Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans… or do I? … (Long pause.)… Nope. I don't.

Gunsmoke and Black Roses—Chapter Three

It was difficult fitting an extra person into the T-Car, but they finally managed to squeeze Smoke in. Sub-Zero and Jinx were gliding along behind them, using Zero's 'Ice-Glider' trick… On the way there, Robin had given Smoke a Titan's communicator in case he ever needed it.

"… Are we there yet?" B.Boy whined.

"No." Raven answered flatly.

Then, five minutes later…

"… Are we there yet?" The green joker asked again.

"No." Raven and Smoke said simultaneously and firmly.

Another ten minutes went by…

"… Now, are we there yet?" B.B. persisted.

"… NOOOOO!" Robin, Smoke, Raven, and Cyborg yelled angrily.

Beast Boy's face almost flapped with the force of that last, 'NO!'. "Sheesh! Just askin'….." he muttered.

Outside the T-Car, a muffled yell was heard and Jinx asked Zero: "What on Earth was that?"

"I think B.B. was asking, 'Are we there yet?', again." The knight responded. "You'd think he's learned by now…"

"Oh… makes sense." She said nodding and giggling. "But some people never learn."'

After several more minutes of traveling in which there was, thankfully, no more peeps from Beast Boy, they finally made it to the old, rundown warehouse and got out.

"Man… this place is a dump…" Cy groaned in disgust. "Yo, Robin… you sure this is the place?"

"Oh, I'm sure." Robin replied. "But I don't see any signs of disturbance…"

"Well… I guess we'll have to have a look." Zero said with a shrug.

"Okay… how about this: I'll check out the perimeter, Star… you take the first floor, Cy the second, B.B. the third, Raven the fourth floor, Jinx the Fifth, Zero the sixth floor… and Smoke, you check out the basement." Robin explained the plan.

The Titans nodded and split up to search their designated areas. Smoke went in and found the long, dark stairwell that led down to the basement. He paused and looked down… it was pitch black down there…

Thankfully, Smoke's keen eyes noticed a large glass case labeled 'In Case Of Emergency Power Outage' mounted on the wall above the stairs.

With a swift punch, he smashed open the glass, and pulled out a flashlight.

"Hehehepaydirt." The gunman muttered, pleased with his luck.

With a 'click', he switched the flashlight on and drew one of his revolvers, holding it in the hand opposite the light.

Carefully, Smoke began descending down the old, wooden steps down into the dark basement. They creaked and bent under his weight… but thankfully, they held up.

Once down there, Smoke regretted ever having agreed to this.

"Damn… this place gives me the creeps…" he mumbled with a shiver. "Why couldn't Raven have gotten the basement? She's the one that's big on dark, creepy places…"

Still though, he pressed on, waving his flashlight around and looking at all angles in an attempt to make sure nothing else was down there.

Meanwhile, Star was searching the first floor… she flew around for several minutes, searching every nook and cranny for signs of anything out of the ordinary… but found nothing.

Until, she heard something. She could have sworn she heard a 'whoosh' behind her…

She turned around, but nothing was there. Still, just to be safe, she backtracked and looked around some more. Still, nothing… until…

With a loud crash, one of the walls was knocked in by a large, robotic drone with metallic, pink tentacles.

"What?" Star gasped. She recognized it at once as one of the drones that had come to Earth before searching for… wait…

If one of these drones is here, then… Blackfire was here, too.

The drone hovered in front of Starfire for a moment, then reached out quickly with it's long tentacles, grabbing her. She struggled and had just enough time for a single, panicked scream before the tentacle covered her mouth… thankfully, Robin heard the scream from outside.

"… Star?" he whispered. "She's in trouble!"

Robin took off through the front doors, dashed towards where the sound had come from, and saw Star wiggling around in the bot's grip, trying desperately to escape and eyes going green with fright.

"STAR!" he screamed.

Whipping out his Bo staff, he charged the bot and leapt to attack it… but it whipped around a free tentacle and knocked him out of the air.

"Oomph!" he grunted, hitting the ground with a thud.

The drone began flying off, dragging the struggling Tamaranean with it. But Robin wasn't about to give up that easily.

He reached into his belt and grabbed a grappling hook. Taking quick, careful aim, he fired it off and it stuck deeply into the robot's backside.

He was dragged along with the flying bot, but knew how to stop it. Robin climbed along the cord of his grappling hook, and made it onto the drone's back. He ripped off a small panel and started ripping out the bot's inner wires and machinery.

Sparking and smoking, the malfunctioning bot dropped down to the ground and exploded… but Robin grabbed Star as the tentacles let go, and jumped down, landing safely.

"… Star? Star, are you okay?" Robin asked, helping her to her feet.

"Oh… I am all right. But Robin, why was a Centauri drone here?" she asked, deeply troubled.

"I… I don't know. The last time we saw one of those, it was here looking for… your sister."

"….. Could Blackfire be here again?" Star asked softly in disbelief. "She is banished from Tamaran… perhaps she returned here?"

"I just don't know Star." Robin said. "But if she IS here… we're going to find her."

Robin was interrupted by the ringing of his Titans communicator. He answered it; Cyborg was on the other end.

