good time except for Kathryn, who simply looked like she wanted to burn down the bar. Argon had managed to put away half of his bottle when the topic of him singing came up. Nightmare had asked him what he had sung earlier on the ship.
"That… That was, oh! Locomotive Breath, by Jethro Tull. Old song from the nineteen-seventies here on Earth."
"Never heard of it."
"Ooof course." Argon replied, and laughed.
"What are you gonna sing?" Aine asked.
"Oh yeah, let's hear it!" Ivy added.
"Well, Argon?" Katy said, noticing his half empty bottle of practically straight alcohol, the smile on her face offset by her ruby eyes, narrowed mischievously.
"Kathryn, I will if you go first!" Argon tried to match her look, only succeeding in smiling at her.
"Nice try. Tell ya what, if you do two, then I'll go up there, and show you how a real girl can sing!" She challenged. Rose, feeling a pleasant buzz at this point, rolled her eyes. "Oh please…" Katy shot her a glare and returned to goading Argon into singing. He downed half a cup of soda to clear his throat, stood up and wobbled for a second, and then pointed at Katy.
"Challenge accepted. I haven't sang in… what… A hundred and twenty years though, so if this goes to hell, it's all on you, sister!"
"Go get 'em, tiger!" Katy taunted back. Argon worked his way to the stage, and not noticing the stairs, he planted a hand on the stage and jumped up. He steadied himself with the mic stand. 'Okay, maybe that stuff hit me harder than I thought. I haven't eaten anything on purpose just for that reason, I thought I was just faking it a bit.' He wondered. Pushing buttons, he flipped through songs, set them to group by year, and looked up the year he had met his old friends. He quickly scanned through a few songs that caught his eye, checking the lyrics. He made his decision. He tried talking through the microphone, moving his lips, but hardly making an interrupted sound. He popped the mic against his hand a few times, making thunking sounds through the speakers. Several people yelled at him, and he laughed. He noticed a few annoyed looks from his friends, but Kathryn still maintained a mischievous smile.
"Alright, alright. Uhh… I'm dedicating this one to my friends, having recently met up with them after being apart for a long time. This song is from the year I met them. Hope you guys like it. It's called 'I'm Alive' by, uhh, Disturbed." He said, and hit the start button. The sound of electric guitars thundered from the speakers, and he yanked his hair loose from the elastic band tying it back. After a few moments, the screen cued him.
He started singing, trying to make his dedication felt through the lyrics. It had been quite some time since he had performed, and it was nice doing so again. Even better getting to sing whatever he wanted. He finished several minutes later, to cheers scattered throughout the bar. He set the mic back into the stand and made his way back to the bar, to be greeted by clapping. Argon couldn't help but smile.
"Wow, you're pretty good!" Storm said.
"Damn! Didn't know we had a rocker among us!" Nightmare said. Argon took a seat, and the bartender passed him a drink.
"On the house, buddy. That'll help with your throat, you started to sound a little rough there at the end."
"Thanks, man." Argon responded. The drink did help his throat, he started feeling a bit better as he drank it. He felt a hand on his arm. It was Rose.
"You going up there again?" She asked, a step above a whisper, whiskey on her breath.
"Considering it, why?"
"I'll bet you can do better, Ar… Blow me away…"
Argon looked at her. She looked back. 'My gods, that smile of hers…' He thought.
"Shut that 'Pyra' wench up for me, she missed her chance." Rose added, the smile becoming a little more vicious.
"By the way, why did I wake up in the floor this morning…?" he whispered to her.
"I tried to wake you, all ya did was grunt and roll off the bed. I'm not gonna let an offer to stay in the nicest room on the ship go to waste." She explained.
Inspiration finally struck him after some thinking, and he turned back to the bartender. He filled his glass halfway with alcohol and asked him to fill it the rest of the way with soda.
"Little strong, dontcha think?" he asked.
"Gonna need some more liquid bravery for this one, man."
