Yeah, well, here's Session 04, I hope you all enjoy it. Yeah, this session focuses on Rubicante and his part in Yoh's life, yeah. I probably only own Rubi, Yoh, Elna Ramiel, and some others I guess.
Disclaimer – Don't own the titans, cause Red X would have broken into the T-tower and shaved Robin bald for no reason what so ever, yeah! And I sure as hell don't own Cowboy Bebop, even though it pains me to say it.
(Spoken mind to mind/ telepathy)
Session 04 – Turn Back The Clock
Raven woke up slowly, groaning at the sunlight pouring into the room hit her eyes. She slowly stood up, stretching herself to remove any and all kinks from sleeping as she yawned out loud; she looked around the room and saw a small pile of clothing on top of a chest obviously meant for her to wear after her shower.
Once done with showering and dressing, she walked out of the room and into the hallways that connected the house with the club, the smells of breakfast making her stomach rumble. She walked by the room where Yoh had slept and she heard loud metal music, so she created a small black portal in the door and peeked inside.
The sight of Yoh, shirtless doing one handed pull ups from the ceiling beam to greeted her eyes, only the sounds of her stomach made her pull out and walk away as she tried to get the sight of Yoh working out, out of her mind.
"Hey, are you ready for breakfast?" the kind voice of Rubi reached her ears as she realized that she had followed the smells of breakfast straight to the kitchen.
She was going to ask for herbal tea when the sound of her stomach interrupted her, making her blush profusely as Rubi said "Seems like you're ready to eat, have a seat and relax."
She sat down and immediately a plate with french toast, eggs sunny side up, bacon and hash browns was set down neatly in front of her and she dug in muttering a quick "Thank you" before that.
Rubi sat down with a plate of food for himself and joined Raven, eating in silence until they were both done. Rubi cleared away the plates and sat down to enjoy a cup of green tea across the table from Raven, both sipping tea in silence until Raven asked "How long do you know Yoh?"
Rubi smirked as he answered "For a long time," patiently waiting for Raven to ask any questions.
"Can you tell me when you met him?" Raven asked.
"Yes I can, but not yet," Rubi said as he got up and went to work on more breakfast as the groggy titans wandered into the kitchen.
Robin looked around for something and was startled when Rubi tossed him the newspaper he was searching for. "Look at the headline, I think both you and Yoh will love it."
The headline showed a picture of Yoh and the criminal Red X with the headline in bold letters.
Dual X's: Titan V.S. Thief!
Yesterday during a battle with the villain Killer Moth's daughter, Kitten; the Titans welcomed a new member to their team. After quickly defeating the villain, Robin, the titan's leader, revealed that there was a new addition to the Teen Titans, but when our correspondent asked who he was, the hero named himself "Red X" the same name that the notorious thief operates under. When asked why that name, X responded "Yeah, I guess he would be a thief, but Red X was my name before the whole thief thing started and I don't give anything up for anyone." There seems to be a clash between the newly minted Titan and the Master Thief, who will win this? We don't know...
Robin made a face as he finished reading the article in silence and digging into his breakfast as Yoh walked into the room.
"Yoh, read the headline," Rubi said as he served everyone a plate of food.
An hour later...
Raven was meditating, well trying, on top of the club in the silence that she was given, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos," she repeated over and over again as she tried to find her center, her void.
"You should try visualizing your mind as a flame and feeding it everything until you have a blank state of mind, it's a lot easier that way," Rubi's voice was heard as he walked up to the roof to join Raven in meditation.
(I'll answer you questions now if you wish,) Rubi spoke to Raven, startling her from her position of meditation.
(How'd you do that?) Raven asked silently as she watched Rubi sitting on the ground with his legs crossed.
(It's one of my abilities, but I think you're more interested in asking questions) Rubi said, waving a hand dismissively and continuing with his meditation.
(Well, will you tell me?) Raven asked.
(Yes) was Rubi's reply as his mind started churning out the answer.
Flashback...
Rubi walked down the street, hands in his pocket as he headed for work in the cold Tharsis winter chill. He walked by an alley mouth when the sounds of fighting reached his ears; he quickly made his way in and saw a kid fighting off 6 separate attacks by 6 youths older than him, all trying to beat him to a pulp with sticks. He stepped in, unleashing a sweep kick that knocked the attackers off their feet and onto the cold asphalt "Get away from him, you scrags!" he hissed out, scaring the attackers away at a dead run, all stumbling and falling.
