Chapter 4: O Brother, Where Art Thou?
-New York Sewers-
Jean LeBeau let out a guttural growl as he towered over the two intruders who decided to enter his territory, he was honestly starting to think that people were coming around his home just to piss him off. And the sad thing was? It was working a little too well.
"Well, dear sister, you brought us here. Now how the hell are we gonna deal with the overgrown suitcase over here?" Jackal said to his sister as the alligator man in front of them banged his knuckles together to intimidate them, slapping his tail on the ground for good measure.
"Outwit him, maybe? We should be able to do that." Hyena replied.
"Ah'm right here, and Ah'm not that dumb." Jean told her.
"Any other bright ideas?" Jackal questioned.
"Just one." Hyena replied before she charged at the gator man in front of them and slid under one of his punches before springing herself up into a double uppercut kick that knocked Jean's balance off its center and allowed Jackal to lunge and kick him again, causing him to trip over his tail and fall into the sewer canal behind him.
With a growl, the alligator man climbed back out of the canal before charging at them, swinging a fist at Jackal, who dodged the blow. His sister went in for another attack, but her target swung his tail at her and made her jump back on reflex. Deciding to change tactics, they tried attacking together, hoping to throw Jean off his game.
Jackal attacked low, kicking Jean's shins and made him buckle low enough for Hyena to jump off his back and nail the giant reptile with a solid roundhouse to the snout, causing him to fall over on his back and was forced to hold them off with his massive arms as they pulled out knives.
"So, sister, now that we—oof!—have him moderately pinned, what should we do with this bruiser?" The man questioned as he struggled to get a stab in on Jean, but the gator man kept dodging his head back and forth, causing the tip of the weapon to hit the concrete of the sewer floor.
"Well, we could take him as a live trophy, but we can't." The only woman present sighed.
"Again, still right here!" The Cajun beast of the bayou snarled as he worked his arms free enough to grab the two and then rolled himself and his attackers into the sewer canal beside them. This caused the three to descend into the murky depths of the city's bowels and become underwater—Where Jean had home field advantage.
Jackal tried to swim to the surface, but the gator man quickly swam towards him and delivered a strong left hook. Bubbles escaped the man's mouth as he lost some air and tried to retaliate, but his movements were hindered by the water and left him open to another attack in the form of a kick from said gator.
Hyena, meanwhile, was much more nimble in their H2O battle arena, and bashed her elbow into Jean's ribs, causing him to wince and then grab her and Jackal in response and slam the two together like a pair of symbols. This dazed the two and allowed him to slam them into the sewer wall before returning to the surface, having the two siblings by their heels.
Tossing them on the ground, this knocked the wind out of the two and made them cough out water. Jackal of course was livid at this outcome, but Hyena—She seemed more aroused from being slung around like a rag doll by the big bruiser than anything else.
"Okay, you two. Why'd you come here again?" Jean questioned, arms folded. The two looked at each other, before Hyena pulled out a few pellets from her belt.
"Sorry, big guy, but it's my personal rule to never kiss and tell!" She said before she threw the pellets down, causing a bright light to blind the bayou brawler momentarily. When his vision cleared up, the two were gone from their previous spots. With a grunt, he headed back to his trailer so he could relax.
But before he could, he noticed that there was a walkie talkie that had the Pack's logo on it on the ground where the two previously were. Picking it up, Jean noticed that there was a note on the back.
"Thanks for the scuffle Big Guy, be sure to keep in touch, alright?- Hyena." The note read, having a heart cut into the paper.
"... Ay ay ay, that woman's nuts." He said to himself, and for some reason, he didn't mind. He then packeted the walkie talkie and headed back to his home.
(A week or two later)
Nearly two weeks later, Jean was busy doing his usual food/supply run and had managed to get just about everything he needed to restock himself for the next couple weeks.
However, when he was about to go back into the Hudson River to get home, he suddenly had to block a metal figure that slammed into him without warning, barely managing to not drop his bag.
"Ngh! Who's the idiot?!" He growled as he looked at his assailant and was greeted by what looked like a robotic gargoyle. This one had a red and black color scheme going on. "A steel clan Gargoyle? I thought the guys turned you rust buckets into scrap." He said as he set down his sacks and traps, before getting into a stance.
