Disclaimer: The Teen Titans aren't mine.

Gunsmoke and Black Roses… Chapter Two

Smoke was now in his element. If there was one thing he knew about in life, it was combat… it WAS, after all, what he'd been made for… his purpose in life, he supposed.

'BLAM!… ca-clickBLAM!… ca-clickBLAM!… ca-click…. BLAM!… ca-click.'

This was all that could be heard as a small group of the Titan's obstacle-course-bots were blown away by a thick cloud of buckshot, and emptied shotgun shells hit the ground with every blast.

Smoke was dashing across the dirt ground of the obstacle course at high speed, going as fast as his genetically engineered legs would take him.

In his path, a row of spikes popped up, but he saw them and leapt over. When he landed, he kept going and was ambushed by more bots.

Two of the bots raised their arms, and small laser guns emerged from their forearms. Immediately, they let fly.

Smoke ducked, barrel rolled on the ground, and missed the searing hot lasers, and cocked his shotgun.

"Time to die." He snickered to a nearby bot.

'BLAM!'

The unlucky machine went flying, it's body twisted around in midair as 4 shells-worth of buckshot lit it up. It landed with a thunk, smoking from countless, large holes punctured into it's metal body. It was down for the count.

The others began to close in on Smoke, but the young gun just laughed. With a flick of his hand, he unclasped his chainsaw and gave the cord a mighty yank, holding the saw in the hand opposite the shotgun.

'Vroom… Vroom… VREEEEEEEE!'

"Oh yeah… sing for Smoke, baby…" The supersoldier chuckled, patting the handle of the saw affectionately.

The bots charged Smoke with laser arms outstretched.

'Vrew! Vrew….Vreeee vreww!'

A couple headless bots slid to the ground, sparking from their stump necks. Another couple fell back missing arms or legs.

Smoke ran forward past the mechanical remnants… and soon encountered a new obstacle: a large pair of pillars rose up in front of the narrow path he was on. Then, large blades extended from the sides of the pillars, and they began spinning, forming a large, cutting-blade barrier in his path.

"Damn…! How'm I gonna… ?" He started, perplexed.

Then he had an idea. His saw was guaranteed indestructible… that thing wasn't.

Firing up the chainsaw, he stuck it in between the two large pillars, but instead of being ground up and sliced to bits… the saw literally stopped the grinders from turning, short-circuiting the thing, and blowing it up.

"Heheheh…. Cool." Smoke grunted simply, and took off again.

He didn't get far before grating opened up on the ground in front of him and spewing out small, flying drones with missile launchers.

Still smiling from ear-to-ear, Smoke put away the shotgun and chainsaw… and drew his dual .44 magnums, crossing them in front of his chest impressively.

"Alright… time for a little target practice…" Smoke muttered.

'POW! POW! POW!'

The bullets flew as Smoke started pumping the triggers as fast as his trigger-fingers would move. With each precision shot, a .44 magnum bullet destroyed a drone. Naturally, Smoke could only fire 12 bullets at a time, but seeing as how he could reload in about… oh, say… 5 seconds, it really didn't impair his formidability in the least.

After clearing out the flying bots, Smoke blew across the barrels of his revolvers producing a low-pitched hum, the black smoke for which he was named trailing away as he did so.

"Now THAT…" he laughed, loading more bullets into the revolver chambers, "… felt good…"

Running forward, he jumped several large holes in the ground, and crossed the finish line.

As he neared back to where the other Titans were waiting, he grinned, spun his revolvers around on his fingers, and slipped them back into the holsters simultaneously.

"And so that…" he turned to face the stunned Titans "… is how it's done."

"Dude…" Beast Boy began with wide eyes. "That… was… awesome."

"Bravo! Knew ya had it in ya!" Zero cheered.

"You did great! I'm surprised…" Robin nodded.

"… Nice…" Mumbled Raven simply.

"Man, you did a number on my bots… s'ok, though. I can fix 'em." Cy said.

"Most stupendous! You triumphed easily!" Star bubbled, clapping.

"That was really good!" Jinx said smiling. "… but not as good as Zero…" she purred under her breath.