"Are you okay, kid?" he asked but was surprised when the kid lunged at him, managing to land a punch on his stomach while growling out "I'm not a kid."
Rubi looked at him as he started to sway before collapsing onto the cold snow; he pulled out his cellphone and made a call "Hey, Ken, it's me Rubicante, can you tell the boss I won't be making it today, something urgent came up." After a few more seconds on the phone, he hung up and picked the kid off the floor, hurrying home.
Running into his house, he called out "Elna, Hey Elna, are you awake? I need you to give me a hand," not waiting for a response, he rushed into the living room and placed the kid down on the sofa.
As he rushed to the closet to grab some blankets, he bumped into the person he had been calling. She was a tall voluptuous red haired girl with a merry twinkle in her gray/green eyes, Elna Ramiel, wearing only a partially open robe which fluttered as she strode into the living room after hearing the urgency in Rubicante's voice. "What's wrong, Ruub?" (She calls him this affectionately)
"I need you to make a Vicious Streak and also some of your hot chocolate," Rubi said as he ran out of the room in search of more supplies as needed.
"I thought you had to go to work?" Elna asked him with a mischievous tone of voice. "You're in the mood a little earlier than usual," she continued with a chuckle until Rubi walked back into the room, holding a steaming pot of water and fresh towels.
"It's not for that, we have a guest," he answered and with that said, Elna followed him into the living room and saw the person occupying the couch.
She rushed off towards the kitchen to make hot chocolate and soon came back with a steaming mug of chocolate; after setting it down on the coffee table, she walked behind the small bar that was in the corner and started mixing different types of alcohol into a silver flask, where she mixed it up completely. Once done, she walked over, laying the flask next to the hot chocolate and watching as Rubi tended to him.
Elna watched as the boy groaned and slowly opened his eyes, taking in her face as well as Rubi's; "Hey kid, you're awake," Rubi said as he placed a hot towel to his forehead and suddenly "Ouch... the little bugger bit me!" he exclaimed as he pulled back his arm from the boy.
"I-I-I'm not a kid, you got it?" the kid growled out as he glared at Rubi and Elna smiled.
"He's got spunk, I like that," she said giggling before stepping forward and saying "My name is Elna Ramiel, what's your name?"
The kid watched as she smiled warmly at him and answered "My name is Yoh Kazama."
"A pleasure to meet you," Elna answered giving him another bright warm smile as she nudged Rubi who then said "My name's Rubicante Rakuso."
Rubi smiled as he handed him the silver flask from the coffee table and said "Drink some of this, but be careful it's strong."
Yoh nodded and took a deep swig of the liquor and swallowing it he felt it course down and burn his throat, yet it warmed his stomach up and he only coughed a bit. Elna smiled at him and handed him the mug of hot chocolate telling him "Drink this, it'll balance it out." Yoh took a swallow of the chocolate and pushed to cup away as he felt his eyes grow heavier.
"Just go to sleep, Yoh, you'll be safe here," Elna whispered to him as she covered him with blankets, watching him until his eyes closed slowly and his breathing even out to that of sleep.
"Where'd you find him?" Elna asked as she sat down on the arm rest of the couch, gazing at Yoh's sleeping form.
"I was walking to work, when I heard the sounds of fighting from the alley and when I checked it out, it turns out that he was being attacked by 6 punks at least 5 years older than him and from there you should know the rest." Rubicante answered as he laid himself on the other couch and closed his eyes to sleep.
"You big baby," Elna muttered softly as she walked into the kitchen to make breakfast.
An hour later...
"Wake up Yoh, wake up." Elna said as she gently shook the tossing and turning boy awake; he looked lost for a few seconds as he flinched away from her and off the couch. He looked around wildly as Elna made her way to him holding her hands to up as she spoke gently "Relax Yoh, it's me Elna."
Yoh slowly relaxed as Elna enveloped him into a warm hug, his breathing slowing to normal until Rubi spoke out loud after clearing his throat "Seems to me like you're getting too attached to my woman," a chuckle escaping him.
