Part 9

"The most important part of war is the element is surprise… SURPRISE!!!"

By BobCat      

Disclaimer: It ain't mine, unless it is mine, in which case it isn't ain't mine, unless it ain't not isn't won't never brzzt Kernel Error in Frontal Lobe 1039ui4109842 brrzt kzzzzzzzzzzzzzt

Oh, quick thing.  I must note that my plotline for the Kurai/Slade dynamic is INCREDIBLY similar to the Terra/Slade dynamic from the TV show.  To this I have to say: so what?  I had the idea before I saw that episode, so I plagiarized NOTHING, you hear!?  NOTHING!  Well, except for everyone but Gauntlet and Kurai… but the PLOT is mine!

Note: Italics with quotation marks around them signify a foreign language.

****************

In a secret hive of scum and villainy…

            Kurai snarled as Slade smashed him in the face with the end of his staff.  Both were clad in white martial arts gis, fighting on a mat in the middle of a weight room.  In a rare display, Slade went with his mask, not caring to cover his injury in the safety of his own base.  The insanely powered teen stumbled backwards, shaken by the blow.  "Hold still and take your beating!"  Kurai launched a fierce counter-attack, forcing Slade back.  Slade seemed to float around the punches for several moments, sizing up his competition. 

            Slade laughed.  "I do really need to teach you how to banter in mid fight.  Everything out of your mouth is either nonsensical or a cliché."  He finally saw an opening, and launched out with a flat handed blow at the right base of Kurai's neck.  Kurai cried out in pain yet again and fell to his knees.  Even as he opened his eyes, Kurai saw Slade about to slam the butt of his staff into his face.  He closed his eyes reflexively, waiting for the impact.

            Nothing.

            He cautiously opened his right eye, just in time to see Slade's boot before it smashed his face.  With that, Kurai was down. 

            Not for long, mind you.  Slade managed to hide his fatigue as his sparring partner rose to his feet, tending to his bloodied nose.  He observed Kurai's recovery with no small amount of pride.  Merely a month ago, the youth had been unable to stand for a half an hour after such an attack.  Very nice, Kurai.  You never had to learn to really take a punch back in Japan, as no one could touch you.  Your training is coming along nicely…

            Kurai snorted to halt the flow of blood.  "You have to be the greatest fighter I have ever encountered!  Back home, I was the best martial…"

            If only we can reign in that ego.  Slade smacked Kurai across the face as hard as he could.  "How many times must I tell you, stop telling yourself that lie!  You and I both know that your style is tolerable, but full of holes and defects.  You have been living on your powers your entire life, and that ends now." 

Kurai's eyes flared red for a moment, but he managed to reign in his rage. 

Slade smirked.  And now for a kind word and a small lie to soothe his wounded pride and keep him under my influence.  Kurai, you are SO easy to manipulate.  "I am harsh with you because that is the only way that you will improve.  Your potential is such that you could be the mightiest man on the face of this planet, even BEYOND your younger sister.  This is why I recruited you in her stead."  And if you believe that, I have a tower in Tokyo to sell you. 

Kurai bowed.  "Good match, Slade-sensei." 

Slade returned the bow, although his was much shallower.  "Now I will inform you of the rest of my plan."

Kurai raised an eyebrow.  "What plan?  We simply fight the Titans at the predetermined site.  Nothing simpler."

Slade opened the door, letting Kurai scramble behind him to catch it.  "Excellent.  If I managed to fool YOU into thinking that, then the Titans will also be in the dark as to the true plan."

Kurai glared at the back of his teacher's head for a second, but managed to restrain his anger.  "True plan, sensei?"

They found themselves in unlit room.  Kurai glanced around.  "Where…"

"This is the nexus of my operations, young Kurai."  He pulled out a remote control and tapped a button, causing a gigantic screen built into the wall (which was much closer than Kurai would have guessed) to come to life.  "From here, thanks to the efforts of my man in Titans Tower, I can observe their every movement.  Their every secret is recorded, analyzed by my people round the clock, and the important details are then sent to me."

"That is… nice, sensei, but it hardly seems relevant to the current situation."

"Patience, Kurai.  Because of what I know, there will be no need for the original plan.  Luring the Titans, along with Thunder and Lightning, to the site of the last conflict made sense at the time.  They are unused to operating together, so I assumed they would simultaneously have the power to fetch what I want from the bunker, yet be unable to work cohesively against me." 

            "I thought that you were right in that regard.  You sent that tape of them humiliating themselves in their training exercises to the sports bloopers people and won their prize last night." 

