Disclaimer: I still don't own 'em. Sigh… Maybe one day… or not. Oh well…

Gunsmoke and Black Roses—Chapter Eleven

"Starfire… are you really sure this is such a good idea…?" Blackfire asked her sister nervously.

Star beamed happily in response. "Certainly! I have already requested friends Raven and Terra to come with us… what could go wrong?"

"…. Plenty." Blackfire murmured back under her breath.

"Hmm?"

"Uh… Nothing sis. Sure… I'll go with you."

Blackfire had been sharing Starfire's room since she'd arrived. And now, it seemed her sister wanted to share some time together, too. She had just asked Blackfire to go to the mall, which Blackfire thought was fine… until Star told her that Raven and Terra were going. Well… Terra was okay, maybe, but… she just couldn't shake the doubts she had about Raven. She just thought it unlikely that Raven had really accepted her. Sure, the sorceress wouldn't make a scene in front of Starfire, but still… it made Blackfire nervous.

"Glorious! I shall go and inform Raven and Terra immediately!" Star chirped, and flew out the door, leaving Blackfire alone in the room. She sighed, and flopped down on Star's bed, deciding to try and catch a brief nap before they left for the 'Mall of Shopping', as her sister called it.

Starfire was halfway down the hallway, before she heard a sound coming from her right. She froze in midair, and looked around with confusion in her eyes. She saw nothing… just an empty hallway. Turning back around, she was just about to go on her way again, but… she heard it again… louder and clearer this time.

"… Pssst….!"

Star looked around for a minute more, perplexed, before the strange voice repeated itself.

"Psst! Star… over here…"

She realized then that it was a voice she knew, the voice of… Smoke?

She followed the source, and found a large potted plant in the corner that Beast Boy had put in a month or so ago… a big bush type plant.

She looked at it curiously, and let out a startled little yelp when Smoke's head suddenly burst up from the soil in the pot, with the bush perched on top. How he had gotten down in that pot, the Tamaranean had no idea, but…

"Star… I need to talk to you."

She blinked in confusion, and tilted her head quizzically. "… Friend Smoke… your strange behavior worries me. Have you had some of Sub-Zero's rum drink without permission while he was gone?"

Smoke shook his head vigorously and replied. "No! And not so loud! I'm hiding for a reason, y'know…"

"But why do you conceal yourself? Are you in danger?" Star asked in concern.

"Well… not really…"

"Then I do not understand…"

Smoke sighed and rubbed his temples. "Look, Star… It's like this. I really need your help with something… Something very important."

Starfire smiled and knelt down to look face to face with the gunman. "Of course! I would be happy to help you with anything I can…"

"Thanks, but there's something you need to know, first." Smoke said, interrupting her. "… Star… What I'm about to tell you… is just between us, okay?"

Star raised an eyebrow skeptically. "… I do not like keeping secrets from my friends." She said softly.

"Trust me, Star… This secret will hurt nobody. And besides, I really, really, need you to help me, okay?"

"… All right." Star said slowly, and took a deep breath. "What is it that you wish of me?"

"It's about your sister, Blackfire…"

"Yes? What about my sister?"

Smoke fidgeted nervously and cut his eyes around the hallway, as if to make sure no one was listening. "Star… I know that you don't always understand Earth language, so… do you know what a 'Date' is?"

Star beamed. "Of course! A date is the sharing of time, affection, and gifts with a significant other, generally with romantic implications and suggesting an intimate relationship."

Smoke stared bemusedly. He hadn't expected so many… big words. "Uhh… yeah, that. Well, I… I want to… that is, I'm going to…" Smoke gulped loudly and inhaled sharply. "… Ask Blackfire to go out on a date with me…"

Smoke waited with baited breath, trying to gauge Starfire's reaction. At first, she just hovered there looking at him blankly. Then, something seemed to 'click', and she squealed loudly, hugging him forcefully around the neck. Smoke immediately tensed up, expecting to get choked again… but was surprised when Star's hug turned out much more… gentle, than normal.

"Oh, Friend Smoke, that is wonderful! Come, I shall take you to her, and…"

Smoke cut her off. "NO! No, Star, not yet! I… I'm not ready."

She looked at him oddly. "You are not?"