"There's breakfast for you in the kitchen," Elna said, watching as both Rubi and Yoh stood for a moment looking at each other "both of you." She followed them into the kitchen, watching as they both dug into their food, faces full of bliss as they finished their meals and sat back.
Rubi realized something was wrong after the delicious smells of food left the kitchen and was slowly occupied by another smell that he couldn't really identify until he realized that it was sitting across from him on the table; he looked up and asked "Yoh, do you mind a bath?"
Yoh gave him a questioning look to which Rubi explained "You seem like you need a shower," his nose wrinkling as he spoke making Yoh go red in the face.
Elna snapped at him "Ruub, I'm telling you now, shut it," giving him a threatening glare, which disappeared from her face as she turned to Yoh "Come with me, I'll get some clothes for you."
Yoh only nodded and followed as Elna led him off towards the bathroom, leaving Rubi sitting alone in the kitchen thinking about Yoh; soon yells were heard from the bathroom, which made Rubi chuckle as he heard "No! I can bathe myself, ugghhh aghhh, don't!" That continued for at least 10 more minutes before they finally ceased and Rubi went into his study to use his computer.
After almost an hour, Elna strode in pulling Yoh behind her into the room. Rubi took a good look at Yoh, now clean and was surprised; his hair color was now discernible, a silver streaked with blue which was pushed back and out of his face, his eyes were silver rimmed with crimson on his rapidly maturing face. "How old are you, Yoh?" Rubi asked, hands pursed as he leaned forward to look at Yoh closely in the face.
"I'm going to turn thirteen soon," Yoh spoke softly, looking down at the ground of the room, where his boots left marks on the carpet.
"Young, yet already accustomed to the viciousness of the streets," Elna said, her voice low as well, but not of shame or fear but of sorrow.
"Where are your parents?" Rubi asked gently, awaiting the response that Yoh chose to give him.
Yoh's face went cold as he said "They're both dead..." his voice trailing off as his eye's seemed to cloud over.
"Is that why you were wandering the city?" Elna asked, her eyes seemed to shine with unshed tears as she saw Yoh nod in answer; she turned to look at Rubi, who only nodded to her and she turned back to Yoh "How would you like to stay here?"
Yoh was wary of the offer, racking through his mind as he tried to find the reason for the invitation to stay. 'I have nothing of value and I, myself, am not worth anything so why?' he thought as he watched both Elna and Rubi. Slowly he nodded yes, wondering what to make of the situation but before he could do anything about it, he was enveloped in a hug by Elna who laughed happily "Don't worry, everything will be fine, I promise you."
Yoh couldn't allow himself to trust so easily so he sat down to talk to both of them for a good long time, until Elna decided that some shopping was in order and the rest of the day was spent in a mall, shop, or boutique. It was nightfall when Yoh was sitting in the room that now belonged to him and he sat on the comfortable bed wearing his new clothes, still fully dressed; he slowly stood up, sliding on the boots that were given to him as a gift, he walked over to the window in the room, sliding it open carefully and climbing down as quiet as possible. He took a moment to look back at the house before walking away in the cold winter night.
"Yoh, breakfast is ready!" Elna called to him as she knocked on the door, having gotten up early to bathe and prepare a good meal. Only silence met her ears so she tried again "Yoh, are you awake in there?" she called through the door, knocking again only to be responded by silence again; she walked in thinking 'poor kid, he's probably tired' She immediately saw the open window, snow piling inside the room every time the cold air blew the curtains.
Elna ran out of the room, yelling "Ruub, get up! Yoh's gone!" a loud thump, a curse and a pair of boots later, Rubi was up and looking outside for any sign of Yoh in the snow covered ground.
"Ay, Kid, where are you? Yoh, where the hell did you go?" Rubi called out as he wandered around the area where he met Yoh, trying to find him before something happened.
Elna called a friend of hers and now she was on the hunt throughout the streets as well but she was hunting for her contacts to see if she could shake any info out of them.
Rubi looked around as he realized he was in Black Phoenix territory and right on cue, men surrounded him, all wearing an article of white to represent the gang; a man wearing a white suit walks forward a little before stopping and looking at Rubi, saying "I hear that you're the one that interfered with some of our business yesterday," a drawling accent making the words slightly difficult to understand.