The red gargoyle robot was silent for a moment or two before it got into a stance and spoke. "Your accent is a very thick Cajun one. But you enunciate your syllables rather hard. What kind of dialect is that? Haitian Creole?" It said, and the voice was one the gator recognized right away.
"Xanatos?! You made a suit out of these things?!" He asked in disbelief. The man chuckled as he held his stance.
"Close. I can see that Owen, Hyena and Jackal weren't kidding, you are smarter than the average alligator." Xanatos replied. "But enough talk, Gator-Man, let's fight." He added before hand taunting the giant reptile, egging him on. With a gator-like hiss, Jean charged and threw a haymaker at the proxy, only for it to be blocked.
The Cajun hybrid jumped back and started circling his perceived prey, trying to figure out where to attack.
"Capable of near human thought, speech, just about everything. While still having the ferocity and power of a giant reptile." The Metal gargoyle clad man said before deploying his arm cannon. "It does make me curious though, how did you come about?" He added before shooting at Jean, causing him to leap back as the sun began to rise.
"If you really need to know, it's due to my mama being a Voodoo Witch and in league with Baron Samedi." Jean replied, deciding to humor the man at least a little. "And because my great grandpappy was cursed by a Hoodoo witch doctor. Folks back home didn't like that, and I had to run." He added.
"My condolences, I know how it feels to lose a home to the ignorance of the masses." Xanatos said sincerely, before the two lunged at each other and clashed in the center of the walkway to Central Park, turning the fight into a wrestling match.
As this was going on, one Detective Matt Bluestone—Elisa's partner—was passing by in his car after getting some breakfast and coffee and spotted the two fighting. He was quick to pull over and get out before heading over to them, pistol ready.
Jean bellowed as Xanatos shot him in the chest with his cannon before charging at him, only for the red metal clad man to leap over him and grab him by the tail. "Ah'm Gonna knock you into next Tuesday! C'mere!" The brute yelled as he swung his tail hard and slammed Xanatos into a tree before pinning him by the shoulders.
"Let's test that theory." The billionaire chuckled in amusement as he fought back. Matt quickly hid behind the tree that was across from the two and loaded his gun as quickly as he could—his heart pounding in panic.
"Holy crap. I can't believe what I'm seeing!" He whispered as Jean grabbed Xanatos and slammed him on the ground hulk hogan style before jumping up and dive bombing him Macho Man style.
The Gargoyle armor-clad man barely managed to roll out of the way as the gator man crashed to the ground. Getting back to his feet, he shot at Jean with his arm laser, only for it to be dodged.
Jean bellowed loudly before he slammed his tail into the man's side, making him skid to the side, before he ducked under a kick and sunk his teeth into Xanatos' armored leg and slammed him on his back again. But, before he could finish the man off, Matt came out from hiding and pointed his gun at them.
"Freeze Freakazoids!" The detective yelled.
"What the-!" Jean started to yell in surprise before Xanatos smacked him into a tree, which broke in two and fell on top of him, before the man flew away.
Matt quickly took out his radio next. "Hey Elisa, you gotta get over here to Central Park, and bring some backup." He said as he pressed the on button.
"What for?" The blue haired police woman asked in return.
"You'll have to see for yourself when you get here." Matt replied. Jean groaned as he tried to get up, but fell back on his belly due to the tree that was on top of him. As the beast lay there, unconscious, the red headed detective quickly looked him over and was surprised at what he was seeing.
'Holy crap, he's a legit gator man!' He thought in shock. As he continued looking him over, he could see just how strong he was and that he could definitely take a beating if trying to get out from under a tree was anything to go by.
As he continued to examine Jean, he noticed that the beast had a necklace that looked like a pottery disc with some sort of Haitian Voodoo symbol on its face (probably Baron Samedi's but he wasn't sure), and around his right wrist was what looked like a bracelet with a bronze pendant with an Egyptian hieroglyph of Sobek on it.
"Weird. Why do you have these on you, big guy?" He whispered to himself in confusion. As he continued to examine the giant reptile, he got a good look at his massive teeth by opening his mouth… and had to back up when Jean snapped them shut with a growl, and started stirring awake.
