Chapter Three: Confrontations of All Kinds

By: Ms. Kinnikufan

Disclaimer: All characters copyrighted their owners.

Slade checked his map. Damn it, he couldn't believe he had gotten lost. How long had he been a well-respected mercenary again?

Let's see: take a left on Gingko Tree lane, then go right on River lane, then go straight on White Oak Circle.

Slade vowed never to take any more contracts on people who lived in suburbs. They just weren't worth the effort and the pure waspynss of the neighborhoods brought back bittersweet memories he didn't want to remember.

Slade sighed, something he didn't do very often. He had once been a resident of one those upper-class neighborhoods and he had never felt in place there.

Meanwhile, Slade's target (Max Sneagator Addida a.k.a. Pumpinator) was not having a good time himself.

Max had finally gathered enough courage to tell Kevin about their daughter. It wasn't going well.

"Let's go over this again: you arranged for us to meet to give me some big news. And this big new is that you've had sex with a woman, which produced a kid?'

Kevin Mask did not like having his time wasted and was kicking himself for agreeing to meet with Pumpinator. Why the hell had he done it? He thought Pumpinator was pathetic. He couldn't win Kevin's affections then and he wouldn't win Kevin's affections now.

"Here's her when she was just a day old."

Kevin gave a glance at the photograph of Pumpinator sitting a hospital cot holding a little pink bundle.

"So what?' Kevin asked as he handed the photograph back.

"Here's a recent a picture of her. She's four years old now." Max handed Kevin a photo of Ny'ke, taken shortly after her birthday party. She was as tall as most seven years old.

"Good God, have you been feeding your kid bovine growth hormones or something?" Kevin's tone of voice attracted the attention of the other diners.

"Don't you think Ny'ke's looks cute? Don't you think she looks sort of familiar?" Max asked desperately.

"What the hell is your point, Pumpinator?"

"Look I told you to call me Max. I'm trying to put 'Pumpinator' behind me so I can raise Ny'ke better." Max took a deep breath.

"Kevin, I hesitated to tell you this much earlier because I thought you wouldn't believe me. I had gathered up the courage to tell you after the Chojin Crown, but after you...well you were there (Kevin made a grunting noise of disproval. He hated being reminded of his loss in the Chojin Crown) I thought you wouldn't able to deal with it then. But now it has been a few years and that Checkmate guy gave birth to that Dik Dik guy's baby, So now I think it's more likely that you'll believe what I'm about to tell you: Ny'ke is our daughter, yours and mine. I was almost three months pregnant when I fought Kid Muscle. Somehow I didn't miscarry Ny'ke. The doctors said she was a tough little fetus. Anyway, three months later I moved to Jump City. I'm telling you this because I feel Ny'ke should know both parents. I know this sounds impossible, but if you want to talk to the doctors who delivered Ny'ke and verified that what I've said is true. I think it would be good if Ny'ke knew you also."

At about the same time:

Slade had finally managed to find the house of his target. It had been far more difficult then he had previously thought. He had to deal with several upset dogs and a hyperactive 5 year old that thought he was Santa Clause for some reason. He quietly slipped through a window.

Ny'ke and Rose (Ny'ke friend, who was 6 years old) happily sat in the TV room, watching a movie about a giant robot. Ny'ke bought another big handful of popcorn to her mouth.

"Rose, wouldn't it be cool if Optimus Prime fought the Iron Giant?"

"Oh Ny'ke, that wouldn't even be a fair fight. Optimus Prime is from the future and the Iron Giant is from the 1950s, which was like a million years ago. Optimus Prime would kick the Iron Giant's ass."

"Now is that really appropriate language for a little girl?"

The two girls screamed at the sight of the scary looking man with a gun.

At the sound of the girl's screams, Wintergreen (Rose's elderly guardian and baby-sitter for the girls were Max was out) came rushing out of the bathroom, a piece of toilet paper attached to his foot.

"What the hell are you doing here!" Wintergreen screamed at Slade.

Slade turned to Wintergreen: "I never meant for this to happen."

He then threw a canister of knockout gas. He left out the same window he entered the house in. Once outside, he found himself vomiting in a neighbors rose bushes.

The neighbors noticed.