"I have no business with you and I'm really busy right now, so piss off," Rubi said, as he tried to walk out of the ring of surrounding thugs only to jump back when one of the thugs tried to knife him in the ribs when he got too close.
"No, actually you do. You screwed us out of some cash and now I want to know what you're going to do to make it up," White suit said as he started examining his finger nails as if he had no care in the world.
Rubi was getting annoyed, a difficult task to achieve, and he showed it as he said "I'm not making anything up, now if you'd be so kind as to tell your people to move out of the way, I have real important matters to deal with," hands balling into fists as he stood there waiting for what was to eventually come.
"I am Ralph Kile and to me, it seems that the only important matters that you have to deal with is finding a way to make up for what you did," Ralph said as he stepped back from inside the circle, which advanced closer to Rubi.
"I'm only saying this once, if you don't like the hospital then don't mess with me," Rubi said as he shifted into his slouched Jeet Kun Do fighting stance, ready for a fight.
"Well, if a battered corpse is what you want to leave behind then sure go ahead," Ralph said waved forward and as one the men under his orders moved forward towards Rubi.
Three men lunged at Rubi, who shifted his right foot a couple of inches as he said "Let's make this quick!" before suddenly lashing out with a vicious kick that connected against the first thug's ribcage, the sound of bones breaking was heard as he collapsed onto the floor; quickly dropping down to the floor on his left leg, he pivoted and dropped another thug to the ground as he proceeded to stomp him in the chest, making pass out.
"You'll pay for that!" A white bandana wearing thug yelled as he tried to punch Rubi in the face only to be side-stepped by him and without pausing Rubi grabbed the man's arm, delivering a palm thrust on the elbow, effectively breaking it, before following it up with a spin kick that dropped the punk onto the floor.
Rubi turned back to the remaining four, who set on him, trying to take him down, and Rubi easily side-stepped punches and kicks as he delivered his own devastating attacks, dropping one to the floor where he lay wheezing as he tried to suck in oxygen from his ruined windpipe. He kicked another's knee, reversing it with a loud crunching noise as the punk collapsed on the floor with a hoarse yell of pain; the last two eyed each other before pulling knives and lunging at him. Rubi ran forward towards the green shirted one, batting away the knife arm as he stepped on the man's knee before stepping onto the man's chest and kicking him in the side of the head, sending him crashing into the wall where he lay unmoving.
Rubi suddenly felt a flare of pain as he turned around to see the last thug snuck up on him and managed to knife him in the ribs; with a grunt of pain, Rubi stepped back to gain some room to fight the man when a loud gunshot filled the alley and the thug dropped dead as the round blew his brains out. Rubi quickly wheeled around to see two people at the alley mouth, one was a green puffy haired man, wearing a blue suit, yellow shirt with the collar undone and a gray duster holding a smoking gun in his right hand; next to him was a silver haired man wearing a black suit with a matching black duster and a wicked katana hanging at his waist.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't a Black Phoenix that we caught?" the green haired man said with a cold chuckle before he turned to Rubi "Hey, Rubicante, right?" after receiving a nod from Rubi he continued "Elna sent us to help you look for the kid, but first we have to take out the trash," pointing at Ralph who looked ready to bolt. The silver haired man drew a silver Springfield Mil-Spec pistol and shot him in the knee cap "We can't have you running, now can we?" he said with a cold smirk on his face.
"The name's Spike," the green haired man introduced himself as he walked over to Rubi, leaving his partner to deal the now whimpering Ralph.
"Where exactly are you two from?" Rubi asked as he watched Spike intently.
"We're A class Red Dragon Enforcers, are you happy now?" Spike said with a sigh as he watched the man tense up "We're not going to do anything to you, like I said, Elna sent us to help you and even if we tried something, we'd be screwed big time."
Rubi smiled as he watched the look of mock horror on Spike's face before he said "Alright," then quickly turned as he heard the sound of a gunshot and footsteps.
"They caught the kid and they're keeping him in one of the warehouses in the east district," the silver haired man said as he holstered his gun.