"Your funeral." The bartender replied, sounding genuinely concerned. Argon finished his drink and sat there, waiting, and thinking. Finally, he felt ready. He leaned over to Rose, gently laying his forearm on her shoulder.
"You wanted me to blow ya away? I'll do my best, but remember, you asked for it…" he warned. She shoved him off of her and his bar stool entirely.
"Just get up there!" She said, loud enough for those around to hear. Night looked at Argon's bottle and at the bartender.
"I've never seen a guy put it away like he does. The way he's been drinking that, if I'd have done it, I'd be unconscious." The bartender said, sounding impressed.
Argon pushed buttons on the machine, looking for a certain song. He found it and got it ready.
"This one's gonna be different. I didn't know before, but this one is by some guy who calls himself Seal. That's different…" Some guy in the crowd yelled for him to 'get on with it.'
"Yeah, yeah. 'Kay. This one I'm dedicatin' to someone special. Maybe she's in here, maybe she isn't I dunno. Iff'n she is, she'll know who I mean…" He finished. He meditated on himself for a moment, realizing he was starting to get a little too buzzed to sing properly, so he tried to scale back the alcohol in his system a bit, and hoped for the best. When he felt ready, he hit play, and the song started. He waited a moment, and the lyrics started.
"There, used to be a graying tower alone on the sea… You, became, the light on the dark side of me…"
He continued, letting his degree of inebriation take away his shyness and let his feelings flow through his voice. Before long, the song ended, the last word forcing him to stretch his lungs more than he expected. 'Ugh, I thought all the time spent in battle would let that work better, guess not…' He hopped from the stage amid sporadic clapping, and as he started to make his way back to the bar, he found himself accosted by a drunken woman who insisted the song was for her.
"Night, any idea what that was about?" Storm asked her.
"Nope." Night lied. 'Yeah, declare your intentions to the world while you're drunk. That ALWAYS works…' She mentally chided Argon.
"Ey, Rose? What in blue blazes are you doing here? Anyway, you and that feller left some stuff at my pla…" The doctor that Rose and Argon had stayed with several days ago had approached her, and trailed off when he saw the look she gave him, and noticed the others around her slowly turn to look at her.
"Oh my god, your name is Rose too? Wow! That's so sweet of him!" Ivy said. She had guessed that Argon held some feelings for Ravager after seeing their interactions after the group was freed.
"…You are gonna die." She hissed at him. Argon finally made his way back.
"So, how was that? Kat… Uh… oh…" He started, and noticed everyone's expressions. Kathryn turned away and faced the bar.
"Real smooth, Argon…" Night said, a palm to her head.
"That was really sweet, but how drunk are you? Aine asked, looking concerned. Argon looked around, saw Rose's face, and made a snap decision. He could almost feel the alcohol draining from his body.
"Everyone, hold your thoughts for just a moment." He grabbed the bottle he had been slowly working on, dug in his pocket for a couple more large bills and slapped them on the bar, and turned the bottle up. The bartender's eyes got wide.
"I'm on a five minute break." He announced, and walked away, taking the bills as he passed Argon. Argon held up a finger as he started chugging. A second later, he vanished.
THUD.
Argon continued chugging the contents of the bottle, finally draining it. The taste sent him into an uncontrollable shiver, and he tried to keep from throwing up.
"Oh Gods, I am never doing that again, that was horrible!" He said out loud, and shivered again. He opened his eyes after a moment and looked up, to see Nightwing, arms crossed, standing in front of him, communicator in hand. He flipped it open.
"Nightwing here, I found Argon, he's in front of the karaoke bar. He popped up right in front of me, finishing off a bottle of booze."
"Roger, on our way." A voice replied. In a moment of angry panic, Argon took a step back, smashed the bottle over his head, and held up the broken neck as a weapon.
"Just how trashed are you?" Nightwing asked him. Argon looked at his hand for a moment.