"Marla, call the cops. Some bum throwing up in or rose bushes. "

Of course, Slade was far away when the cops actually arrived.

Meanwhile, with Kevin and Max:

"I don't believe a word that you have told me is true. I think this is some mentally unbalanced attempt to maintain contact with me."

"But-"

"How would I know these doctors you're talking about are even real doctors? How would I know you didn't pay them to lie?"

"Now you just wait a minute-"

Kevin wouldn't let Max finished:" I most certainly do not want to be part of your existence. I most certainly do not to be part of your daughter's existence. What the hell made you think you were stable enough to raise a child? You're a bundle of talk show issues! Why should I believe your child would be any more lovable or likable then you are? You're a neurotic sneaker, why should I believe your child is any different?"

Max did not say a word, but promptly shoved Kevin into his plate of pasta. Then to add insult to injury, he poured Kevin's own plate of pasta down Kevin's pants. Then he pulled out Kevin's chair from under him and gave the fallen Kevin a swift kick to the balls.

Max ignored the stares of the diners and left Kevin with the bill.

Max got into his car and drove off, ignoring most of the lights and the speeding limit.

He pulled into the parking lot of Os Heavens ( an all-night South American/Spanish/Pan-Asian bakery). Only then did he let the tears come.

Deep down in his heart he knew Kevin wouldn't accept their daughter. Kevin was an angry, angry, man. Max wondered if Kevin's rage at his father was still what was fueling him Of maybe it was at his coach (who was later revealed to really be Warsman) for leaving him.

Maybe Max wasn't exactly one to talk, but that wasn't healthy fuel for life. Max still had some angry at his childhood and at his family, but next to therapy, it wasn't his fuel for life. Ny'ke was.

Maybe it was better that Kevin wasn't part of Ny'ke's life. Max was doing okay raising Ny'ke by himself. He had a stable job. They lived in a nice neighborhood. He was making friends who wouldn't turn on him.

Ny'ke seemed to growing up fine. She was making friends at her daycare and had normal learning skills.

He and Ny'ke were both doing perfectly fine without Kevin Mask.

So why did Kevin's words hurt him so much? Max knew a long time ago that Kevin didn't love him. It was a simple fact. Plus Kevin hadn't acted very lovable. Yet Max had wanted Kevin to love him.

"God please let him in love with somebody else. Hell, anybody else. Maybe then I'll get over Kevin Mask." At least that's what Max hoped.

Meanwhile, the police were interviewing Ny'ke, Rose,and Wintergreen about what happened.

"He only had one eye hole!" Ny'ke exclaimed, covering up one of her eyes to demonstrate.

"When he saw Wintergreen, he said 'I didn't mean for this to happen' and then threw this funny gas that made us sleep at us."

"You mean the knockout gas?"

"Yeah, that stuff. Anyway, Wintergreen had to throw up right after he woke up before he called the police."

Officer Slack tried to get Wintergreen to calm down.

"Now you just keep breathing in and out of that paper bag until you're calm enough to tell us what happened."

Wintergreen couldn't get himself to calm down. Slade was still alive and was doing the mercenary thing again. Why had he broken into Max's house? What was he doing?

Meanwhile, the restaurant was making Kevin wash dishes to pay the bill.

As it turned out, Kevin didn't have enough American currency to pay the bill and they had refused Kevin's brand of credit card. However, they were kind enough to provide Kevin with an ill-fitting change of clothes.

Washing the dishes was a surprisingly calming activity. It gave him time to think about his actions.

If he were to look really deeply within himself, he was almost flattered that Pumpinator kept him in his thoughts.

Out of all the people Kevin had ever had sex with or even thought about having sex with, Pumpinator treated him the best.

Kevin found himself remembering a random moment between the two of them:

It was maybe the third or fourth time that they had sex:

"Kevin, I wish I could freeze this moment in time."

"How come?"

"Being with you makes me happy. It makes me happy because you're a wonderful person to be with."

At the time Kevin had shrugged off the comment as hopelessly sappy, but now it almost made him feel warm inside. It was one of the nicest things anyone had ever said to him.

Wait a minute-damn it, he vowed he would stop doing crap like that.