"Before I forget, this is Vicious, my partner," Spike said, waving in the direction of Vicious, who only answered with a nod and a vicious smirk. Rubi gave him a nod before hissing as his t-shirt rubbed against the knife stab.
"Are you alright?" Spike asked as he looked at Rubi, who nodded while holding his side.
"I'm alright, it's just that the last one got me a bit," Rubi said and Spike gave him a nod, watching as Vicious turned on his heel and led them out of the alley to a black car that was parked close to the entrance.
Spike pulled out his cellphone, making a call "Hey, yeah, it's me. The kid's at the warehouse 13 in the east district. We'll meet up a block away from it then we'll see from there."
After a few more minutes, Spike hung up the phone and turned to Rubi "I'm going to patch that up for you in a bit, just hang on."
The car rumbled to a stop, the engine shutting down as all three exited the vehicle and they had to wait for a few minutes for the rest of the search party to arrive, time that Spike used to patch up the wound on Rubi's side giving the bandage an experimental tug to make sure that it was on right "There, that should do it."
They looked up at the sound of cars coming, looking up Rubi counted at least 4 cars from which people got off, most wearing duster's signifying that they were syndicate men and a couple wearing simple clothing, last to get out of a car was Elna, wearing tight black leather pants, a black leather jacket zipped up as she made her way over to Rubi "Hey, Ruub, you okay?" she asked.
Rubi nodded and smirked as he answered "You think a couple street punks can take me down, ha," a smile appearing on Elna's face as the other people reported to Spike and Vicious.
"Look, you know the drill, this is a hit and run on the Black Phoenix crew, we got a kid to keep alive," Spike said as he checked his Jericho, ensuring that it was loaded and ready for action, the rest of the group mimicking him in such a manner.
"So we're to spill blood for this child?" Vicious said, his cold voice cutting through the chatter that the others were making.
"Yeah, we are, the same way Mao did for you," Elna said and Vicious nodded as they all stood awaiting orders.
"Since we're too many, we'll split into 4 squads of three, we'll break in through all sides at once and I don't want anyone dead on this op, understand?" Spike said in a no nonsense tone as he pointed to Rubi "You and Elna are with Vicious and me."
They all split up, breaking into their own groups and walking off towards the warehouse.
Meanwhile...
Yoh woke up groggily, his vision blurry as he tried to look around. He remember leaving the house during the middle of the night, walking through the streets until he heard the sound of footsteps echoing in the silence of the streets; he whirled around and saw a group of 10 people walking towards him.
"Hey kid, remember us?" one had said and as one they all rushed him, thinking him as an easy catch; Yoh managed to bringing down 3 of them with serious injuries before he himself was knocked out cold. 'That explains why I'm here,' he thought wryly as he tried to move and found himself wrapped in chains, "Shit!" he hissed as he frantically tried to escape his bonds to no success.
"Now, now, we can't have you escaping before we turn you over to our employer," a short, stocky man with a wide belly said as he stepped into Yoh's barely clearing line of sight.
"What the hell do you trash want with me?" Yoh said as gave up on thrashing around and decided to slowly try to wriggle out.
"We don't need trash like you, it's for one of our employer's," the fat man said, pulling out a cigar from his pocket and relishing it before placing it in his mouth and lighting it; taking a long puff he blew the smoke out in Yoh's face as he continued "Sorry kid, it's just business."
"I swear if I get free, you're dead. And as for your boss, once I find out who he is, he's dead as well," Yoh hissed out before spitting in the man's face.
The man slowly wiped the spit off his face, then lashed out with a fist that collided with Yoh's face. The kid grunted and he struck him again in the face and continued striking until Yoh's face was a bloody mess as he was unconscious.
He heard a beeping on the other side of the warehouse and he walked over to the beeping console, tapping a button and a video screen turned on.
"Do you have the goods, Marcus? I want to hear some good news," a chilling cold voice reached Marcus's ears.
"Yes sir, Mr. S-" he started to say, but was cut off "That's good, I'll send someone to pick him up in three days, can you keep him contained until then?"
"Yes sir, we'll keep him until you request it," Marcus spoke hurriedly, his feet shaking slightly as he said.
"I will hope that you do not fail me again, for you shall find that I am not lenient."