"Agh… Okay, that was irritating." He grunted as he pushed himself to his feet, the tree pinning him down unable to hold him.
As he shook off the giant piece of timber, he soon took notice of the detective in front of him and glared down at him. "Qu'est ce que tu regardes?" The large man questioned in the creole dialect of French. Basically saying to the man "What chu lookin' at?"
"U-um…" Matt stammered, unable to say anything. Jean just grunted before he picked up his sack and traps before he jumped into the river without another word. The redhead could only stare at the direction he left in with shock.
It was then that Elisa drove up next to Matt's car and saw her partner standing in the middle part of the park, shocked still, with a felled tree in front of him.
"Um, what exactly happened?" The blue haired woman asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I…. I'm honestly not sure anymore." The man replied, snapping out of his stupor.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile in the sewers, Jean growled as he dragged his plunger and supplies onto his island—cursing profusely at his horrible week as of late the entire way.
"First it was the damned Steel Clan, Jackal and Hyena harassing me constantly, then it was that Demona woman, and now Ah've got Xanatos getting nosy! Fuck this week!" He growled in frustration.
Setting his stuff down in his house, he started putting away what were his basic groceries. However, as he got to the various cups, dishes and utensils he found in abandoned houses or yard sales—the walkie talkie that he had on his table suddenly came on.
"Testing, testing. Can you hear me over there?" Came the voice of Hyena. "Hey tall, dark and scaly, you there?" She asked. Sighing, he picked it up and responded.
"Yeah, Ah can hear ya." He said.
"Hey, big boy. Glad to see you kept my little gift." The woman purred at the other end. This made the gator man roll his eyes in annoyance.
"Ah have a name, Hyena." He deadpanned.
"And what might that name be?" The woman prompted.
"Jean LeBeau." The Cajun gator man replied.
"Jean LeBeau… With a name like that, I take it you came from Louisiana, right?" Hyena questioned. With a profession like hers, Hyena was bound to learn a bit about how to read people. Guessing where someone came from based on their names was one such thing.
"Bon Cherie." The man nodded in his native creole French. "Now, why're you callin' me?" He questioned.
"What, a woman can't know a bit about the people that catch her eye?" The brunette woman asked in an innocent manner. Jean, though, knew better.
"They can, but when that woman is a redbone lookin' for a fight, it raises a few flags, as de locals say." The reptile responded.
"Redbone?" The woman questioned.
"Bayou speak, it means mercenary." He replied. "Now, what's ya angle?" He questioned.
"Just wanted to ask you out is all." The woman replied, causing Jean to pause.
"... Did Ah just hear that right?" He asked, wondering if his ears were playing tricks on him.
"Yeah. Just me around the jewel exchange. I'll show you what I have in mind." Hyena replied before letting out a purr and a chuckle.
"Um… Okay?" The hybrid man replied in confusion as their little chat ended. 'Why do I feel like I'm not gonna like this…?' He thought warily.
(Later)
Meanwhile up in the skies that night, Elisa was up in the sky with her brother Derek, who was a police helicopter pilot. The reason why was because she was trying to tail Xanatos, who she was still trying to prove as dirty.
"Why are you so hung on proving Xanatos is dirty?" Derek asked as he flew the copter.
"Because he is, Eric, and I need to prove it's true." Elisa replied as she looked down at the man's limo.
"He did his time, why not just let him be?" Her brother questioned her.
"He's done nothing but put myself and several of my friends in danger with those schemes of his. Even almost got a couple of them killed." She responded. "So don't tell me that I'm in the wrong here." She added.
"I know how touchy you get about this kind of stuff, but is obsessing over it really a good idea?" Derek asked as their quarry neared the jewel exchange.
"If it means I can keep him from causing trouble we can't come back from, yeah. I'd say so." Elisa nodded as they kept flying around, until they reached the building where a huge jewel exchange was supposed to be held… and Derek suddenly noticed that a manhole was moving.
"Huh?" He whispered to himself as he focused his gaze on the manhole cover. After a moment, he was shocked when it was removed and saw a live gator man emerge before putting the cover back. "What…?!" He uttered to himself as the mutant hid in the shadows.