"No… Star, that was the whole point! That's why I need your help… I need to know more about Blackfire. What does she like, what doesn't she like? How should I ask her? What should I get her? Or should I even get her anything at all?" Smoke asked all these questions in rapid succession, throwing his hands despairingly into the air. "I need to know!"

Star looked at him sadly. "Smoke, I… I do not think I can help you. I know much less about my sister than you would expect. We never spent much time together in our childhood, and… we have seen each other only twice since then, before she came here with us."

"So you can't help me out at all?" Smoke said desperately. "I'm no good with this whole romantic thing, but… I… I really do want to get to know your sister, better… and maybe get her to like me…"

Starfire hovered in the air, deep in thought. She looked pityingly at Smoke, and then glanced back towards her room, where Blackfire currently was. Then, she looked down the hallway, where Beast Boy's (and now Terra's) room and Raven's room both were… And slowly, very gradually, a broad smile began to spread across her face…

"Smoke… I believe… that I have an idea." She whispered slowly, her emerald eyes shining mischievously, and giggling slightly.

Smoke looked at her firmly, a sad smirk on his face. "Star, at this point, I'll do anything if it will get your sister to like me."

She leaned over and whispered something softly into his ear; he tilted his head toward her and listened intently. And then, HE started grinning, as well.

In The Bering Sea…

It was a dim, overcast afternoon… the limited light that made it's way through the clouds reflected off the sea's blue waters to give the very atmosphere a fluorescent, greenish quality… a slight fog was out today, and the wind was misty, making the waves white with foam.

"Zero, why did you bring me up here?" Jinx asked suspiciously, standing on the upper deck and shivering slightly. She was wearing a large, black, fur coat she'd bought for the trip, but she was still a bit chilled by the cool weather…

"I have a surprise for you…" The knight replied slyly. He smiled sympathetically. "Are you too cold? I have more robes down below deck…"

She shook her head, causing her bull-horn-like pigtails to wave about slightly in the misty breeze. "No, I'm all right. But what's the surprise…?"

Sub-Zero said nothing at first, but merely took her by the hand and turned her around. He then pointed at the vast expanse of blue water around them.

"Now, you might think I'm crazy, but… just sit down…" He motioned to a wooden chair he'd brought out of the captain's cabin "… And watch the water a few minutes… I think it's almost time…"

She blinked in surprise. "Almost time for what?"

"Oh, you'll see… did you bring your camera like I told you to?" he asked.

"Yes…" She reached into a pocket on her coat and produced a small digital camera. "But why do I need this…? You're confusing me!" She chided playfully.

"Just trust me, Jinx… If I'm right about the timing, you're in for one Hell of a show…" He chuckled and then walked into the Captain's cabin, leaving her alone on the deck.

Jinx shrugged and sat down. She had come to expect the unexpected from Sub-Zero and she figured that today was no different. She wondered with anticipation what the 'Surprise' he had was… and what did he mean about timing?

The enchantress sat there resting for a couple minutes. She closed her eyes and sighed happily as she felt the misty breeze brushing gently across her face. The only sounds were the slight foaming and hissing of the waves, the soft whistle of the wind, and the frothing and bubbling of the waters as they were split apart by the bow of the Fryse Wyrm, only to rush back together again once the ship had passed on it's way.

It was utterly peaceful… She was so glad she'd persuaded Robin to let them go on this little 'trip'. Not only for Sub-Zero's sake, but also for her's…

As she was listening intently, a sound struck her ears that was not like the others. It was… a bit like the wind, but even softer… it was a soft, moaning sound, almost a mournful cry. Deep and rumbling at first, it soon inflected to a higher pitch for a couple seconds and then slid slowly and fluidly back down… it echoed around her, giving the sound an unearthly quality…

Jinx sat up abruptly and her feline eyes snapped open in surprise. She had not expected this sound, and she didn't recognize it as one she'd heard before. It was very different from any that she knew.

It repeated… just slightly louder this time, and it seemed to reverberate off of the bottom of the ship all the way up to the tips of her ears… it was coming from below… like some massive, invisible horn playing a solemn note under the dark waters.

Soon… there were more… many more… a chorus of these strange, but hauntingly beautiful noises. Each one dissonant and clashing on it's own, and yet… all together, they seemed to produce a harmonized melody… and it was then that she was struck by the realization. These were not the sounds of her environment… these were living voices. Jinx didn't know how she knew, but…. She just knew.