Smoke blushed and tried to shrug off the praise he was receiving, but to limited effect.

Inside, he felt for the first time… like he actually belonged.

In an Abandoned Warehouse in Downtown Jump City…

It was an old, rundown warehouse. It's former use would have been a complete mystery to an onlooker; there were no old signs or such to indicate what it might have been used to store.

That didn't matter though…

On the top floor of the large, six story warehouse… was an old bedroom. It may have been used by someone who had worked large amounts of time at the warehouse, and had needed a place to sleep on his or her breaks. It was now reduced to a rusty, metal bed frame with an old tattered mattress and a moth-eaten blanket… there was a single, flattened pillow.

The only other things in the room were an empty wooden crate, a large, cracked mirror, and a stack of bricks in the corner. But again, none of this really matters…

What matters… is who happens to be in the room.

Lying on her side on the old mattress is Blackfire… she'd come to Earth once again in an attempt to elude the pursuit of intergalactic law enforcement… Earth had happened to be the nearest planet, and she certainly couldn't have gone back to Tamaran; she was banished.

But even if she could have, she wouldn't. Blackfire hated that place with a passion… why wouldn't she? It had always hated her… even before she had ever done anything wrong.

Ever since she was born, Blackfire had always been different. Even when she was just a baby, people had always feared and loathed her… just because… well, she was different. They couldn't believe that the rulers of Tamaran would have a child so strange. Instead of the typical red or brown hair and green eyes… she had black hair and blue-gray eyes… as far as anyone knew, that was a first on Tamaran. People hated the fact that such a little freak of nature was next in line for the throne.

But then, everything changed… and thing's got even worse for Blackfire.

A sister was born… and then, people rejoiced. It was always Starfire this, and Starfire that… Finally, a child who was worthy of the throne, a normal, healthy, young Tamaranean. Yes, little Starfire got everything… everything that should have been Blackfire's… and the little twit was so naïve, she didn't even realize how much her sister hated her for that.

Not until her first visit to Earth, anyway. After that, and her subsequent takeover over Tamaran.

Right now, Blackfire was doing something very unusual for her… she was crying.

Just the thought of her wretched, little sister enraged her! How dare that little thief steal everything from her? Everything

But right now, that was the least of Blackfire's problems. She was being chased by drones. Centauri Police drones…

She'd hidden herself inside this old warehouse, but things had only gotten worse. She'd never thought about it until now, but her Tamaranean immune system was completely vulnerable to Earthly illness. Her sister's stupid little friends, Blackfire was sure, had gotten her some sort of vaccine or some such when she'd first come here to keep her from getting sick.

Blackfire, however, hadn't had that luxury.

Soon after arriving at the warehouse, she'd gotten sick… VERY sick. For us, it would have probably been something like the common cold, or a mild flu… but to her, and her vulnerable immune system, it was much worse. She was shaking violently, but wasn't sure whether to put the old, tattered blanket over her or not… although she was cold and shaking on the outside, she was burning up on the inside, and sweated off and on.

Her head ached terribly, and she couldn't even see straight. Her vision swooned in and out of focus and her nose was stopped up and runny.

"Oh, For X'hal's Sake… could thing's possibly get any worse…?" she moaned softly, crying and clutching her aching, stuffy head.

What worried her the most… was that if the Centauri drones found her in this shape… she was done for…

Back with the Titans…

"Well… looks like we've got ourselves a potential team member." Sub-Zero said genially to Robin.

"I see your point; he's good… but do you think the others will agree?" The Boy Wonder asked.

Zero and Robin were in Robin's room discussing Smoke's impressive run on the obstacle course.

"Rob, I'm positive they will. Besides… you can never have too many friends, right?" The knight joked.

"I… I guess you're right. We should ask the others… then Smoke, of course." Responded the Boy Wonder.

As they were talking, Smoke was in the living room lying on the couch and snoozing. He was snoring softly, but not enough to disturb anybody. He was not tired out by the obstacle course; he just liked to sleep… back at the military base, most of his time had been spent in a sort of sleep…

Starfire, Raven, and Beast Boy were all in their rooms, and Cyborg was working on the T-Car. Jinx was in her room, as well.