            Slade did something very rare for him: he enjoyed a good, honest laugh.  "Yes, although my work as an assassin is more financially rewarding, I shall treasure the memory of that being on television forever."  He wiped a tear from his good eye, still chuckling.  "But on to other matters.  The REAL plan."  He tapped another button, bringing up a display of the Titans Tower.  "At your current skill level, you cannot tackle the odds against you.  Green Arrow is a wildcard, and I had underestimated Gauntlet based on what little I knew of him.  So, we divide and conquer.  I shall send some of my minions on a rampage downtown before your prearranged battle.  I will contact the Titans ahead of time and let them know that the threat on the elementals' father is still in effect.  Also, I'm have the connections to set up a suitable distraction Green Arrow's Star City, thus removing the only one among them with enough experience to do more than react."

            Kurai queried, "So, then, I fight with whatever the Titans send my way?"

            WHACK!  Kurai's question was rewarded with a slap to the back of his head.  "You are thinking far too simply, my young app… pupil."  Almost slipped there.  I'm getting so used to him that I forget that I am using him.  Cannot have that; he is my student in the short term only.  "No, the Titans will be expecting to fight one enemy; to paraphrase a children's story, the rules for fighting one man versus many are different.  They have been psyching themselves up for almost a week now, preparing to fight you.  So when my very replaceable and numerous robots soldiers strike from the hiding places I have prepared at the site of battle, they shall be overwhelmed.  Then, they shall do as I say."

            Kurai had a stroke of insight.  "You shall force that Robin boy to be your apprentice!" 

            WHACK!  "Wrong again.  As I told you, forcing him to the position did nothing before; it only made him more ready and willing to halt my efforts.  He must be ready and willing when he comes.  Pay attention.  You shall hang back and be ready to reinforce my units IF AND WHEN it is needed.  Let me say that another way.  YOU WILL NOT ATTACK THEM UNLESS I GIVE YOU AN EXPLICIT ORDER.  IF YOU DO SO, YOU WILL SUFFER."  Kurai's eyes flashed a bright red, as the rage inspired energies at his command burned away the bandages that still encased his forearms and hands.  Slade, still not looking at him, warned, "And before you vaporize me for slighting your precious honor, you know that you need me far more than I need you." 

Kurai glared daggers at Slade's back, but managed to control his anger.  You are correct, Slade-sensei.  I need you.  For now.  For the insults I have had to endure in your command, YOU shall suffer.  "And then what?" 

"I am going to keep you on a need to know basis on this operation, lest you make any, how did you phrase it last time, 'tactical modifications' to the plan.  You are dismissed.  You probably need a dose of your medicine anyway."

"Hai, Slade-sensei."  With that, he left. 

Slade's longtime companion, Wintergreen, stepped from his hiding place in the shadows.  "I do not think it is wise to provoke him the way you do, Wilson." 

"Your concern is duly noted.  However, it is a balancing act.  I treat him far better than any of my other underlings because of his talents, but I also seek to destroy his sheer ego.  He has never had to work for anything in his life, and I want to change that.  Now, let us see what our favorite reality TV show has to offer."  He tapped another button on his remote control, bringing up the Tower's living room.  "Odd, no one is around… where are they?"                                                        

************

Robert was awake.  It took him several minutes to realize it, as he slowly returned to the land of the living.  As soon as he was self aware, he really wished that he wasn't.  His head throbbed, and for some reason, he couldn't see through his left eye.  He tentatively touched his head, and felt the bandages there.  He also noticed that an intravenous tube was lined to his left arm, and that the Gauntlet had reverted to its standby mode.  His vision was limited, as there were white curtains on three sides of him.

Initial analysis: from the looks of things, I'm in a hospital.  Okay, enough Trekkie talk… which hospital?  What happened?  What's the last thing I remember…

He inhaled sharply as it came back to him.  Blackfire, wounded but with enough energy for one attack.  Starfire, strong and sure, in far better shape than her sister.  And that one, final explosion… he winced as he recalled the initial pain of the debris chunk hitting him in the forhead…

That explains the bandage… oh God, where's Kori?  Where's Bart?  And for that matter, where are the nurses?  Considering the knock I took, you'd think they'd be checking me for a concussion or...  How long has it been?  Gotta get someone... anyone…

He reached over and pulled the IV out of his arm.  To his surprise, there was no pain.  "Must've been a painkiller or something…"  He started coughing as his dry throat protested that sentence.  "Man, I'm thirsty…"  He stumbled to his feet, thankful that they hadn't seen fit to replace his clothes with a hospital gown.  "Must not've been here long then…" 

"There you are!"  As Robin and the rest of the Titans (Starfire notably absent) and Impulse entered Robert's partition, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey, Robin, guys, glad to see…"  The rest of his greeting was cut off he noticed the glares directed at him.  "You?  What's wrong?"