Looking around in anxious surprise, Jinx saw nothing at all… at first.

Then, the sounds just… stopped. No warning at all… they didn't fade out slowly and gradually; they just… stopped.

The waters began to churn in the distance… around the ship they remained calm, but… it was as though all around her in the distance, someone had turned on a giant blender under the waters.

She strained her vision to see through the film of fog, and before the witch's awed, disbelieving eyes… she saw a dark shape begin to gradually rise out of the water… like another ship…

No… it wasn't another ship. It was too big for that… MUCH too big.

Then, more and more followed suit, the blurry, bluish-black shapes rising out of the water… and soon, there was a large group of them.

Jinx fumbled around in her pocket for the camera with shaky fingers, an odd mixture of excitement and fear fueling her motions. Finally, she managed to get a hold of it. Bringing it up in front of her face, she zoomed in as far as possible and focused on the nearest mass poking itself from the water…

But before she could snap a picture, something happened that almost made her drop the camera…

There, from the gigantic shape, a literal geyser of water suddenly shot up, maybe fifty, sixty feet into the air… it made a white, misty cloud and then fell back down and pelted the shape which had sent it hurtling up. The other large things followed once again followed suit and sent up spouts of air, water, and mist of their own… soon, the horizon was streaked with these giant spurts of white…

Jinx watched in amazement, her jaw hanging slack… and then, her mind finally clicked and she was stuck by realization… she now knew what these massive shapes were.

Sure enough, her idea was confirmed when one several of the giants submerged with a frothing of water… and then, abruptly leapt high into the air, revealing a pair of massive fins, and a long graceful tail that struck out at the air around it with a broad tip…

Whales.

Soon, they were all leaping gracefully around in the ocean, landing with a splash that was loud even all the way to Jinx's ears… the explosion of water and foam when each of the titanic beasts landed was awe-inspiring. One would have thought there were bombs going off underwater…

Instinctively, Jinx brought the camera back up and started snapping pictures rapidly, getting shots of the whales jumping and spouting water, rolling in the ocean as if playing and diving back into their deep home…

Soon, the camera was out of space for pictures, but she didn't care… she had several more in her bags.

She fell back on the chair and watched silently. This was something that she would probably never see in her life again, so she wanted to catch every moment in her memory.

As she watched, she shivered slightly. This time, it wasn't from the cold… it was from the sheer magnificence of what she was seeing… and as she sat there watching, she felt a pair of arms gently hug her around the shoulders.

She turned around to see Zero kneeling there behind her, a pleased smile on his face. His long white hair whipped around in the breeze and his crimson eyes sparkled with reflections of the faint sunlight coming from in between the overcast clouds. The red sheen contrasted sharply with the sparkle of his blue armor, creating a striking effect.

"So…" He whispered huskily, grinning and showing off pearly whites. "… You like?"

She was at a complete loss for words, but managed a pleased sort of purr and nodded. She leaned back on his shoulder, and sighed contentedly. They sat there for what seemed, to them, like an eternity… relishing both the show of majesty nature had provided… and each other.

"We'll be there before long…" Zero said happily after a while. "Sometime tomorrow if all goes well."

"That's good." Jinx whispered with a smile.

"Yes…" He agreed. "I don't know about you, but… I for one enjoyed the trip up here so far as much as I'll probably enjoy getting there."

"Mm-hm…" She nodded lazily. "Me too…"

Without any further conversation, they leaned over and shared a long kiss… right before getting back to watching the whales.

Later On At The Jump City Mall…

Starfire was in an outdoors shop in the mall. She's told Raven, Terra, and Blackfire she'd had to go to the bathroom, but that had only been partially true. There was another reason she'd split up from the group. She turned to Smoke, who was standing nearby, looking curiously at a rack of camouflage hunting coats.

"Now remember… Stay here until Blackfire comes in. I will attempt to get her to go in here in some way… then, you will have your chance to talk to her." Star explained the plan one more time.

