4

Legato paused a moment outside the door. He always masked whatever little emotion lurked within him, but right now there was no hiding the fact that he was utterly terrified. His face contorted as he struggled to swallow his fear and reach out for the doorknob, but he found himself unable to suppress it. He had images of his own body being broken in ways unimaginable as soon as he relayed his message. Finally he swallowed the knot in his throat and stepped inside.
Knives was lying on the bed, his face buried in a book. All over the room there were stacks of books, as well as the crumpled remnants of newspapers and magazines. He had been reading voraciously every since their arrival, only taking breaks to indulge in food or to give Legato new instructions. The books were of a variety of topics; in one stack Legato saw texts entitled "The Holy Koran" or "The New Book of Faith." In another he saw "The Turner Diaries" and "The Golden Bough." Some of them he could not understand, because they were written in languages he had never seen before. The fact that his master could absorb all this knowledge was only proof of his superiority to the human race he so loathed.
"Master…" Legato started to say, but Knives raised an arm, gesturing for him to be silent.
"Only a storm of hot passion can turn the destinies of peoples, and he alone can arouse passion who bears it within himself…" Knives read aloud. He then closed the book and looked across the room at Legato.
"What is that, master?" Legato asked, hoping he could avoid the topic on his mind a little longer.
"A typical example of humanity." Knives said, and tossed the book aside. It landed at Legato's feet, and he looked down at the cover and read the title: "Mein Kampf."
"What do you want, Legato?" Knives sighed.
"Master…" Legato said, almost choking on the words, the sigh making him fear Knives already knew what he was going to say. "There were…complications. You're brother, Vash the Stampede, he is…"
"Yes, I know." Knives said, brushing it aside.
"You do?" How?" Knives answered Legato by picking up a small, black object from the nightstand next to the bed and pointing it at the device on the other side of the room. He pressed a button, and the screen blinked to life. Legato's eyes widened for a moment, surprised at the novelty of this contraption.
"Cable television." Knives said, and then pressed another couple of buttons, and the image changed to pictures of the Teen Titan's battle with Johnny Rancid. "Apparently someone stole some materials from the nuclear power plant. The mission was successful." He stood up and stretched a little while Legato allowed his shoulders to slump down from alongside his ears, the tension of fear vanishing from his body.
"You are not worried about Vash interfering, then?" he asked.
"This world is even more dangerous than the one we've come from, Legato..." Knives said as he stepped up to one of the bay windows, looking out at the lights of the city. "Full of the works of humans. It just means all the more chances for Vash to get himself killed. And besides, now that he's going to see what human's are really like, he'll start to think differently. And if he does get involved, I'll handle him myself. In the meantime, I intend to just keep moving forward."
"You wish us to move on to the second phase, then?" Legato said, a small smile playing across his lips. Knives nodded. Legato started to turn to leave when Knives called to him again.
"And Legato…" When the blue haired killer turned around, Knives pointed to the television screen, where an image of Raven and Starfire flashed. "Those two…they intrigue me. I want to meet them." Legato nodded and left.

"No! You can't do that! No fair!" Vash screeched and hurriedly pressed buttons. Beast Boy cackled with triumph and proceeded to lap Vash again. In the past couple of days he had been teaching Vash the finer points of video game playing, and thus far Vash had been struggling to keep up.
"Please friends, do not be shy" Stafire encouraged Millie and Meryl from behind the counter. "We have supplies aplenty to make anything you desire."
"Well…now that you mention it, a banana sundae would be nice." Meryl said, smiling softly.
"And a milleffeuille cake, and a Ceylon tea set." Millie added.
"I will begin immediately." Starfire said and turned toward the refrigerator. She paused a moment, and then she turned back to face the two ladies, blushing. "Um…how does one go about making a banana sundae?" she giggled. Meryl smiled and came around the counter alongside her to help.
"So, tell us about this Slade." Wolfwood said to Robin over his the chessboard. Robin didn't raise his eyes to address him, not wanting to break his concentration for anything.
"Well, he's a criminal." Cyborg said from across the room while he examined Vash's pistol. "Man, who made this thing? The design work is incredible."
"Um…Knives made it." Vash said, turning his head to address Cyborg. "He made that one, and its twin."
"It's twin?"
"Yeah, he has one just like…" the sound of a computerized explosion drew Vash's attention away, and he turned back to the screen, and promptly saw his character being destroyed. He yelped and pressed more buttons.
"Slade's caused a lot of trouble in the past." Robin said, getting back on the topic as he moved one of his chess pieces on the board. "He's helped dangerous criminals escape, nearly took over the city, and even kidnapped me for a while."
"Sounds like a real tough guy." Wolfwood said as he moved one of his pieces in response.
"Yeah. I'd give anything to know more about him. Check." Robin raised his eyes to look at Wolfwood, smirking. Wolfwood just smiled in response and moved his queen out of harms way.
"Oh, we do not have banana's, or tea, or strange sounding cakes." Stafire moaned sadly.
"That's okay. We probably don't want to spoil our dinner anyway." Millie said comfortingly.
"Did someone say dinner?" Beast Boy said as he dropped his controller, leaving Vash still struggling, and dashed across the room. "Who's up for tofu?"
"What's tofu?" Meryl asked.
"Dude, you don't know what tofu is? What kind of a planet do you come from?" Beast Boy gasped, but then stepped forward, pushing his chest out and flashing a toothy smile. "But don't you worry, I'll introduce you to its wonders!" He threw the refrigerator door open, his face sinking when he saw its contents. "There's no food!" he shouted.
"Someone'll have to go grocery shopping." Cyborg said casually as he sat down next to Vash to take Beast Boy's place.
"It's Raven's turn." Robin said. "Someone better go tell her."
"I'll do it." Wolfwood said, rising out of his seat.
"Wait, we're not done with this game yet!" Robin called to him. Wolfwood stopped, turned around, walked back, and casually moved a couple of pieces on the board.
"Checkmate." He said, smirking as he started back again.
"Wait a minute!" Robin shouted after him. "This is not checkmate! THIS IS NOT CHECKMATE!" He lowered his face to the board and examined the pieces, before grudgingly muttering, "Ah…checkmate." He flicked Wolfwood's king, knocking it over.