"Robin! You're not gonna believe this, but—"

"You found a drone… like the one's that came after Star that time."

Cy's eyes went wide in surprise. "Huh? How'd you…?"

"Because we found one too."

"Well, look… there are five more of them… they flew off towards the city. We need to get after them." Cy informed.

"Right… you call the others, tell them. We'll go after them together."

"Gotcha." Cy nodded.

Back in the Basement with Smoke

Smoke was fairly sure by now that nothing out of the ordinary was down here. He sighed and shivered, the cold dampness of the basement getting to him. Then, he heard something ringing in his coat pocket… it was the communicator Robin had given him on the way here. He pulled it out and answered.

"Huh? Cyborg? What is it?" Smoke asked.

"Listen, Smoke… we got ambushed by some drones earlier. We're going after them, but we need somebody to stay here and make sure none of them come back here. Can you handle it?" Cy asked.

"Sure… wait a minute… did you say, 'Drones'?"

"Yeah, but there's no time to explain; we have to get going while the gettin's good. We'll be back to pick you up after we take these bots out."

With that, Cy's end of the communicator blinked off, leaving Smoke by himself in the basement.

"Well… looks like I'm on guard duty." The gunner sighed softly to himself.

He started to walk back towards the upper floors.

"…Ohhhhh….."

Smoke stopped dead in his tracks and turned around. What the Hell was THAT?

"…Ohhhhh…."

It was like… someone moaning. Someone in pain.

"…oh….ohhhh…"

Smoke flicked his flashlight toward the source of the sound, and saw nothing but a stack of old, wooden crates. But a second later, he noticed something… odd. One of the crates was moving… sort of shaking.

Smoke holstered his revolver and got out the shotgun…

Walking slowly toward the moving crate, light and shotgun in hand, Smoke prepared himself in case he was about to be ambushed by one of the 'Drones' his friends had mentioned.

He was right in front of the large crate now… with a shaking hand, he reached out…

In the space of three or four seconds, he ripped the top off the crate, pointed his flashlight down into it, and pointed the barrels of his shotgun down into it as well. And he got a surprise…

"Huh?… Starfire?" Smoke murmured in disbelief.

But it wasn't… it was a girl that looked eerily similar to Star, but with black hair and slightly different clothes. She was curled up at the bottom of the crate, shaking and moaning softly.

"Uhh…. Lady? Lady, you okay?"

The girl jerked violently as if he'd struck her and looked up at him. Smoke was startled to see her face was pale and sweaty, her eyes watery and slightly swollen.

"W-who…. Who are you….?" She whispered hoarsely and weakly.

"Me? Name's Smoke. Look, miss, I dunno why you're crawled up in a crate… really ain't my business… but anyway, I'd be careful if I were you… there's weird robots around."

"….." Blackfire was silent. That was what she was afraid of. The drones had found her, and she was too weak to fight them now…

"Uh… listen…. Do you, like…. Need some help, or something? You… don't really look so good…." Smoke asked hesitantly.

"…S-sick…" Blackfire whimpered.

"You're sick? Well, why didn't ya say so?" he demanded.

In a move that elicited a surprised gasp from Blackfire, he holstered the shotgun, reached down into the crate, and pulled her up with one arm. He helped her to her feet.

"Can you stand up?"

"…. I …. Not sure…"

Blackfire stood there for a moment, wavering… and then toppled to the ground and lay there shaking.

"Too dizzy…" she groaned.

"… Here, lemme help ya." Smoke took her arm again, helped her back up, and helped her walk with him back upstairs.

"So… what's your name, anyway?"

For a long moment, Blackfire was silent. She WAS a wanted criminal… would it really be a good idea to tell him? Then, she remembered this guy was an Earthling and had probably never heard of her.

"… Blackfire."

Smoke stared in disbelief. Not only did this chick look like Star, she had a similar name, too. There was NO WAY this was just a coincidence. But for right now, he decided not to bring that subject up.

Once they had gotten back up to the top floor, Blackfire sat down on an old metal bench in a corner. Smoke sat down next to her.

"My friends'll be back pretty shortly… maybe I can get 'em to give you a lift to the nearest doctor or something…" He offered after a moment.

"..No… can't…"

"Huh? You can't?" he asked. "Well… the least I can do if give you a lift home."

"Don't have a home." Blackfire replied flatly.

He stared at her. Up until recently, he hadn't either. And that's what gave him the idea.

"… If you need a place to stay, I can ask my friends. We got plenty of room."

She looked at him strangely; it was a mixture of irritation and confusion.

"… Why?"

"Why what?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Why would you want to do all that? You don't even know me."

He just shrugged. "Just tryin' to be hospitable… 'sides, you just seemed like you could use a hand, that's all."

She stared at him for another moment and didn't say anything else.

Meanwhile, outside the building, more trouble was afoot… and it wasn't the Centauri Robots.

In front of the entrance stood a platoon of soldiers. They wore full body armor, and were armed with stun guns. They stood at attention in a block formation.

"Atten-shun!"

They all snapped their heels together and stood perfectly still, keeping their eyes on the man who had screamed the command.