Marcus smiled nervously before he spoke "Yes sir," the person on the screen leaned forward slightly, the shadows revealing the black portion of a mask "Good."
The connection was severed and Marcus sighed in relief as he walked back to the pillar where he had the kid chained up; 'What's the reason as to why he would want this kid?' he thought before stubbing out the cigar and sitting down completely unaware of the black shadow that was appeared behind him along with several others to his side.
Outside...
Spike held up a comm to his lips "3... 2... 1... Let's Jam!"
Drawing his gun, he crashed into through the door followed by Vicious, Elna, and Rubi, all moving out of the doorway to ensure that they took no incoming weapon's fire.
The comm rang and Spike clicked it on "Talk to me, what's going on?"
"Sir, there's no one here on this side of the perimeter," a man announced quickly followed by another "Same here, there's no men around," the last team leader called in "I don't see no one here, what's up?"
"I don't know but don't let your guard down," Vicious spoke into his comm and quickly he drew his weapons as he walked further into the dark shrouded warehouse.
Further inside they found Yoh chained to a pillar surrounded by a sea of blood, body parts all over the place.
Elna quickly rushed to him, drawing her gun and shooting the chain off. She caught Yoh in her arms stepping away from the pillar and laying him down on top of a crate; "Wake up, Yoh, are you alright?" Elna said, worry in her voice as she gently shook Yoh, noting the bruises and blood on his face. Slowly he began to move until he opened his eyes partially and uttering a weak groan before passing out again.
"He's still alive, but he'll need medical help," Spike said as he watched the area, noting the carnage as he continued "If you want, the Red Dragons can provide that care and you can stay with him."
Elna nodded quietly and picked Yoh up, walking to the exit surrounded by Vicious, Spike and every man under their command.
Rubi lingered back, his mind spinning 'Why did they want the kid?' A screen flashed on making a beeping sound and he turned towards it.
"I see that you've taken my apprentice, but can you keep him?" the chilling voice of the masked figure echoing through the silent room.
"I don't know who you are but you'll regret what you did to him," Rubi spoke in an equally cold voice that hide his fury as he walked over to the monitor.
"Oh, really? We'll see what happens when we meet, now do take care of my apprentice, won't you?" the masked figure said, his voice had a hint of amusement.
Numbers appeared on the screen and Rubi walked out of the warehouse as it partially collapsed due to a self-destruct mechanism.
2 weeks later...
Elna had been waiting for Yoh to wake up, pacing around the room impatiently until "Hey, beautiful, you waiting for me?" a sleepy voice reached her ears.
"Yeah, sweetheart, I have something to talk to you about," Elna responded with a smile as she pulled a chair closer to the bed and leaned forward with her elbows on her knees.
Yoh smirked, answering "Yeah, sure, what is it about?" leaning his head against the pillow, which he reclined upwards so that he was in a sitting position.
"We'll I wanted to know if you'd thought about staying with us?" Elna asked him, meeting Yoh's gaze with her own, a smile on her face.
"Yeah, actually I did come up with an answer," Yoh said, taking a deep breath, he continued "Yes, I do, I owe it to both you and Rubicante.
Elna gave out a cry of joy as she pulled Yoh into a crushing hug. "We're moving to Cobalt Coast City," she muttered as she held Yoh.
Flashback end...
Raven's face wore a strange expression once Rubi's tale ended, as it continued to echo through her mind. Timid spoke up, stuttering slightly 'T-t-that's too sad,' before breaking out into tears which slowly appeared in Raven's eyes.
"Are you alright? I didn't mean for my tale to make you feel bad," Rubi spoke as he watched Raven's scrub tears out of her eyes muttering furiously "Damn emotions."
"Don't let yourself feel sorrow for Yoh, he doesn't like it," Rubi told her with a kind voice.
Raven's thoughts were ground to a halt when she heard the cry of the ever annoying Beast Boy "Raven! Trouble!"
Raven gave Rubi an apologetic smile as she stood up and walked back down to the club leaving Rubicante to meditate alone.
"Will he move just yet?" Rubi muttered slightly before sighing and dropping himself deep into a trance.
A/N: Will you look at that? The magical powers of red bull do exist. Hope this Session wasn't too boring. I'll see you all in Session 05, laterz.