Wolfwood found Raven in her room. The door was closed, so he knocked. Raven flung the door open, her face lowered into a scowl at the interruption. When she saw it was him, however, a light pink stained her cheeks.
"Oh, Nick…hi, I didn't know it was you."
"Mind if I come in?" He said, offering her one of his charming smiles, and she nodded and stepped aside, clearing the way for him. He stepped into her room, narrowing his eyes as they adjusted to the interior darkness. He looked at some of the mystical objects that decorated the walls and shelves.
"Nice décor." He quipped.
"Heh, I don't usually let people in here. I value my privacy." Raven said as she pulled her hood up, not wanting him to see her blushing. "So, what can I do for you?"
"You're friends say its you're turn to go grocery shopping. I offered to come tell you."
"Oh…" Raven said, her heart lowering at the idea he had not come here of his own choice. "Yeah…hold on." She turned to her dresser when she felt the warmth of his hand on her shoulder.
"But, if you don't mind the company, I'll gladly go with you." She turned and looked up at him, and saw in his face genuine friendliness. It made the corners of her mouth turn up in a warm smile. He returned it. "Now there you are, that's the real girl."
"What do you mean?" Raven said.
"That smile." Wolfwood said as he reached down and gently pulled Raven's hood down to look at her face. "You put up such a barrier against everyone that you don't let them see the real person underneath. You're afraid of being hurt." Raven's face dropped, her eyes growing large at his words. She wanted to protest, but found herself unable to, because inside, she knew the truth of them. She looked up into the eyes of this man, this stranger, and listened as he continued to read her. "Or, maybe you're a little afraid of yourself. Its a lot easier to understand the world inside of you're head than it is the world outside of you're body, isn't it? That's this man's assessment, anyway."
Raven bit her lower lip when she felt a small lump starting to form in her throat. Wolfwood had just broken down her fears and desires in such a simple manner it almost devastated her. She looked at him, and felt a strong desire to hug him, to open up to him and let her feelings out. To finally have someone who would understand was something that she could barely hope for.
"Its okay to open up now and then…" Wolfwood said, as if reading her mind. "Everyone needs someone to put some trust in. That's what I've got this for."
Raven gasped when he covered her head with the strange box, the emotions she had just felt welling up inside of her vanishing in an instant. She narrowed her eyes at him through the ridiculous little windows.
"What is this?" she muttered.
"It's a confessional." Wolfwood said and winked. "Except its portable. Got something you want to get off you're chest, I'm happy to listen." Raven yanked the church shaped box off her head and shoved it into Wolfwood's hands.
"No thanks." She said dryly, pulling her hood back up over her face. She turned and walked out. Wolfwood smiled and followed.

Slade sat atop his throne-like chair, addressing the hulking shapes that stood before him.
"Whoever this Knives is, he is most troublesome. But he shall have to wait." He said. "My plans are too far along to stop now. You all have you're orders, see to it that you let nothing stop you."
Cinderblock, Overload, and Plasmus all grunted their responses and moved to carry out Slade's commands.

Things are starting to heat up, are't they, true believers? I just wanted to issue a special thanks to commanderlink and NocturneD for being such dedicated fans of this fic, and for submitting all those reviews. I am glad to know you've found it so entertaining, and I assure you there will only be greater things ahead, especially when the Gung Ho Guns meet Slade's flunkies. And I challenge you all to guess what the link between Vash's world and The Teen Titan's world is. Till next chapter!