"What? What is it?" Elisa asked as her brother suddenly focused his Helicopter's spotlight on the manhole cover, but was only able to see the tip of the beast's tail before it disappeared into the alley.
"Hm… Nothing. Probably just me seeing things." Derek replied, shaking his head.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile down on the ground, Hyena and Jackal were waiting just outside the back of the Manhattan Diamond Exchange. The long haired man having his arms crossed and the woman tapping her red nails on her arm. Jackal was wearing a nice suit with a western bolo tie that looked to be in the shape of the Pack's symbol. His sister, meanwhile, was in a red dress with a similar chest clasp and red high heels.
"Now, Hyena, exactly who is this backup you're having us wait for?" The man questioned, his arms still crossed.
"You'll find out." His sister told him before Jean rounded a corner. "And there he is." She grinned.
"Sis, have you lost it?!" Jackal hissed. Jean just ignored him.
"Okay, Ah showed up. What exactly do you even want me here for?" He questioned.
"We got ourselves a job to do here, what we need you to do is cause a commotion when we try to slip away from here." She told him. Jean was about to ask what this job was when he connected the dots. Instead of getting angry, he just deadpanned at the siblings.
"Really? You want me to help you guys steal a gem?" He questioned flatly.
"Hey, don't be such a sourpuss. Whatever happened to the "Mean and Nasty Crocodile"?" Jackal questioned with a chuckle, causing Jean to again look at him with a deadpan.
"Really? Maisy? Ah haven't watched dat show in years." The reptilian man scoffed, but couldn't help but chuckle as he shook his head.
"But yeah. We're trying to steal the Coyote's Eye Diamond. That thing's worth a lot, so we'd like to set ourselves up for life with it. Care to lend a hand?" Hyena asked, giving Jean a sexy wink.
Jean rolled his eyes at her antics. This wasn't the first time someone tried to make use of his strength and power in exchange for favor, he'd gotten that a lot from pretty much everyone in the bayou—from the LaBuff family when they had him guard or work on their plantation, to the kids that he went to school with—they rewarded him handsomely, of course. But it didn't make it seem any less annoying.
"Alright, fine. But you better pull it off, got it?" He told them sternly.
"Don't worry. We intend to." Jackal nodded.
"Now, brother, let's go." Hyena said as the two went inside, and Jean quickly pulled out the cell phone that Elisa gave him to keep in touch with everyone.
"Ey! Elisa, you oughta check the Diamond Exchange in a few minutes." He told the police woman, who picked up on the other end.
"Why? What's going on?" The police woman asked in confusion.
"Jackal and Hyena are gonna try their hand at stealing the Coyote's Eye Diamond. They apparently decided to hire me as a distraction for their getaway." Jean explained.
"And you're not actually considering helping, are you?" The woman questioned.
"People have asked me to make use of my traits to help 'em before, but this? Never anything like this." The gator man replied, shaking his head. "No, I'm not gonna help with this." He added. "Doesn't mean Ah won't gas light 'em." He said as he walked over to the fuse box before hanging up.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile in the building, Hyena and Jackal were examining the large Diamond they were to steal. As they did, however, a woman removed it from its case and gave it to Xanatos, much to the siblings' irritation.
"Now what are we supposed to do?" Hyena whispered to her brother.
"Temper, sister, we'll just have to steal it from him next." Jackal stated. "So why don't you call your friend and get him to dim the lights for us?" He whispered into his sister's ear.
"Now there's an–" The woman started to say before the lights went out, much to everyone's surprise. "-idea. Huh, I didn't even have to call him." Hyena finished, blinking in surprise as everyone else fumbled around in the dark.
"Showtime." Jackal grinned as he and Hyena ran towards Xanatos with Night vision goggles on their faces, the former tripping the man with a sweep of the leg and the latter catching the diamond in one hand and putting it in her purse.
"Time to bounce!" She called as they started running. When they got to the roof, however, Elisa and Derek were waiting for them in their helicopter.
