"Listen here you yella bellied sonuva bitch! You're going down them stairs one way or another. You're either gonna walk down'em or I'm gonna toss your ass down'em. Choose. Now." - Bard
It wasn't until I had actually arrived back at Titans Tower did I remember that the Titans weren't there. They were still over at the prison, seeing over the Crimson Wolf transfer. I wanted to find out more about this cannister me and Lisa had found at Star Labs, but it was probably better that the Titans were helping out with Crimson Wolf instead. He'd killed so many already, and if he ever got loose again...
I shuddered. The image of an infant with a shard of glass impaled in its stomach burned in my brain suddenly. I didn't want to think about what other horrors would happen if he ever escaped.
Entering the main room, I took the guitar off my back and leaned it carefully against the wall. Then I took off my coat, revealing the sleeveless black shirt I wore beneath it, and flopped down on the couch. As I relaxed, I looked closely at the cannister, turning it over and over in my hands. It really wasn't very remarkable. It was made out of smooth, gray metal, about a foot long and about as wide as my wrist. How could it be important enough for Kitten to want? It was possible that she simply her laser pistol back, but I doubted that. She worked for Slade now, and, if nothing else, he was efficient. Why steal a weapon from me when he could buy - or steal - another?
Not to mention the fact that Kitten's new laser rifle had a hell of a lot more bang for the buck than my pistol...I knew that from experience.
What was it that Lisa had said Dr. Ray was shouting about...'neighboring universes'? I had absolutely no idea what that meant. But the first thing that popped into my mind was Heaven and Hell. It was pushing it a bit, but I suppose, generally, they could be considered different universes.
And that answered my question. Ever since I had arrived in Jump City, Slade's plan had been to break the barrier between earth and Hell for some unknown purpose. Did he think this cannister could help him with that?
I closed my eyes and tried to think about something else. I'd have to wait for Robin or Cyborg to get back before we could get any definite answers. So I tipped my hat over my face and decided to take it easy for a while.
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TAP..TAP..TAP..TAP!
Robin's metal toed boot impatiently tapped against the ground...again and again and again.
"All right, man." Superboy finally piped up when no one else would. "That's starting to get irritating."
"What's taking so long?" The Boy Wonder demanded, refusing to address that. He did, however, stop tapping his foot.
"We have to be patient." Raven told him calmly. "Walker probably told the warden and his men to take extra precautions."
Robin sighed.
"You're right," he turned to the others. "Raven's right. We have to keep our mind's clear for this."
Beast Boy grinned.
"Who's 'we', dude? You're the only one here being so-"
Cyborg elbowed the changeling in the ribs with a titanium elbow.
"Ow!"
They waited in silence again until-
TAP..TAP..TAP.. T-T-TAP!
"ROBIN!" Everyone protested at once, but it wasn't their leader making the noise.
Instead, it was emitting from his communicator. He took it out of his belt and opened it up, but there was no picture on the small LCD screen.
"Who is it, man?" Superboy asked him.
"There's no picture." Robin replied. "But it sounds like-"
TAP..TAP..TAP.. T-T-TAP!
"-morse code." He turned to Raven. "Does Bard know morse code?"
"I don't know."
"It doesn't matter anyway." Cyborg told them, looking at the screen on his forearm. "The frequency doesn't match with Bard's communicator."
Robin's however, was listening to the morse code message.
"Titans," The Boy Wonder interpreted for them. "I lost track of Johnny Rancid. I think he still has the energy core. Can you spare Starfire or Beast Boy for reconnaissance?"
Robin frowned and, unconsciously almost, tapped back a reply.
'Energy core? Johnny Rancid? Who is this? How did you get on this frequency?'
But there was no reply.
"Don't worry about it, dude." Beast Boy said. "It's probably some fan with a walkie-talkie playing 'Titans'. Besides, hasn't Rancid 'gone good'?" The changeling held up and bent his narrow, green fingers over his head, quoting.
Robin nodded.
"The judge let him go for good behavior. She seems to really believe he wants to go straight. He's reopened his auto shop downtown."
"It seems quite strange to hear the Rancid is doing the 'day of honest work'." Starfire commented.
Robin shrugged.
"It just goes to show that all people can change for the better."
They all started waiting again.
TAP..TAP..TAP!
And Robin started tapping his foot again, despite the Titans' universal groan.
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I stood in the dark alley across from the small convineient store.
Dressed from head to toe in black.
A wool ski mask hiding the features of my face.
I was sixteen years old, hundreds of miles and two years from Jump City and...and I was a thug.
"All right, you guys." Big D, dressed similarly, waved us forward. "Let's go."
' 'You guys'? Where the hell is this guy from?' I thought.
I clamped my hand firmly over his shoulder, holding him in place.
"What gives?" He demanded.
"Don't you think we should wait for the cop to leave before we go?" I pointed to the squad car parked in front of store.