Sub-Zero and Robin made their way to Star's room and knocked on the door.

"Hey, uh, Star? Can we come in for a minute?" Robin asked.

A moment later, Star opened up the door and allowed them in, beaming.

"Welcome, friend Robin and friend Zero!" she said brightly, "What is it you require of me?"

"Well… Robin and I…" began Zero, "… were thinking earlier that maybe… Smoke could…" Zero paused, carefully considering his words. "… Join the team? I mean, he did excellent in the course and all, and he doesn't have a place to stay anyway…"

Starfire was quick to agree. "Marvelous! A magnificent idea! I would be happy to have friend Smoke stay with us."

After finishing their talk with Star, Robin and Zero proceeded onto Raven's room.

"Uh… hey, Zero… you knock." Robin stammered.

"No… you knock." Zero insisted.

"Are you crazy? Raven hates it when people knock on her door!" Robin exclaimed.

"And that's why you want me to knock?" Zero demanded incredulously.

"Exactly!" Robin answered immediately.

The door opened up in front of them with Raven standing there. Apparently, she had heard them and decided to nip their argument in the bud.

"Oh, uh… Raven. Listen, could we talk to you for a sec?" Zero asked.

"… Sure." She answered dryly.

"Listen… about Smoke's run on the obstacle course earlier… well, that and the fact that he doesn't have anywhere to go… Zero and I were thinking…" Robin started but Raven cut him off.

"You want him to join us." Raven stated. It wasn't a question.

"Uh… yes." Zero finished.

Raven just shrugged. "Go for it. He seems trustworthy enough."

Then, without further ado, she turned, went back in her room, and shut the door. Rob and Zero looked at each other in surprise.

"Well… that went well." Zero said genially. Robin nodded.

They made their way to B.Boy's room from there, and knocked tentatively on the door.

The green shape shifter opened the door and yawned.

"Oh… hey guys… what's…(yawn)… up?" He said drowsily… maybe he'd been asleep like Smoke.

"Well, we kind of wanted to talk to you about our new 'guest'…" Robin started.

"Oh Smoke? Dude, that guy's awesome!" B.B. busted out suddenly. "Did you see him light up those bots earlier? And that chainsaw! He—"

Robin decided to cut him off early. "Yeah, yeah… actually, the reason we wanted to talk to you about Smoke…"

Zero wanted to get straight to the point. "We want him to join the Titans." He said bluntly.

Beast Boy grinned widely. "Are you serious? That'd be awesome! Things would be a lot more fun with Smoke around, I think… I wonder if he likes video games?" B.Boy wondered thoughtfully.

"Yeah, well… glad you feel that way." Zero said. "We're gonna go talk to Cyborg now."

They left B.B. and made their way down to the garage where the T-Car was stored, and sure enough, there was Cy, working under the hood of the T-Car.

"Hey Cy,… mind if we interrupt you for a second?" Zero asked.

"Huh? Sure… I'm just making some adjustments to the engine." Cy responded, coming up from under the hood holding a wrench.

"Well, we'll get straight to the point. How'd you feel about Smoke being on the team?" Robin asked quickly.

Cyborg looked at them in surprise. "Hmm… Smoke, a Titan?… Sounds good to me. We can always use more allies, right?" He said with a shrug and a grin.

"Well then… that just leaves Jinx." Robin said.

"Hey, Robin… let me take care of that one…" Zero requested, a mischievous look in his crimson eyes.

"Uh… sure, I guess…" The Boy Wonder answered with a small shrug.

A Short While Afterwards…

Jinx was in her room watching T.V. and lying on the bed… she was rather bored… but she was shaken out of her boredom by a knock at the door.

"Come in… it's open." She said, not taking her eyes off the soap opera she was watching.

Zero walked in with his hands behind his back.

"Zero! Come in! What are you here for?" She asked in surprise.

"Oh, Jinx you wound me..." he joked with mock hurt. "Must a poor boy have a reason to see the girl he loves?"