"Starfire.  Third degree burns.  Four broken bones, two in her left arm, one rib and her right shin.  A pint of blood lost with no transfusions, and a square foot of skin with no grafts.  And you have the NERVE to ask what's wrong!?"  Robin was obviously doing his best to contain himself as he read off Kori's injuries, but he was visibly shaking.

Robert immediately went on the defensive.  "Look, before you try to lay any blame on me…"

Robin tried to cut off Robert, but was instead cut off by Savior.  "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?  To just sit there and place bets while she's fighting for her life?  I knew it was a mistake to let you join, and now Kori's had to suffer for your lack of brains!"

"It was her sister's idea!  She said it was about honor and I wasn't allowed to help!  Any of you would have done the same thing!"

Cyborg shook his head.  "You were in the right until Bart told us you bet against her.  It's illegal AND dishonest, man."  Impulse looked very uncomfortable once his name was brought up and remained silent. 

"What's twenty bucks!?  I expected to lose!  Losing a bet is a good way to build friendships!  It isn't my fault."

"No matter how many times you say that, it isn't going to magically come true!"

Robert glared at Savior.  "So tell me, what would YOU have done?  Starfire was okay with it, and it was a matter of honor, which is apparently a big deal to her!  She knew the risks, and I couldn't talk her out of it!  I was just the ritual witness, okay?  Bart, back me up on this!" 

Impulse shifted from foot to foot nervously.  Of course, for someone as fast as him, it made everyone watching queasy.  "You know, I do have to back him up.  I mean, I could've stopped it, but I trusted Starfire.  Think about it.  I don't think any of you would be this mad if she'd won." 

This stopped everyone's righteous anger in its tracks. 

Raven, who had been silent the whole time, was the one who ended the uneasy impasse.  "What's done is done.  I managed to stabilize her condition, but she won't be able to fight tomorrow.  We don't need another conflict weakening the team.  This is unfortunate, but the only one we can blame for this is whatever Tamaranian set up the system of honor."

Robin sighed.  "Right as always, Raven.  Gauntlet, I'm sorry; I was just so upset that I had to lash out at something, and you were the only one I could think of." 

Robert shrugged.  "Hey, no prob.  Say, Raven, mind patching up this bump on my noggin?  I can't carry the one eyed look as well as Slade." 

Although the joke was relatively lame, everyone released the tension they had built as a good, hearty laugh.  Even Savior couldn't help but grin. 

Raven reached up, touching Robert's forehead.  "No problem.  If your medical report was right, it shouldn't take much effort at all."  Her hand glowed black for an instant.  "Are you sure you were hurt?" 

Robert shrugged.  "I felt something hit my head… right, Bart?" 

"Yeah, you definitely got beaned." 

Robert quickly unraveled his bandages.  "So, how does it look?" 

Gar piped in, "Nothing, man.  You sure you got hit?"

Robert touched his forehead.  "Hey, what gives?  Healing powers?  I never had THOSE before…"  He looked at the ring on his right hand.  "You been holding out on me, eh buddy?  You bastard, I'll kill you!"  He leaped down, strangling his right hand with his left. 

As the rest of the Titans and Impulse struggled to save Gauntlet from himself, Savior moaned.  "Well, at least things are back to normal…"

"I DON'T NEED YOU AS LONG AS I HAVE LEFTY!"

"Or at least as normal as things ever get around this outfit." 

***************

His name was Green Arrow, but he was not Oliver Queen.  He was Queen's illegitimate son, Connor Hawke.  After Queen's death, he had taken the mantle, and now they shared the name.  They also protected Star City, which had become corrupt during Queen's absence. 

When Queen had called him to let him know he was going to aid the Titans, Connor had been a bit surprised.  But only a bit.  From Speedy on, he's always liked having young people around him.  Oh well; I spent most of my adult life fighting alone, no reason why it should be any more difficult now. 

He was stalking about an abandoned fish cannery by the city's docks.  One of these days, I'll have to figure out why abandoned buildings are always by the dock; the rest of a city might be thriving, but this area is always full of run down buildings for the bad guys to hide in. 

He had several thousand kilograms of reasons for being there on a Saturday night.  A shipment of cocaine was coming in from Columbia that night, or so his sources had said.  Although he knew his efforts were less than a drop in the bucket for the billion dollar industry, but it was a step in the right direction. 

