Disclaimer: I do not own the Titans, the Mafia, the Batman and whatever pops up on this story.
A/N: Happy Black History Month!
Terra, in uniform with the addition of the gloves and cloth, slowly creeps into one of the Wayne Manor windows in a healthy amount of stealth smothering the act. Accompanied with a sly smile, the blonde tip-toes toward the door in front of her but something catches her by extreme surprise.
Her cell phone began buzzing which, to Terra's ears, sounded like a parade of stampeding elephants. She froze in that exact spot as her breath did in her throat and jabbed one of her hands into her pockets and turned it off immediately with sloppy haste. She didn't move for a short while, straining her ears for a sound of muttering or footsteps but everything was completely silent. In that case it should have been comforting but Terra knew better. That wasn't right. The silence wasn't right.
"You know," She heard from behind but, because of a large shock in consequence to her previous heart attack, she remained still as a rock. "The room you just snuck into was mine…" Terra finally gained some courage and, in response to her bravery, a green fist made a connection to her face so swift and so hard, that it broke the sound barrier with a bomb. She was sent flying into the opposite wall with pain mercilessly stinging at her face. At first, anger erupts within her being but later, to her awareness, she feels a hot liquid running down from her nose and onto the floor. She slowly brings her gloved fingertips up to the underside of her nose and removes it to find crimson swearing the leather. Anger is quickly overcome by shock and fear. She looks up at her attacker. It was that spiky haired boy from the night of the robbery again, to Terra's misfortune.
"I tried to ask you nicely Terra." He said with half coolness and half hidden rage swimming in his tone. He took out his metal staff that looked like it can really bash something up with ease which was, in this case, her head. "You obviously have to learn the hard way…!" With that chilling message, it was followed by a loud war cry as he charged towards her in great speed with the metal pole for a weapon following him from behind. Luckily, she knows how to use reflexes so in a rapid and nearly careless move, she tripped him. She rolled aside and jumped to her feet as soon as the boy did.
'This guy is too dangerous to fight with and I don't have my rock powers functioning yet. Maybe I should try to talk him out of bashing my head like a watermelon.' She thought quickly. She quickly spoke up before the brunette tried to make his next attempt on assaulting her. "I don't know who you're talking about. I don't even know who you are." The boy frowned at her half lie. The only true thing about this was that she had no clue who this color-blind teen really was. He started walking to the side and, responding to reflexes again, Terra did too, causing them to circle each other with their eyes refusing to avert from one another. Terra, as did the boy, refused to blink.
"I'm smarter than to trust you again, Terra." He growled with malice. Thanks to amnesia and lack of knowing, she immediately bites at the comment.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I haven't met you before." She says casually, trying to suppress the fear she was feeling creeping up her throat. The young man's face scrunches up into a nastier frown which caught Terra by surprise. She never knew it could get any deeper.
"Don't play games."
"I'm not."
The short boy stops circling her and Terra follows. Now Terra was getting frustrated.
"Listen, if you don't cut the act, I'm going to have to knock you out cold." He snarled, crouching back into fighting stance. To Terra's confusion mixed with slight anger, she responded.
"Why don't you listen to me? If I knew you from somewhere, I would've recognized you." She snapped rudely. He gritted his teeth in rage.
"You're trying to trick me."
"No, I'm not! Can't you get it through your spiky head, I've got amnesia!" Terra immediately slapped her forehead in regret after a short pause of realization. The boy in the spandex didn't release his guard but his eyes widened.
"What are you talking about?" He said, his eyes re-narrowing with curiosity instead of hate. She flipped through as many excuses as possible but, alas, she couldn't find a proper one. So instead, Terra didn't speak. She backed up and felt wood against her back. She felt it all around and suppressed a grin. In a rapid move, she slipped through the door and slammed it shut. She ran off in a random direction and heard a slam as she did. Turning back, she saw the mysterious, masked teenager running after her.
'Fly, fly, fly…!' She mentally encouraged herself as she took a leap forward and shot through the air in great speed. She flew around a corner, into a carelessly picked door and closed it shut. Then a pang of recognition hit her as she let her vision slide all around the interior of the room. 'The room, I've finally found it!' The Markov cheered. She went away with business and spotted the broken glass window that she remembered jumping through while forming her dangerous escape. A grin formed on her lips as she ran for it and did the same stunt and flew off again. She looked back to see the spiky-haired gawking at her. The young blonde was tempted to stick her tongue at him or flip him off but that would just be adding salt and soap into the wounds of their already mashed up relationship. There was no need to make things worst than they already were so she settled for a small grin of mockery at him. Terra, two points, weird, spiky-headed teenager, zilch.
The blonde-haired Markov, in a complete rut, opened the door to her hotel room while her gloved hands were covering her broken nose with blood seeping through the creases of her fingers like crazy. She removed her hand to see a fat blotch of blood staining her hand and still dripping to the floor.
"Shit, that was a hard knock…" She cursed obviously shocked as she covered her slightly crooked nose and tried to find something to clean all the blood off before it got to her clothes. She found a Kleenex and dried herself off. She took a shower got in bed and slept immediately. It was obvious that the whole ordeal with that awkwardly dressed brunette was tiring enough to put the blue whale to sleep.