"...Oh,"
"God damn!" Tim swore. "How the hell did you get to be a clan master? Remind me to whoop your ass later."
Big D glared at my friend and fingered the switchblade in his pocket. Tim shut up...for now, anyway. I saw right away that Big D wasn't a leader: He simply intimidated anyone who questioned him.
Across the street, I watched the squad car drive away to continue it's rounds. I knew that, unless he got a call, he wouldn't be back until tomorrow. I had watched the place for the last three nights and had the routines firmly in my head. I felt a sudden pang of guilt, since I had told Amber I was sick...but I quickly pushed that aside.
"All right," I nudged Big D, forcing him to break his glare match with Tim. "All's clear."
"Stop touching me, bitch!" He snapped at me.
A heated reply came unbidden to my lips, but somehow I held it back with clenched teeth. This wasn't the time for fighting.
"Let's go!" Big D said then.
"What's the plan?" I asked.
"Plan?" Big D shrugged. "We'll just go in there like we own the place!"
I groaned inwardly. This was not going to be fun.
"Let's go!" Big D started out across the street. Checking out ski masks one last time, Tim and I followed, along with the two boys Big D had brought along with him.
Our 'leader' didn't even try to be stealthy, he just waltzed into the store.
"Hey!" The portly man behind the counter voiced an objectection at him. Big D was wearing a ski mask, after all, so he was fairly obvious.
"Shut up, old man." Big D retorted, barely glancing at the man as he looked around...so he didn't see the man reach for something underneath the counter. I moved forward, but Tim was already there.
WHACK!
Tim clubbed him across the face with a very large fist. The man stumbled back into the shelves filled with cigarette packs and, taking most of them with him, hit the ground.
"Stay on him, Tim. And you two," I pointed at Big D's goons. "Watch the door." They didn't look too happy about it, but they did as they were told.
I leapt over the counter and looked underneath it where the man had reached. There wasn't an alarm...just a shotgun.
"Shit," I breathed. Big D had come this close to being blasted away; something the janitor would be mopping up in the morning. I picked up the gun and chucked it down an aisle filled with potato chips and canned goods before looking back down at the owner.
"This will be over before you know it and we'll leave you unharmed." My eyes narrowed behind my ski mask. "But if you try anything stupid again I won't hesitate to-"
I was interrupted by a loud, blood curdling scream.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"
A woman's scream.
'What the Hell?'
"Tim, keep your eye on this fella. You," I pointed at one of Big D's goons who was guarding the door. "Come pry open this cash register and do what we came here for."
I leapt back over the counter and headed towards the back of the store. A flight of wooden stairs was to my left, probably leading up to an apartment above the store.
When I got up there, I was met with the sight of a fully clothed Big D crawling on top of a blonde, teenage girl. Her shirt had been ripped halfway off, revealing a lacy white bra. Her frightened eyes grew even more horrified at the sight of me. I reckoned she thought that I was here to 'join the fun'.
"What the HELL do you think you're doin'?" I raged.
"Just having...a little...fun!" Big D was still struggling with her for position.
"Get off her!"
"You can have her...after me!"
Snarling, I gripped his shirt and flung him across room.
"I'm gonna kill you!" He threatened me as he got back up to his feet.
"You can do that later. Now get your ass down those stairs so we can get the hell outta here!"
He glared at me, trying to intimidate me. I saw him reach into his pocket...
"Listen here you yella bellied sonuva bitch! You're going down them stairs one way or another." I told him, squinting at him like Clint Eastwood. "You're either gonna walk down'em or I'm gonna toss your ass down'em. Choose. Now."
I saw his forearm muscles twitch and I knew he was gripping the knife in his pocket. I suddenly became very aware of the blade in my boot...
Big D looked around and realized his two boys weren't with him.
"All right," he muttered. "Let's go..."
"Wise decision."
Back downstairs, I knew SOMETHING had gone down. Tim's eyes were pissed and one of Big D's boys were just getting to his feet. I opened my mouth to ask what happened...but then I decided I didn't really care. I just wanted to get out of there.
"You have the money?" I asked the boy I'd told to pry open the cash register. After a quick look at Big D, he nodded and held up a filled bag.
"Good," I approved, stopping just a moment to steal a pack of cigarettes. "Let's get the hell out of here then!"
That's when we all heard the sirens.
"What the hell?" Big D asked.
"I reckon someone called'em when they heard the scream!" I told him pointedly. I looked at everyone else. "Run!"
Of course, this was the part I was good at. My knees came up so high they almost hit my chest and I leaned my torso back aerodynamically. Tim had always told me I ran like Forrest Gump. Well, if that was true...I ran like the wind blows.
I quickly outdistanced everyone else and, when I felt I was a safe distance away, I leaned forward resting my hands on my knees and sucked in gulps of breath.
God, I have to quit smoking...
