Chapter 3:
Bait-and-Switch
"What do you mean tools of my trade?" Shippo asked.
"Well- You did cast some pretty impressive illusions when you were just a kit, and I'm pretty sure that as an adult you have only gotten better. I need you to cast an illusion," whatever she said next the Teen Titans couldn't hear as Kagome started speaking in a whisper to the unknown male.
"I find it strange that you are so upset Beast boy…" Star-Fire stated. "You have told us little to less about your adventures that you have had with the Doom Patrol before we became the Teen Titans; I do not understand why you are feeling betrayed. Had she told you of her not having the sicknesses you would have insisted that she leave and return to her home…"
"That's not the point! She lied to me! I'm FAMILY!"
"Ever consider that she's doing what we all have done?" Raven asked, semi-rhetorically, "haven't we all omitted details to save others from worrying needlessly?"
"In the letters, did your aunt say anything about Kagome? I mean specifically care instructions?" Robin asked.
"No- she just said that due to Kagome's illnesses, she needed a change of scenery for a period of time, and that she had several lacerations due to an attack, by some muggers… Obviously that was a lie…"
"Then her mother knew…" Cyborg said. "She lives at a place called the Sunset Shrine with her brother, mother and maternal grandfather. And the shrine is at the base of several tales and legends. Specifically a legend about a group that defeated a Spider demon."
"Yeah Cy- I knew about that… We are related; and through our mothers I know some of the legends and history of the shrine…" Beast boy said with an obviously look on his face.
"Perhaps Cyborg offers more information that we will need if we are to understand cousin Kagome, yes?" Star-Fire asked.
"Well yeah- and here's more:" Cyborg explained to the rest if the Titans. "Earlier, I pulled up some information about the shrine your cousin lives on; it was built shortly after a huge battle some five-hundred years ago, where two dog demon brothers, a wolf demon, a fox demon, fire-cat demon, a cursed monk, a demon exterminator, and two miko's, one the living dead and the other her reincarnation, defeated a spider demon whose power covered nearly half of Japan… There was even a portrait in the archives of the reincarnated miko- it looks exactly like your cousin…"
"Wha- lemme see!" Beast boy demanded; and Cyborg brought up a hologram of the portrait. And it really did look like her.
In the portrait there were several people: one was Kagome's look-alike wearing a looser version of the outfit Kagome had worn the other day, another was a woman in a black skintight outfit with coral pink armor bearing a giant boomerang on her back and a cream colored two-tailed cat on her shoulder, there was a man that was wearing monks robes and carrying a golden staff. There were demons in the portrait as well: One was a regal male of an indiscriminate species with silver hair fey ears and bore stripes on his cheeks and a blue crescent moon on his forehead, another was a rough looking male with black hair, fey ears and wearing a wolf-skin wrap around his waist, the last full grown male also had silver hair but had two ears perched atop his head wearing red and carrying an extremely large sword over his shoulder. At the groups feet were two children one was a young human girl around eight with black hair in a side ponytail who was playing with a young male demon around six, with orange hair, a cream-red fox tail with fox feet.
In the background were others painted faintly but with malevolent colors, one was a more mature version of the look-alike in the foreground, there was a male that looked like he just stepped out of a horror movie, to their left were several others, there was a woman with black hair and red eyes with fey ears, dressed fancily and floating on a feather, clutching the area over her heart, behind her on the feather was a young girl with no color in her whatsoever but she held a fancy mirror and beneath them was a young human boy in the same skintight outfit as the other girl but with blue armor, he wore no boomerang but he held a throwing sickle with chain at his waist, and his face bore a pained look, he appeared to be in confliction with himself.
None of the figures in the foreground were in pristine condition. The female in the skintight suit with armor had blood dripping from her hairline and was holding her torso as if she'd broken her ribs. The male in the robes had several lacerations on his face that were dribbling blood down the front of his haori, the two silver-haired males had wicked grins on their faces and blood on their- were those claws? The wolf demon had cracked chest armor and a large bleeding laceration etched from the middle of his forehead touching in inner corner of his left eye, across his cheek towards the leftmost corner of his jaw. The last full grown female of the group, Kagome's look-alike, had a large bloodstain on her shoulder which she was holding carefully, as if something large had gone through her shoulder. Around her neck was a very large luminescent pearl.
Though all adults in the portrait had varying degrees of pain across their features it was obvious that all of them were feeling victorious. It was apparent that they had just come from a large battle, against more than their group had, and had come out of the battle victorious if a little roughed up.
At the bottom of the portrait which Cyborg had to scroll down the hologram for them to see was writing. It was hard to see and harder to read. The only two words that they could make out were: Triumphant and Shikon. Why they couldn't read the script when the portrait was as pristine as the day it was painted, they had no idea; though Raven had some trepidation lining her face.
"Whoa…" Raven said.
"What is the matter Raven?" Star-Fire asked.
"Guys- This portrait was not made by a human…" She stated. Causing the other's eyes to widen.
"Hurry up guys!" Yelled Kagome from down below, startling them. "If you don't hurry up, I'm going to leave without you! And I'm gonna make sure that you won't find me, wherever I decide to go!" Cyborg turned off the hologram and the five of them looked over the railing. The male from before was gone. When had that happened?
"I believe you would be incorrect cousin Kagome…" Star-Fire stated. "If my Kinorffka can find me anywhere- I believe that any one of us would have the ability to find you any where!"
"Don't make me race you!" Kagome said teasingly as she zipped her jacket up.
"Girl it is so on!" Cyborg declared, as he pressed a button on his arm. "No one can outrace me in the T-car!"
"Unless it's me…" Robin said a grin on his face as he leapt down to the lobby, to tumble and land next to Kagome.