He was about 6'8", about 300 pounds; muscular and well built. He wore camo body armor all over, and a large helmet with a yellow-tinted visor and carried a large laser cannon in his arms.

"Our mission… is simple. We go in there, bag the brat, and make an easy paycheck!" he hollered at the assembled troops. "But whatever you do, don't actually hurt 'im, or Professor Wagner will have our heads for trophies… any questions?"

No one said anything.

"Very good. Now… MOVE OUT!"

"Sir, yes sir!"

They immediately commenced to march forward, and the leader kicked in the large warehouse door.

On the other side of the building, Smoke and Blackfire heard this.

"What in the Hell?" the gunman muttered in confusion.

"Who… is it?" Blackfire asked.

"I don't know… but I don't think it's my friends…"

Then, the lead soldier shouted into the building, it echoed all the way to where they were.

"You! Prototype! Come out with your hands in the air! We are authorized to take you back as property of the U.S. military… by force if need be."

Smoke immediately went very pale.

"Blackfire… get inside one of those crates." He warned her quickly, pointing to another empty box.

"What? But… who—"

"Now." He insisted.

Having no idea what was going on, she did as he said. Normally, she wouldn't have let ANYONE order her around… but she didn't feel up to fighting… she was still so ill. And for reasons even she was not sure of… she actually trusted Smoke… even if he was a perfect stranger, almost.

Once Blackfire had hidden herself, Smoke whipped out his shotgun and chainsaw.

"Okay, bastards… who wants to have a little?" he snarled under his breath. "I got plenty for everybody…"

Smoke decided it would probably be wiser to take the initiative and attack, as opposed to letting them come to him. So, with a crank of his saw, he dashed off towards the other end of the building…

The soldiers walked slowly and cautiously through, keeping their eyes peeled for any sign of the 'Prototype.' One of them heard what sounded like a cranked saw… he turned around, but there was nothing.

"Sir! I think I hear something…" he informed the leader.

"Like what?" the big guy snorted.

"Well… like—"

He never got the chance to finish his sentence, because the next thing they knew… he had a cranked chainsaw blade protruding from his chest. He gargled and screamed incoherently for a moment and then slid off the blade, bloodied and dead.

"… Like THAT." Smoke chuckled, standing right behind the slain soldier.

"OPEN FIRE!"

Smoke took cover behind a large, mechanical wench that used to have been used to move crates and boxes around. A flurry of stunner blasts ricocheted off it's surface.

Carefully, Smoke edged around it and did a barrel roll on the ground and then took off running at top speed.

He was running so fast, none of their shots could hit him. As he ran, he fired off shell after shell, dropping two or three soldiers with each shotgun-burst.

"Idiots! SHOOT HIM!"

Smoke was seriously getting tired of this… he decided to make things quick. He drew his dual revolvers and started popping off caps, making lethally accurate headshots with each press of the triggers.

By now, the only one left was the leader.

"Grrrr! You'll pay for this, you freak!" The leader roared, raising his cannon.

But he had just hit a nerve…

Just as he fired off a powerful, searing-red-hot laser beam, Smoke cranked his saw and leapt over it. He came down on his shoulder with the saw, and gave it a fierce swing, effectively cutting the goon's arm off. Then, as the leader screamed, he cocked his shotgun and aimed it into his face.

"Well, well, well, one-arm… who's the freak now?"

'BLAM!Splat!ca-click.'

As the military leader's headless, one-armed corpse fell to the ground, still spewing blood from the arm socket and smoking from the neck, Smoke spun his shotgun around and slid it into it's holster.

"... Don't you ever…. Call me…. A…. Freak." Smoke snarled softly and vehemently at the lifeless, buckshot-ridden body.

The gunman did not notice, but Blackfire was staring wide eyed out of the top of the Crate she'd taken refuge in. She hadn't realized this guy was so… formidable.

Just then, Smoke was startled by the ringing of his communicator. He opened it up just in time to see Robin.

"Smoke! We took out those bots before they could cause anymore damage… but are you okay? We're on our way there, and we thought we could hear gunshots…"

Smoke sighed heavily. "Well… we're okay now. We were attacked by military forces, but I took 'em down."

Robin raised an eyebrow. "Wait… 'We'? What do you mean, 'We'?"

"Well, I found a girl in the basement. She seems to be pretty sick… she doesn't have a place to stay, either." The gunner explained.

"We'll see… I think we've got room." Robin answered. "We'll be there shortly to pick you guys up, then."

"Right… G'bye."

Smoke switched off the communicator and looked back at Blackfire… only to see her looking at him fearfully and angrily.

"… You…." She hissed venomously.

Smoke was taken aback by her sudden anger. "Huh? Me what?"

"You…You… you're one of them!" she spat, pointing at his communicator. "Well, you won't take ME alive! I'll die before you drag me back to that space prison again!"

And with that, she floated up into the air, just like Smoke had seen Star do before, and her eyes began blazing with Violet energy.

There seems to have been a slight misunderstanding here… Blackfire's pissed, the Titans are unaware, and Smoke's just confused.

Anyway, Read and Review, Please!

The Mad Phantom