She got up and sidled over to him, putting her arms around his neck. "No… I suppose not…" she purred softly. She noticed he was holding his arms intently around his back. "What've you got there?" she asked suspiciously.

"Well… since you asked…" he said softly. He pulled his arms back in front of him, revealing a large, white bouquet of red roses with a pink cloth tied around it.

"Surprise." He chuckled, pleased at the reaction on her face.

"OhOh Zero… these are for me? … They're beautiful. Thank you so much!" She said earnestly, throwing her arms around him and kissing him on the cheek. Zero just sighed happily and closed his red eyes, enjoying her touch.

"It was nothing, my sweet…" he insisted, then he continued: "By the way… Jinx, while I'm thinking about it… what would you think about Smoke being on our side? A Titan?" He asked.

She pulled away from him and looked at him curiously. "Mmmm… sounds like an idea to me. I'd enjoy having him around. He seems like a nice enough guy…" she said slowly. "What do you think?" she asked Zero

"Well… Smoke is extremely talented… and he has no place to go or stay. And if he's really being pursued, then I'd feel terrible if I didn't do something to help him."

"Just like you would've felt terrible if you hadn't of helped me those couple months ago?" Jinx giggled.

"Well… yeah, I guess…" he said with a smile and a shrug. "Perhaps I'm just too nice." He joked.

Jinx hugged him again, holding the bouquet of roses close to her as she did so.

"Maybe… but if you are, I'd rather not see you change…" she said softly. Then, she leaned up and kissed him on the lips.

After bidding his girlfriend goodbye, Zero knew there was one last person to see… the gunman himself.

Making his way to the living room, he found Smoke still sleeping on the couch, his boots dangling off the edge and hands behind his head, snoring softly and slowly.

"Uh… hey Smoke… Smoke?" the Knight shook him by the shoulder lightly. No effect. "Smoke… wake up." Still no effect. Zero sighed and realized he had only one option left. He rolled up his white sleeves… and blasted Smoke with a 'woosh!' of cold air.

"YAAAHH! COLD!" Smoke screamed, shooting up and shivering.

"Now that I have your attention…" chuckled Sub-Zero, "… there's something I'd like to discuss with you, my friend."

"Damn! Ya could've been a little more subtle!" said Smoke with chattering teeth. "But… sure, what is it?"

"An invitation." Zero said simply.

"Invitation…?" the gunner said, puzzled. "To what?"

"Well, let me explain…" Zero began, "As you doubtless know, my friends and I aren't exactly what you would call 'normal.' We all have powers or abilities of some sort… and we make a living protecting the city."

"Okaaaaay… so where are you going with this?" Smoke yawned. "You're superheroes. And you've all been very generous to let me stay with you."

"Where I'm going with this…" Zero laughed, "Is that we were thinking… would you be interested in being part of the team?"

For a moment, there was silence.

"… Me?" Smoke said softly.

"You." The warrior replied, smiling widely.

"……" Smoke was silent.

They… wanted him? They actually wanted to be his friends? He had assumed up until now, that all this friendliness and allowing him to stay… was all because they felt sorry for him. He had never thought… they actually liked him.

"… You're serious?" Smoke asked in disbelief.

"As serious as a heart attack." Zero joked, "Knight's honor."

"… I… I guess… I mean…. I'd love to." The young gun stuttered, grinning somewhat.

"Great! Now, we'll just need to clear out a room for you and—"

Sub-Zero was interrupted in mid-sentence as Robin came in the room looking worried.

"Zero! We've got trouble!" Robin said quickly.

"… Trouble? What kind of trouble?" the knight asked with a blink.

"We're not sure… but there're reports of some sort of disturbance at an old warehouse downtown…."

Sub-Zero turned to Smoke.

"Well… you ready for this?" he asked jokingly.

'Snap! Ca-Click!'

Smoke was already on his feet with a cocked shotgun.

"I'm always ready… always."

The end of this chapter is near… in fact, this is it. But I'm going to have the next one up soon, so don't forget to read and review fellas.

The Mad Phantom…