No more looking back at his past with Pumpinator. Or his past with Mars. Or even his past with Lord Flash. Sentimental thoughts interfered with his training. That's all he vowed to value now. Getting stronger. Getting tougher. Getting unbeatable. That's all he valued now.

A dish slipped out of his hands.

"We're going to make you stay an extra hour to replace that broken dish." the manager told him. Damn it all to hell.

Max had finally returned home at 11:15 p.m., with a bag full of baked goods from Os Heavens.

"What the hell!" he exclaimed upon seeing all the police cars in his driveway.

His daughter came running out of the house.

"Dahdee! Dahdee! This really scary dude came into our house and he told Rose not to swear! Rose said ass! Then the scary dude saw Wintergreen and the scary dude got almost sad! Then the scary dude threw this gas that made us all go to sleep! Then we woke up and Wintergreen threw up a bunch! Then he called the cops and we had to tell the cops what happened! Wintergreen almost passed out because he couldn't breathe! He had to breathe in and out of a paper bag before he could talk to the officer! Hey you went to Os Heavens! Can I have a chocolate donut with chocolate frosting and chocolate sprinkles?" Ny'ke hyperactively recounted the night's events to her father.

"Huh?"

An officer approached Max.

"Mr. Addida, approximately 4 hours and 22 minutes ago, a man broke into your house with violent intent. However, none was harmed. For the next 24 hours, the house will be under police observation in case he come out I suggest you check into a hotel sir."

"Can we go to a hotel that has a swimming pool, Dahdee?" Ny'ke asked.

"You have a very unflappable child." an older cop commented, affectionately patting Ny'ke on the head.

5:22 A.M., the next day:

Slade drank from his little bottle of whiskey. He was on a plane to Tokyo, Japan. He knew his reputation would be horribly smeared for running away from a contract. But he wasn't prepared for seeing Wintergreen, his only true friend again. He hadn't intended for Wintergreen to find out he wasn't dead. He intended Wintergreen to go on with his life, uncluttered by Slade's presence. Well, it was too late for that. The best he could do was lay low now. So Japan it was. Japan had their own crimes to deal with, they probably wouldn't notice a hiding mercenary. He hit the flight attendant bottom to get another mini-bottle of whiskey.

Russian: 6:32 a.m. the same day:

From the moment she had regain consciouness, she had been prodded and poked with needles. She knew she wasn't in the states anymore, because only one of the scientists spoke english.

Now they had taken her into a room with two contraptions that looked like electric chairs. They strapped her into one.

She remembered watching a documentary on executions with Beast Boy. They had showed a particularly gruesome execution of a prisoner in a electric chair. It was so gruesome that Terra vomited on Beast Boy, who in turned vomited on Raven's favorite houseplant.

"O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended the, and I detest all my sins because of they just punishment, but most of all because they offend They, my God, who art all-good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of they grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen." Terra screamed.

"(Shut up) The scientist slapped her.

Terra just creamed the prayer louder and louder.

They brought another girl into the room. A girl who amazingly resembled Terra, right down to her hair, eyes and facial features.

"(What are you doing to me? Why did you change my face? I want to go back to the orphanage! Take me back to the orphanage!)" her look-alike screamed in Russian.

They turned on the power.

"Please God forgive me. Please God forgive me." Terra muttered over and over again.

But the electric shock she anticipated did not come. Instead she felt an an almost draining sensation.

"(What are you doing to me? What are you doing to me? I'm seeing people and places in my head that weren't there before?)" Terra's look-alike screamed.

"(Better stop now. We only want our decoy to have fragments of Terra's memories, not entire ones. It will look more like authentic amnesia that way.)" one the scientists commented to a scientist at the controls.

The real Terra slumped over, not dead, but very unconscious.

"(What did you do to her? What have you done to me? There are memories in my mind that aren't my own!)" the Terra-decoy demanded to know.

She felt a stabbed in her arm and soon she was unconscious also.

The scientist at the controls spoke into a walkie-talkie:

"(The Terra decoy is complete and ready for delivery into the United States. What should we do with the real Terra?)"

"(Take her back to the lab. She still has many uses for us.)" The voice on the other side commended.

Author's notes: I would like to note that Wintergreen and Rose aren't original characters. They were characters in the Teen Titans comic book series that could possibly show up in the cartoon.