By about the time I caught my breath, Tim, Big D and his two goons had caught up to me. I saw by his eyes that Big D had his confidence back, probably because he had backup again, and that he was about to say something he'd regret.
"Who the hell do you think you are!" He raged at me.
My eyes flashed.
"Someone had to keep it together. You did everything you could to screw it up and get us caught! What the hell were you smokin' when you decided to try to rape that guy's daugter? It screwed up the mission, not to mention rape is about the vilest thing a man can do to someone else!"
"Shit! What are you? A god damned priest? You seem to forget who the leader is here!"
"Well, ya know what? That's about to change. The first rule of the Ragin' Dragons is that you can challenge for leadership at anytime. I challenge you now!"
Tim sucked in a sharp breath and the two others looked at each other cautiously. But I barely saw them. At the moment, I was concentrating on glaring holes through Big D.
"All right," the clan leader said finally. "It's about time I put you in your place, anyway!"
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his glittering switchblade. I reached down and took a similar blade out of my boot as Tim produced a five foot rope. Big D and I glared silently at each other as he tied it around out left wrists.
"All right, Jon." Tim was giving me a pep talk. "I've never seen anybody better than you at Slash Clash. Just cut this bastard three times and get it over with."
Across from me, Big D's two thugs were giving him similar encouragement.
"Cut his ass, man!"
"Yeah, cut this guy a new asshole!"
I thought I saw a sly look pass between them, but I had other things to worry about then.
"HAA!"
Big D leapt at me with his switchblade poised in his hands. I leapt out of the way just in the nick of time and swung my own blade.
SLASH!
I left a shallow slice across his shoulder.
"Yeah!" Tim cheered. "Two more to go!"
The two other spectator's looked at each other nervously.
"ARRR!"
Big D leapt at me again, his rage blinding his good sense. I pivoted, looped the rope around his wrist and flipped him over painfully on his back.
SLASH!
I cut him across the other shoulder...and that's when his two lackeys decided to step in. The leapt at me...but Tim had been ready.
KLUNK!
Tim grabbed them by their heads with each of his huge hands from behind and drove their skulls together. The two fell senseless to the ground and I winced, even as Big D climbed back to his feet.
"You quit?" I asked him
"Hraguuh!"
He was making it easy. I dodged his tackle and slammed him face first to the ground. I delivered the third and final cut to his back. I had won.
"Yeah!" Tim cheered. "You're the King of Slash Clash, baby!"
I grinned at him and turned back to Big D, who still hadn't moved.
"Get up," I nudged him in the ribs with one of my cowboy boots. "You're not hurt that bad."
"I said get up!" I kicked him over to his back...and was met with the horrible sight of his knife protruding from his chest. Blood stained his dark shirt and he looked up at me with glossy, lifeless eyes.
He was dead.
"...No..."
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"-Ah!" I awoke with a start, sweating. I pushed my cowboy hat back up to where it belonged and sat up, trying to catch my breath.
It wasn't the first time I'd had that dream...but it still got to me just the same. That was a dark memory of years ago, when I had been Jonny. I was Bard now.
I'm Bard now...
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
I jumped at the unexpected noise before I realized it was just my communicator. I stood up, reached into my coat where I had left it and brought it out.
"Bard, here." I said into it.
"Bard," Robin said from the other end of the line. "You didn't send us a morse code message earlier, did you?"
I blinked.
"Um, no..."
"I didn't think so. Anyway, we need your help again. Reports are coming in that someone's attacking Johnny Rancid. I need you to take care of it."
"Ya'll are still at the prison?"
Robin's image nodded.
"I think something might be wrong. I'm going to look into it. You take care of the Rancid situation. Robin out."
I sighed. Duty was calling Bard's name again. I grabbed my coat, put my hat on more firmly and was on my way.
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When I arrived on the scene, the fight was in from of a bar called 'Vincent's Pub'. A wrecked car was on fire further down the streetWhoever this guy was, he sure was having fun...
That's when I saw him. He had long black hair tied back with a bandanna and a pair of black shades covered his eyes. He was tall with sinewy muscles over a wiry frame.
CHIIIIIIIING!
He was dragging a wooden sword across the concrete of the sidewalk towards the downed and wincing Johnny Rancid.
"I give up, man!" Rancid was yelling at his attacker. "What do you want! Can't you at least talk?"
THWAP!
The swordsman whopped him upside the head with the flat part of his sword.
I winced even as Rancid did when the dark swordsman slammed his foot down on his thigh. The swordsman leaned in and said something, but I was too far away to hear.
"Nnnnnngh!" Rancid struggled weakly to free himself, and that seemed to piss off the swordsman all the more. He raised his sword high over his head to knock him into oblivion...and that's when the ex-biker saw me.
Reckon it's time to get to work...
I gunned my Harley right for him.
VROOOOOMMM!