"This is the police! Stay where you are!" Derek yelled as the two jumped around before Jackal pulled out a bazooka. "Oh shit…" He said in shock before someone tapped on the shoulder, before someone punched him in the face, making him drop said weapon.
"Hello Jackal, how's the job going?" Xanatos questioned. Jackal growled as he pulled out a knife. Meanwhile with Hyena, she was behind a wall.
"Hey! Why didn't you say that there was a police helicopter nearby?" She snapped into her walkie talkie.
"My bad, Ah didn't know that Ah was supposed to be a lookout too." Jean responded teasingly with a deep chuckle.
Hyena let out a growl of slight frustration before she rushed over to an AC unit. "Good thing we planned our getaway." She said as she brought out a pair of gliders, giving one to her brother. Right as she was assembling hers, the billionaire made his move and attacked her before taking the diamond back.
"You son of a—!" She snapped before Jackal grabbed her shoulder.
"Another time, sis! We gotta go!" He told her as they ran away from the helicopter and glided away before the helicopter could follow.
(Later)
"Wai-wai-wai-wait. You actually helped them at the Diamond Exchange?" Brooklyn questioned as Jean sat down in the clock tower with the rest of the clan.
"Well Ah was trying to gas light 'em. People have asked me to help them before, but never for stuff like this." Jean explained. "At least they didn't get the diamond." He added.
"Well we should be looking for those two before they do something else!" Lexington growled.
"How would we even know where to look?" Broadway challenged.
"Enough!" Goliath exclaimed, silencing them. "Bickering like children will get us nowhere. You're warriors, so act like it." He told them.
"That aside, I really need to find a way to make my brother see that Xanatos is bad news." Elisa said, causing Goliath to turn to her.
"You must tell him the truth, show him us if needed, he must be made to see." He told her.
"Ya sure that'll work?" Jean questioned.
"That's all we have at this point, lad. Not much choice." Hudson told him.
"Still don't sound like a good idea to me, cap, regardless." The gator man replied before he got up. "Ah gotta get moving, de recent intrusions in my territory has taught me that Ah shouldn't be out of the sewers for too long." He continued and went to the ladder leading out of the building.
(Later)
After returning to his territory, Jean set about making dinner for himself. Right as he was, though, there was a rather hard knock on the door. Frowning slightly at how aggressive it was, he opened it and saw a very miffed Hyena standing there.
"What are you doin' here, cher?" The Cajun hybrid questioned.
"What the hell were you even doing during that heist?!" She demanded as she pretty much let herself in, much to Jean's irritation.
"Stealin' ain't exactly my idea of a "good time", Hyena." He told her as he pulled out a pair of rather large Lobsters from inside his refrigerator and started making a pot of crawfish boil and the usual sides of potatoes, sausage, lemons, garlic, celery, onions, and peppers to go in said boil before turning on the stove. "But, since ya here. Why not sit down a spell? I'll fix up a little somethin' for us to eat." He added as he worked. Hyena wanted to say no but her grumbling stomach betrayed her.
"... Alright, fine." She conceded as she sat down on the sofa. "... Is this your way of asking me out?" She asked in a teasing tone.
"That depends on you." Jean shrugged. "You prefer beer, straight liquor, or do you have a preferred cocktail?" He asked as he went over to his liquor and beer freezer.
"I'll take some liquor. I'm not really partial to any in particular." The woman shrugged.
"Alright, how about a couple o' Sazeracs?" The man suggested as he took out some Sazerac Rye, Cognac, bitters, gum syrup, and a couple lemon peels and fixed the drinks. He made himself a rye sazerac and Hyena a cognac sazerac.
"I certainly won't say no to that." The woman grinned as she accepted her beverage and took a sip. "Oh yeah, that's good stuff." She nodded in approval. Jean grinned as he looked over the crawfish boil.
"Nice to see you've got good taste." He nodded before he went and sat next to her as the dinner continued to cook. "Ah've been wonderin': What made you become a hunter of your profession, anyway?" He inquired.
"Why does anyone do anything? Cuz I like it, that's why. The thrill of a fight or heist is always fun, and gets my blood pumping like crazy." Hyena told him.