"Yeah, yeah… I got it. But how are you gonna convince her to come in here? I mean, I don't really think there's much here that'd appeal to her…" He glanced around and saw nothing but camouflage clothes, guns on racks, fishing poles, knives, and several deer heads and fish mounted on the wall. A large aquarium with bass fish in it was the only other thing in the store…

Smoke knew it would've been better to go in a clothes store or something where Star would have an easier time getting her sister to go… but #1. Then, Terra and Raven would probably go in with her, and Smoke didn't want to do this in front of them… and #2. He had a feeling he'd be pretty awkward looking in some girly store…

Star sighed and shrugged. "I am not entirely sure… but there must be some way."

She started floating off to rejoin the group, but Smoke stopped her.

"Star, wait! I…"

She turned around to face him. "…Yes?"

He sighed, trying to get his words together. "Listen, Star I… I just wanted to thank you for helping me out like this… because there's no way I would've been able to just walk up and ask her…"

She beamed happily at him and nodded. "Of course! It was nothing that one friend would not do to assist another. And good luck!" She left out of the store, leaving him standing alone.

"Thanks…" The gunman said softly after her. "I'll need it…" He muttered dryly under his breath.

So, he proceeded to sit down on a bench by the fish tank and wait nervously. He could outgun any enemy. He knew how to build explosives strong enough to flambé a small country. He could make a headshot on a mouse from a half-mile away…

But he was utterly terrified right now.

As Smoke sat and stewed over his predicament, Starfire managed to make her way back to her friends… one of whom was talking up a storm, another keeping silent, and the last eyeing the other two warily.

"So where should we go when Starfire gets back?" Terra asked. "I vote the arcade… I brought a bunch of change, enough to share! Actually, it was Beast Boy's, but he said I could have it…"

"Uh… sounds good, I guess…" Blackfire said after a moment. Raven just shrugged and nodded.

When Blackfire saw Star floating back through the crowd towards them, she felt a pang of relief go through her. She couldn't explain why, but… being around the others without her around made her feel… awkward and nervous.

"What took so long?" Terra asked. "You've been gone, like… 10 minutes!"

"Erm…I…. Merely got lost." Star said half-heartedly, unable to think of any better explanation. Raven cocked an eyebrow skeptically, but remained silent.

"So, ah… shall we continue? I believe I saw some interesting stores in that direction…" Star motioned towards the direction she'd come from.

"YEAH! That's the way the arcade is, too! Let's go!" Terra cheered, dragging Raven and Blackfire along with her as she set off after Starfire.

They made their way in that direction; all the while Star was desperately trying to think of some excuse that would get her sister to go in that store where Smoke was… She could only think of one possibility…

"Um… Sister, perhaps you would be interested in seeing some native species of Earth fish?" Star asked hesitantly.

This brought Blackfire completely out of her funk. "…What?"

"Fish! There is a store nearby that displays an aquarium of Earth fish… I believe they are called, erm…" she paused unable to remember. "… Base? Or, Beau?"

"Bass?" Terra supplied.

"Yes, bass! That is it…" Star smiled sheepishly. "They are most lovely creatures, if you care for a look…"

Blackfire blinked a few times. 'Well… THAT was random…' she thought. But hey, maybe it'd be good to get some time on her own, so…

"Sure… I'll go take a look. Where are they?" She asked after a moment of thought.

Beaming, Star pointed over to a small shop with a camo tarp over the entrance, and a green neon sign bearing the moniker, 'Outdoors Specialties'

She started towards it, but stopped when she realized that Starfire was heading off with the others. "You coming, Sis?" She asked after a moment.

"Oh, um… I shall catch up with you in a moment. I wish to see this arcade of the game playing…" Then, before Blackfire could inquire further, she floated off with Terra and Raven.

"… Well…" Blackfire muttered. "This better be some fish…"

In the store, Smoke was in the back reading a monster truck magazine… He had grown weary of just sitting and waiting, so he'd decided to preoccupy himself while he waited. But he was so engrossed in a picture of an auto called, 'Grave Digger', he didn't even notice a Tamaranean with long black hair enter the small store…

Blackfire was looking curiously at the fish in the tank… they were so… puny. At least, compared to the fish on Tamaran, most of which were huge. These Earth fish, did, however have a certain beauty to them, especially the deep green scales… but still, why had Star insisted she come in here? She'd gotten the distinct feeling that there was something her sister had not told her.