Also, despite the fact that he was a young bachelor, he had been raised in a monastery, so the idea of a "night on the town" was relatively new to him.  So, he had trailed the buyer, a lieutenant of a major local crime lord to this spot, and was recording his every word with a bug he had planted on the man's jacket.  

Hiding behind a stack of empty crates (another constant feature of abandoned warehouses on the docks), he could hear a pair of voices in Spanish.  Although he could not understand, from their tone, he assumed that it was the lieutenant and the supplier negotiating a price or some such. 

"Así, hablamos español…"

"Ordenado."

"¿Yo me pregunto cuántas a personas en la audiencia sabrán que hablamos acerca de absolutamente nada?"

"El infierno si sé, acabo de trabajar aquí."

"Diga, así que largo como sabemos que muchas personas no sabrán lo que hablamos acerca de.. ¡Una la armada! ¡Compre la guerra los bonos! ¡Los derechos civiles son para perdedores!"

"Ah, ahora usted lo toma demasiado lejos, mi amigo."

As the pair went on, Connor knocked an arrow into place.  This one had a rounded canister on the end that would release a cloud of smoke as air flew through it, allowing him to blind the smugglers.  From there, he would pick them off one by one.  There were no more than six of them, counting the lieutenant and his truck driver (which made him even more curious; a shipment this big should have had more security.)

He drew back the arrow, preparing to let fly.  As the wire stretched, it made a distinct noise. 

Then came the voice from behind. 

"Eeeeeerreehh." 

An almost perfect copy of his bow's sound. 

Connor instantly knew who his pursuer was.  After all, you don't forget the man who shot you in the head. 

Onomatopoeia.  He wore a brown trench coat and a black mask with rings on it.  His face was utterly obscured, as were his origins.  His specialty was killing superheroes; whether for money or just for the hell of it, it was unclear.  He had come out of nowhere, trying to kill the Green Arrows, for, again, unknown reasons.

When you get right down to it, everything we know about this guy could be written on a matchbook.

He rolled to the right quickly, cursing under his breath.  He slid along the ground, releasing the arrow in the direction of the voice.  The arrow made a whizzing noise as it passed, releasing it's cargo. 

"Thup, voont, whoosh, hiss…"  A bullet crossed the distance between them in an instant, denting the concrete floor.  "Bang, crack." 

Connor cursed again as he realized his grievous error.  The smoke helps HIM more than it helps me…  He fired an arrow into the smoke, hoping that lady luck would pick up the slack.  She didn't, predictably.  Instead, it made a thunking noise, which Onomatopoeia was more than happy to mimic. 

Green Arrow cursed again.  Have to get this out into the open... I can't believe I didn't figure out  this whole THING was a setup before; I mean, the smugglers were too few and they weren't even armed…

Ducking under another shot, Connor realized that this was to his advantage.  He leapt up and over the stack of crates, landing in the midst of the smugglers.  Now he was in the open, as the smoke arrow had not passed near the smugglers as planned. 

Onomatopoeia matched his maneuver.  "Bang bang bang."  He sent a hail of lead at Green Arrow, narrowly missing both him and the "smugglers."

As they watched this battle, one man slapped another on the back.  "¿Es siempre gran cuando un plan bueno se reúne, eh? La trampa fue perfectamente, y ahora señor Slade nos dará nuestro cheque de pago."

"No me toque."  With that, the pair left, significantly richer for their efforts.

Green Arrow fired another standard arrow, finally connecting.  The shaft drilled through one side of his right arm and out the other.

This didn't seem to slow Onomatopoeia down much.  He fired again.  "Bang."  As blood began dripping from his wound, he mimicked that sound too.

Just to prove that Lady Luck was a bitch, it was then that Connor slid on puddle in the middle of the floor.  He fell to the ground and hit his head on the floor. 

He tried to lever himself up, cursing yet again.  Suddenly, pain exploded across his gut.  An instant later, a loud crack filled the air as he slumped back to the ground.  He felt a slick sensation on his stomach, and before he passed out from the shock, he heard one noise.

"Bang."

End Part 9

"¡Yo esperanza segura que los lectores amables visitarán red libre de punto de traducción!"

"Yo lo pensé era la traducción libre com punteado.."

"¡La red libre del punto de la Traducción! ¡Es com punteado!"

Note: Apparently, the translation service I used doesn't translate stuff as well as I'd like.  Ah well; close enough.  I'll say that the above joke is taken from the Homestar "First Time Here" movie, as that's the main joke that didn't translate well.  Oh, and it's Free Translation Dot Com.  I have to spell it out because for some reason, url's don't show up when I post this stuff.  Ah well.

Also, I'm sorry I'm taking so long between stuff.  School has spoken.

That is all.