"So you do it to satisfy your bloodlust, is what you're saying." The bayou brawler clarified. This got a "so so" shrug from the former TV star, as if to confirm what he had just concluded.
"TV star life was fun while it lasted, but like pretty much everything, it got stale overtime—fast. So I looked for new pastures, so to speak." The woman explained.
"Good times only roll so long." Jean nodded as he took a drink of his Sazerac. "But Ah gotta ask, cher. Why me outta all de guys in dis big ol' city? Why ya so interested in an 'overgrown suitcase' like myself?" He questioned seriously as he leaned on the back of the couch they were now sitting on. Hyena was going to answer before she paused and pondered her reasons. After a moment, she spoke again.
"I… Don't know." She replied with a frown. "I just… Kinda suddenly found myself taking a liking to you, and I don't know why." She continued, her voice one of confusion.
"One o' those things, huh?" Jean mused before he got up and checked on the food again. "Well, at any rate, food's done." He said before he took the pot off the burner and started getting it onto plates for them. Hyena's mouth almost watered as the scent hit her nose, her stomach practically roaring at her to eat what she was smelling.
"So hungry…" She gasped as Jean set one of the lobsters in front of her with a few of the sides.
"Then go ahead, eat." He told her, getting his own food. The woman didn't hesitate and cut off a piece of her lobster before eating it, moaning in bliss at the Cajun based flavors bombarding her taste buds. As she continued eating, Jean had to suppress a chuckle as he realized he had basically gotten her addicted to his cooking in one fell swoop.
However, their dinner together was interrupted by the woman suddenly getting a call. "You should probably get that, Hyena." The gator told her.
"Yeah, it's probably Jackal. I better get going." She nodded as she got up. "Let's… Do this again sometime, Jean." She added.
"Yeah, I think I'd like that, Hy—." Jean nodded, before she spoke over him.
"It's Helena, actually." The former star corrected him. "That's my real name, you can go ahead and use it when we're around each other." She added.
"Alright then… Helena." Jean nodded before the woman left, but not without giving him a smile on her way out. 'That woman… She's definitely something else.' He thought to himself.
Meanwhile with Hyena, she quickly answered her phone. "Yeah, Jackal, what is it?" She asked irritably.
"Wrong teammate, Hyena." Fox said on the other end.
"Fox? What do you want?" She questioned, a bit surprised by the sudden call from her red haired teammate.
"I got a new job for you, one you may like. Unless you're too busy right now." The redhead stated.
"Oh yeah? What is it?" The brunette asked, showing interest in what the job was.
"You and Jackal get to end David Xanatos for interfering with your heist, of course." Fox replied. "So? Are you interested?" She questioned.
"You don't even need to ask!" The hunter woman replied with a grin on her face. "I'll call Jackal and tell him to get the helicopter ready." She added before hanging up and calling her brother. "Jackal, I just got wind of a job both of us like." She began with a grin.
(Meanwhile)
Jean continued to enjoy his dinner as his ears picked up the sound of Helena's maniacal laughter. "There she goes again…" He sighed in exasperation as he continued to eat, wondering if this was how Bruce Wayne felt every time he had to deal with Catwoman's antics…
It was certainly an odd situation, that's for sure.
Right as he finished his meal, the front door opened and an excited looking Helena popped her head in. "I just got a job offer I can't turn down. I'll be back when I get back!" She told him before leaving. Jean just blinked at the enthusiasm she had shown.
"What's that all about?" He muttered to himself. He just shrugged after a moment before finishing his dinner.
Dragon Emperor0: Let the record show that Jean is not in the habit of aiding crimes, but if it means that he can get payback on people he doesn't like, he may bend the rules a bit.
ThermalsniperN7: Yep. This gator man has standards. Anyway, why did he have a pendant of Sobek on him? Is he just interested in it, or is there something more to it…?
Dragon Emperor0: He also has a pendant of Baron Samedi too. Means he probably wasn't kidding when he said that he's part Haitian Creole, a black mother who is a Voodoo Queen, with a white father whose family was cursed by a Voodoo witch doctor… guy's practically bathed in black magic.
ThermalsniperN7: And Jean basically lost his own home due to it… Man, people are pricks. Anyway, see you next time.