She suddenly saw a familiar looking shape in the back corner, holding a magazine on it's side so that a poster could unfold. The poster itself caught her eye… it looked to be some sort of massive Earth automobile, with tires almost bigger than the body… green and black patterns covered it, along with the name "GRAVE DIGGER" painted on the side in bold, blood-dripping letters. Intrigued, she walked up for a closer look…

Smoke was just beginning to admire the huge tires, when a familiarly feminine voice came from behind his head…

"Pardon me… but what is that?"

Smoke stood dumbly for a second, as the realization of whom the voice belonged to sunk in…

He whipped around wide-eyed, and had to contain a yelp. Blackfire recognized Smoke instantly after he'd turned around.

"Oh! Uh, Smoke…. I'm sorry; I didn't realize it was you… Wait… I thought you stayed at the Tower?" She asked quizzically.

"Uh…I…" He stammered, unable to take his gaze off of the fog-gray eyes in front of him… he mentally bashed himself with the butt of his shotgun. "I took the humvee…" He lied quickly. "… Besides, I figured it would be nice to get out and about a while."

"Yeah…" She nodded. "But… Seriously, what is that you're looking at? It's… awesome…"

"Oh…This?" He held up the mag, aptly titled 'Monster Truck Mania'. "I was just looking at it… yeah, it's pretty cool. Monster trucks…"

"Monster trucks?" Blackfire asked, enamored by the sound of the words. "Like, giant Earth trucks…?"

"Yeah… They're like regular trucks, except with much more powerful engines and big-assed tires on the—" Smoke stopped short and clapped a hand over his mouth, realizing what he'd said. He looked at Blackfire fearfully. 'Nice one, Casanova… run your potty mouth… THAT'LL get her attention.' Smoke berated himself mentally.

Blackfire stared for a moment… and then, burst out into laughter. He looked at her in surprise; he'd been expecting a much different reaction.

"I… I'm sorry, it's just…" She was still laughing hard. "The look on your face when you said that…. Was priceless!" she giggled, referring to his embarrassedly blushing visage.

"Uh, I mean… I'm really, really sorry 'bout that… I… guess I should watch my language." Smoke apologized meekly.

"It's no problem… I tend to run my mouth without thinking sometimes, too. Besides, I've met Space Pirates who can use 37 different profanities in one sentence… I've hardly got virgin ears." She joked with a casual shrug.

Smoke did some quick, bemused mental calculations… he didn't even KNOW 37 curses… maybe they had that many in alien languages…

"So anyway, is this a sport on Earth?" Blackfire asked interestedly, pointing to the magazine Smoke still held.

"Uh-huh… it seems cool… I've never been to one myself, but… always wanted to…" Smoke said with a sigh. "Living in a tube in a lab… doesn't give you much opportunity for recreation, I'm afraid." He said.

Blackfire, who had still been giggling silently up to that point, quickly took on a much more melancholy look. "Smoke… what you said to me once… about… knowing what it was like to be called a 'freak'… what did you mean?"

Smoke explained all about how he was really a genetic construct. How he'd been built as a 'secret weapon' prototype, but had been marked for termination and replacement when he'd developed free will and emotions. About how Wagner had hit him with a tranquilizer dart, and he'd fled to Titan's Tower in search of sanctuary. Ten minutes later, the words were still ringing in her ears.

Blackfire's eyes were wide and a hand had been placed over her gaping mouth. "Smoke…I…" She seemed lost for words. "That's…horrible!" She abruptly felt like a bitch for having been complaining about her situation.

He shrugged casually. "S'ok… anyways, it's like I told Zero… what's past is past."

"Yeah… I guess so…" Blackfire said softly… the statement made her think about her own past… could she really put it behind her as easily as Smoke had his? Putting that from her mind, she focused on the magazine again.

Blackfire sat down on the bench, and he sat down next to her. They sat like that for nearly thirty minutes flipping through the mag, marveling at the size and power of the monster trucks in it.

"Wow…" Blackfire said in awe, looking at a picture of a truck named 'Samson' leaping over a stack of cars… FLAMING cars… "I'd LOVE to see one of these up close!"

Smoke was about to agree, when he saw something behind Blackfire's head that made his heart go into overdrive… a large poster taped near the counter, that read:

'ATTENTION ALL EXTREME MOTOR SPORTS FANS!