"Damn, you're right. What the hell am I doing…?" He replied, and tossed the remains of the bottle down the alley. He called his two smaller swords down to him and took a defensive stance. He stood completely still, barely breathing, watching Nightwing. Nightwing pulled out a collapsible bo staff and extended it, and readied himself for the fight.
"This will hardly be fair if you really drank that entire bottle. Doesn't bother me, though, I'll still fight you and take you down." He boasted. He swung the staff at Argon, who countered it by simply reversing how he held a blade, and raised his arm, blocking the strike. He belched at that point, a small blue fireball rolling from his mouth.
"Lucky block."
"Probably." Argon replied, being honest. The fight began, Nightwing quickly noticing that Argon's state of inebriation had severely affected his fighting style. His speed was still there, but he was at half strength, and his two swords weren't-
"AGH!" Nightwing cried out, backing up a few steps. He had a deep cut on his arm and in his side. "Now you're trying to kill me?"
"Wha? No! Why are you bleeding..?" Argon wondered. He looked at his swords for a moment. "Weird, isn't there…? Oh yeah!" The two swords blazed red energy. "That's better, right? Safety mode on?"
At that point, Raven arrived, bringing Starfire, Beast, and Cyborg. Raven immediately moved to Nightwing to check his injuries.
"Hey, cool, ya brought friends! Did I tell ya I found mine again?" Argon said, seeing everyone arrive. A moment later, Night led everyone outside, and the two teams squared off.
"Hey guys, look, I got this. Check me out, I'm gonna go super!" Argon said, then crouched, his red aura flashing to life and swirling around him. The others watched for a moment as his aura swirled and pulsed, growing and fading. "Huh, not workin.'"
"This is just sad." Cyborg remarked.
"Argon, we need to get out of here, we aren't ready for this, much less you being in any condition to fight!"
"I can take these guys, take Rav and get'er out of here!" He nearly slurred.
"Argon!" Night called to him.
"The old hideout's still there, g'over there, I'll meet up later!" He turned back to the Titans.
"I'm the one you want, come get me!" he taunted them, then turned his head back. "Go Rav, get out of here!"
"Forget it Ar, you're too drunk, someone has to stay and keep you from doing something stupid!" Rose said, standing by his side.
"Actually, we want all of you." Cyborg said, stepping forward, both of his arms transformed into sonic cannons. He opened fire on Argon and Rose at the same time. She ducked in time, but Argon didn't, he had called down Crimson's sword and blocked the blast aimed for her with it while taking the one aimed at him square in the chest. Aine stepped forward and called a massive blast of wind that sent the Titans tumbling. Aine wasn't expecting it, and she looked in her hands in shock. "How did I do that?" Kathryn conjured a large phoenix that swooped at the Titans, but it was deflected by Raven's soul-self, the two opposing birds crashing into each other and causing Kathryn's phoenix to fizzle out. A bright flare of light caught everyone's attention; Argon had lit himself on fire with bright yellow-blue flames. He got to his hands and knees and threw up, blue and green flames splattering on the ground. He climbed to his feet, wiping his mouth off. The yellow flames intensified into a dull roar of fire, straightening out around him like a large afterburner flame for a moment, and then it winked out. Argon's vomit burned for a few more seconds.
"That was kinda gross, and cool at the same time." Nightmare noted.
"Rav!" Argon called out. She turned, and he tossed her his two swords, and settled into a stance with Crimson's sword. "I'm still kinda tipsy, but I'm fine now. Night, get the others out of here, we'll catch up!"
Night reluctantly nodded her assent, and the group took flight.
"You ready?" Argon asked her, smiling at the prospect of fighting the Titans with her.
"Let's kick some ass!" Rose replied, smiling back.
"Did I ever mention that I adore that wicked smile of yours?" Argon asked, calling Crimson's sword into his hands.
"You could stand to say that more…" She replied, the smile still there.
Argon lunged toward her, firing burners and flying after Rose, catching her hand and spinning for momentum, sending her at one side of the group while Argon continued on to strike from the other.