Renegade

Chapter 6

Ark slowly wiped the cold sweat from his brow as he woke up from his nightmare. He surveyed his surroundings for the first time. He looked to his left and saw the morning sun hitting his eyes. It stung like heck like it usually does for most people.

"Crap! I should have closed the blinds before I went to bed. What time is it anyway?"

He pulled back his shirt to reveal a simple digital watch, which read: 8:15.

"Okay I slept way too long. What time was it when I went to bed anyway? It was like 7:23 or so."

He tried to remember when he had slept so long. He couldn't remember. Ark began thinking about Vincent and how safe it was in Titans' Tower. He concluded that he could stay a minimum of three weeks before the organization could launch a reasonable offensive. He always went with the minimum rather than the maximum.

Ark began to look around the room familiarizing himself with it. It was Terra's old room. Of course, Ark didn't know that. He was in the Gotham Slums at the time. He just knew that this room had something to do with why the Titans didn't trust him. He didn't blame them. In their position, he wouldn't have trusted himself. But then, Ark wasn't the trusting type.

A knock at the door came and Ark made his way to the source of the noise. He pressed the open button on the sliding door to reveal a rather excited Starfire.

"Yes? What is it?"

"One called Force, my friends and I would like to invite you to partake of the Earth eating custom of Break-fast.

Force decided to not the correct the mistake he just told her that he would be right there. He put on his red jacket, and walked out the door making his way to the living room.

When he got there all the Titans were busy eating their food but took the time to look up at him. Robin was, interested. He didn't really look like he didn't trust him. It's just that he didn't want to be betrayed again. Beast Boy had the look of sheer distrust toward Force. Normally the hyper one, he didn't really say all that much during the meal. Cyborg to the contrary seemed to take a more casual approach. Like Robin he was careful, but didn't seem to have as many questions on his face. You couldn't tell what Raven was thinking as usual. No man, woman, or narrator could tell what she was thinking. Starfire was in joyful bliss. When she's outside of battle, it's pretty hard to get her mad. But if you do, watch out.

Force walked over to the kitchen area and assumed it was okay for him to sample what was left. Fortunately, he was pretty good at making assumptions. They didn't mind him taking some food. He sat down with the Titans and started eating his food. Starfire offered Force some of her…thing. And he took it. The titans watched in amazement as he ate it. It wasn't a delicacy. But he had to dig up worse meals in his life. For some reason this made Beast Boy trust him less. There was another human who wasn't afraid of Tamaranian food. And she was the traitor.

"So you like that stuff?" said Cyborg.

"I've had worse." Force replied

"You…have?" asked Raven

"Sure."

Beast Boy was the first to finish his Tofu. He put his plate up in the sink and left the room not saying a word.

"What's his problem?" Asked Cyborg.

"Dunno." Force was stump as well

Robin whispered to Cyborg. The only word that Ark could make out was "Terra."

"Oooh, I get it." Cyborg said.

Raven was next to finish as she concluded with her last sip of herbal tea. She set the cup in the sink and walked out without saying anything. Nobody asked any questions about why Raven wasn't all sunshine and cheery. Star was next as she ate the last of the…thing. The rest of the guys were enjoying their meals savoring every bite.

"So, I'm going out to the gym if you want be and you could spar." Robin wanted to get Force to open up, if not a little.

"I don't mind, who knows it might be fun." Force laughed

"Well I'm going to see what's wrong with BB. Letting him win a couple of rounds of X Race should cheer him up." Cyborg was worried for his best friend but his worry turned to worry about himself as he said, "Hey guys could you finish it up? It's my turn to do dishes and I do not want to be doing them until noon."

"Sure thing Cyborg." Robin just finished anyway and Force wasn't far behind. Cy was starting on them when they left.

Robin guided Force to the gym where they began sparing.

Robin laid down the ground rules. "Okay, a few rules, no powers and no utility belt; we're going all natural with this fight."

Force didn't have any objections.

"Okay…Begin!"

Robin charged at Force with his fist up. Force dodged to the left but Robin didn't go through with the attack. He only wanted him to think that he was going to hit him. Robin turned to his defenseless opponent. This was his moment of opportunity. He launched a flurry of three blows. Force blocked two of them, both headshots, but fell victim to the third that hit him right in the gut. Force retaliated with a hook shot toward the head. Robin easily blocked it by doing a quick back flip. Force knew that this was his chance. He quickly launched into a jump kick. Robin tried the turn to the right to dodge it, but wasn't fast enough. It hit him in his left shoulder. They both formed defensive positions and prepared for the next attack. Robin quickly hastened toward Force and launched one hard punch to the chest. Bingo! He was off balance. This was his chance. He was able to get five hits in during that time each one fast and soft. After those five punches, Force was able to get his bearings straight and lifted his arm in defense. With that blocked blow. Robin left himself open to attack. Force grabbed his left arm and threw him over toward the wall. This irritated Robin's already hurt shoulder. It was on now. Robin had a quiet smirk on his face as he ran up to Force. Robin launched a sweep kick to trip Force. It worked. He began to fall over but before he had the chance, Robin launched a forceful punch that flew him into the wall. It was over.

"You're pretty good." Force grabbed his stomach because of the pain.

"So are you." Robin grabbed for his left shoulder which Force obviously took a liking too.

But as the two boys fought, Vincent was preparing for a fight of his own. The master's associate will take care of the security system. But he will take care of the Titans. He found an abandoned subway system and made it "HQ". There he gathered his force for the emanate attack. He wasn't sure when it would be, but he was positive it would be less that three weeks. The element of surprise would be on his side. And the Renegade, would be his.