The seventeenth annual 'Metallic Madness' Monster Truck Rally is coming THIS SATURDAY to Jump City Stadium!

And a special invitation has been issued to any and all amateur truckers who suspect they've got what it takes to run with the big dogs! Challengers will be allowed to sign up for the event on a first come, first serve basis!

DO NOT MISS IT! Tickets are on sale in any auto parts, sports, or outdoors shop!'

A small container of tickets was under the poster, with a lock on the lid.

This was it. This was the chance Smoke needed. And after it had fallen into his lap like this, he'd be danged if he was going to miss it.

Taking a deep breath to fortify himself, Smoke spoke hesitantly. "Say, um… Blackfire… are you… free, this Saturday?"

Caught completely off guard by this question, she whipped her head around to face him, her blue-gray eyes going wide with surprise. "I… I think so… but… why?"She stammered.

"Well, uh…" Smoke gulped silently. He could almost feel the steam coming from his ears… "I… that is, if you want to… would you want to… go to the Monster Truck rally with me?" he asked, pointing to the sign.

She looked back and forth from the poster to Smoke… poster to Smoke… Finally, she went red as a beet. "…You? With…me? You're serious?"

Smoke nodded, and waited. This was the moment of truth… or the moment of getting slapped. Whichever came first, he prayed the former…

"Smoke, I… I don't know what to say… but… I'd LOVE to!"

The gunner's pair of gold-hazel eyes snapped open instantly, and he looked as though he'd just got triple sevens on a slot machine.

"…Really?"

"Sure!"

"Great! Because the tickets are right behind you for $15 apiece…"

"Er… do you have fifteen dollars?"

"Better… I've got thirty."

Smoke walked over to the sales clerk and paid for two tickets. Then, he placed one in his overall pocket, and handed the other to Blackfire…

"You go ahead and get back to the others… I'll go ahead and get back to the Tower."

Blackfire nodded, and started to leave… but before she did so, she turned to Smoke and gave him a quick hug around the waist. "I can't wait!" she said excitedly, before letting go and hovering out of the store.

Smoke stood there like he'd just been hit in the head with a sledgehammer… before grinning dumbly and stumbling out of the store as if drunk…

Smoke made his way over to a nearby Auto Parts store on the other side of the mall. Once in, he approached the clerk.

"S'cuse me, Mr., but… Would you happen to have any…uh…Large, tires?"

The man looked at Smoke oddly, before motioning for him to follow. He led him over to a large metal door, and pressed a button, causing it to open up into a small garage… in the corner lay a pile of massive, 66-inch tires.

"Those are the biggest we got." The man said. "But they don't come cheap…"

"I'll take four of 'em… and every can of black, red, yellow, orange, and gray paint you got."

As Smoke started shelling out cash to an amazed clerk, neither of them noticed a small spider on the wall… but the spider had noticed them. It was a robotic spider with tiny camera lenses covering it's face…

It clicked it's pincers a couple times, and then scuttled into a crack on the wall.

It crawled literally for miles at high speeds under the ground, along pipes, through air conditioning and heating vents, and sewage tunnels.

Finally, it reached what looked like a tiny garage door in the sewers with an equally tiny scanner next to it. The robotic arachnid scuttled up, and scanned itself… the little door cranked open.

It entered into what looked like a huge, gleaming metal laboratory with flashing buttons, glowing screens, turning gears, sliding levers, and flipping switches as far as the eye could see…

It scuttled along the floor and hooked itself to a computer monitor, which in turn was connected to a large, chemical-filled tube containing a human brain. Everything that the tiny spy had recorded played out on the screen…

The brain almost seemed to pulse in response to the words, 'This Saturday', and 'Jump City Stadium'…

The brain actually glowed green for a moment… and as if to respond, the floor panels slid open, and a large platform rose up… with the same heavily armed mech suit as seen before on it.

If organs could speak, that brain would've been cackling maniacally right about now…

Well, Smoke's officially got himself a date. Things couldn't possibly go wrong… or so he thinks. And what is he planning to do with all that stuff, anyway…?

Besides all that, Sub-Zero and Jinx are drawing ever closer to Norblitz… but will the trip be as peaceful as they think? Who knows?

Review if you've got the time…

-- The Mad Phantom