Then the buzzing reappeared and Terra's eyes snapped wide open. Her eyes suddenly narrow with exhaustion and she peeks over her shoulder to the digital clock which was politely donated to her by the hotel. She nearly laughed bitterly once one of her eyes spotted the eerie red digits which spelt '2:31'. She grabbed the phone and looked like she was about to crush it with anger. As a matter of fact, she really wanted to do it but she refused since Marcello's men are paying the phone bill. She answered with a grumpy 'what do you want' in a voice which didn't sound like her. She cleared her throat and waited for an answer.
"Terra, is that you?" A rough male voice grazed through from the cellular. Her senses immediately recognized the voice and she shot up in surprise.
"Marcello? Yeah, it's me. What's up?" She asked in a hasty state, matting down her frizzed hair. A silence pierced the air, only the fourteen year-old blonde's harsh breathing was heard. Then Marcello speaks up.
"Terra, I delivered you something. The boys say they're already outside the building with your new teacher." Terra froze stiff. Since when was she receiving a new teacher?
"A what…?" She nearly cried wide awake. Marcello sighed.
"Your new teacher… he's a good guy you'll like him." He tried to sooth but Terra was too sick of surprises to try and calm down.
"Marcello, I can't just accept a teacher. Does he even live here?" She asked in partial anger.
"I know that and no, he's staying at your place." Marcello answered timidly and mildly as if this was all normal and well. Terra was far from that feeling. She had a bad nose, the masked boy beat the living daylights out of her and probably knows she has amnesia and now she's suddenly going to get a teacher that will be staying over? Terra felt like throwing a violent fit but decided not to keep Marcello's men waiting.
"Ugh… fine, I'll let him in… that doesn't mean I'll like it though…" She moans in defeat, stepping out of bed and getting back into her seemingly uncomforting suit and hanging up.
While walking down the block and finally meeting up with a black limo she spots a muscular male with grey hair and piercing blue eyes. She walked up to him and gave him a skeptical look. He shot it right back. The limo windows open and Bobby pops into the uncomfortable scene.
"Terra, this is David Cain. He's going to be your new teacher." Terra dragged her gaze to Bobby then back to David Cain, still looking pessimistic. The 6 '2" man gave her a sadistic grin when he noticed how unenthusiastic she was about his arrival. Bobby noted how the tension between the two was already soaring. The male blonde suddenly cut the stare contest short.
"Oh, I almost forgot, boss also gave out this case. He told me that you should use it from now on."
"What is it?" Terra asked turning to him. He shrugged and chucked a suit case at her which she was hardly able to catch due to its weight.
"It beats me, Marcello told me you got to look in it, not me." He said with a serious look. He tilts his bowler cap back and zooms off with a friendly 'later'. As he leaves, Cain doesn't take his eyes off the small blonde. Terra is aware of his staring and tries to brush off the feeling of tension. Cain decides to speak.
"You must be my new student." He says smoothly. Terra refused to give him a look of approval. As a matter of fact, she couldn't. She was too sickened with grief. "Your name is Terra, isn't it? Mr. Ferrari told me about your lack of skill in hand-to-hand combat and said I'm the person for the job… you don't mind me here do you?" He asked with mysterious courtesy. Terra strained a fake smile.
"No, I don't mind at all." Terra lied, her face feeling as if it were breaking under the fakeness of her smile. He grinned back.
"Excellent. I don't mean to be a burden." And with his freakishly kind words, he walked straight into the hotel. Terra ran in front of him so she can guide him and open the door. She let the tall male in first just to be polite. She soon followed and closed the entrance. David entered the washroom and closed it. Soon after she heard the showers turn on.
'He made himself at home without me even giving him permission to.' Terra thought irritably. The young blonde quickly shifted her attention to the case Bobby gave her and slid it onto the bed. She slowly opened it and shock hit her head-on. A sword as long as her frail arm lay in front of her in red velvet cushions. She slowly raised it up slowly as if it were the most precious and fragile china. She could practically see her reflections in this thing. It was so well-polished- like it just came out for a display. The only weird thing about it was the engravings in its body. That didn't bother her much. Terra frowned at the whole event. 'How come he suddenly wants me using a sword? If I knew him any better, I would've thought he'd have given me a gun or something.' The curiosity of it all was close to terrifying. Suddenly David Cain emerges from the bathroom with a towel around his waist. Terra is surprised at his lack of shyness. But she notices also that he is very muscular for a man of his age. She decides not to question him on how he is able to keep up with such a body if he is seemingly so elderly since that's a rude thing to do. 'Probably drinks a lot of milk.'
He shifts into his clothes (Terra looking the opposite way) and faces Terra with a deadly serious expression.
"Terra," He begins, cracking his knuckles. "Are you ready to train?" Terra is shocked at his energetic level at such a late time. She isn't tired either but didn't it at least occur to him that it was late? She glances at the red digits which read '3:01'. She sighs and lets down the sword.
"OK," She replies, crossing her arms. "I'm ready."
"Good. Now the first thing you must learn in hand-to-hand combat is that self-defense is a useful mechanism when in close combat…" He kept going on and on about defense but Terra's mind was elsewhere. Why would Marcello do all this and what for…?
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