"Yeah right!" Kagome snorted. "Wait- really?" At Robin's nod, she declared: "I ride with Robin!"
"Good, cause there is no way that all of us could fit in the T-car…" Cyborg said.
"Look- Can I be frank?" Robin asked Kagome in all seriousness.
"Oh- Then can I be George?" She asked with a grin on her face; she had to say it, she'd been waiting for someone to pull that gag since she got here. But neither Raven, Cyborg or Star-Fire would be the likely candidates to use the saying.
BB heard them and despite the seriousness of the situation, had to giggle at that.
"Dude! That was awesome!" Beastboy said with bright eyes.
"Actually- the R-cycle's really only meant for one person…" Robin said with a shrug.
"Then who'll record the photo finish?" Kagome asked as they walked out the front door to where the R-cycle and T-car were waiting, with their engines in idle.
Kagome watched as Robin executed an aerial somersault onto his cycle.
"You need to watch it Robin," she said, "one flip is good, two indicates proficiency, three is overkill and giving someone a decent target…"
Robin looked at Kagome startled. It was the same advice Batman gave him on many occasions. "Nothing I haven't heard before…" He said giving Kagome a look.
"Just because your cape is some form of weird metal alloy while still resembling cloth doesn't mean she isn't right Robin…" Beastboy said despite feeling as if he was betrayed he still felt like he had to protect his cousin.
"Since when are you an expert on aerial acrobatics?" Robin asked Kagome.
"I've been doing them for a while… For whatever reason, I've had no problems performing them along with a few other tricks I learned… I can also ride backwards and shoot arrows, if the ride is smooth…" Kagome stated to Robin before she turned to BB and started asking him about his favorite restaurants. It never came up in their correspondence…
() * () * () * () * () * () *
"What do you suppose cousin Kagome did to know what she does?" Star-Fire questioned Raven.
"What do you mean?" Raven asked.
"When Cyborg investigated cousin Kagome he found out that she lived on a shrine and that someone bearing a striking resemblance to her in the past fought demons and won."
"You mean like a reincarnation?"
"Re-Incar-Nation? Please, what is this country of which you speak?" Star-Fire asked.
"A reincarnation is someone born looking like they did in the past, sometimes having the same experiences and memories as they did before they died…" Robin said hearing their conversation. He'd just walked away from Kagome and Beastboy. "I overheard Kagome on the phone earlier, she was telling her brother not to tell any more of her friends that she was married, apparently she had been instead, adopted into a high ranking family and was trained by the head of the family and a few trusted others..."
"So cousin Kagome not only is a double-lived liar, but is also a form of warrior?"
Kagome having heard their conversation, turned sharply and spoke to them. Obviously the alien had hit several nerves brutally. "Never did I once lie to any of you… Do you tell people you know little about, all the insignificant details of your life and experiences and errors? No. I didn't think so. Just because I had to do some things that are by no means normal, did I ever have to explain them to you." She said, fists clenched in anger at being called a liar, that was like comparing her to Naraku; and she detested and still detests Naraku. "And don't you dare mention keeping this from Garfield! I haven't been here two days- and you're jumping down my throat about keeping secrets? What about you?" She demanded pointing at Raven. "I sense demon blood in you but you don't see me judging you, do you?"
She glared at the small trio. "Forget it. No way am I staying here with a bunch of people who think I'm a liar…" Kagome said as she stormed out of the tower and down the drive to the shore where there had to be one of her onii-chan's work complexes… No way had he not expanded on his empire… Aquaman would have to wait at least a week before she would be able to help him anyway… The T-sub was being reconstructed to fit a sixth person…
() * () * () * () * () * () *
Six hours later concerned teen titans were still searching the city for her.
"I wonder why it is we cannot locate cousin Kagome?" Star-Fire asked.
"Dude- you called her a liar …And she's right; she never once lied to us!" Beastboy said defending his cousin. "She's been here not even two days and you're telling her because you just met her that she's not worth knowing but you want to know each and every tiny detail about her life?" He glared at Star-Fire. "I thought you'd understand prejudice Star… Guess not…" From his seat in the T-car he transformed into a hawk and flew out the window.
"I said something… wrong?"
"Star-Fire… BB usually is the one to stick his foot in his mouth; but you have to admit, that was pretty cold." Cyborg said, as he watched Raven concentrate, her eyes glowing black as she searched for both BB and Kagome.
() * () * () * () * () * () *
Beastboy was the first to find Kagome, not surprising, but they'd had a bond since they were in diapers.
"Any chance that you could give me a second chance?" He asked nervously.
Kagome smiled at him, it took her a while to get angry but even less time to cool off and forgive. "A very good chance…" She took a deep breath. Now would be a good time for her and her cousin to have a heart-to-heart talk.
"Do you realize" Kagome started, "that while you were off learning how to deal with your powers with the Doom Patrol, that I was being dragged down a well by a centipede of all things?"
At Beastboy's surprised look, she elaborated. "At fifteen I was getting ready for school when Souta was standing inside the doorway to the well house. Turns out Buyo was in there and it was Souta's turn to feed him. After I called him a baby, I went into the well house, and we both heard a scratching noise coming from inside the well and then there were these ghostly arms pulling me backward and then the next thing I know I was dealing with falling through a- what I now call a time vortex- and literally dealing with a woman centipede, her name was Mistress Centipede, and it was all because I was a reincarnation of a priestess who died over five hundred and fifty years ago that I was born with a sacred cursed jewel…" Kagome then spent the next four and a half hours telling him all about her adventures.
Kagome continued with her tale. Not needing to worry about the other Teen Titans hearing her tale, because not only was this building shielded from radio emissions, but it was the one owned by her onii-san, Sesshoumaru. Inuyasha never made it past the 1620s due to an attack where he was defending the decedents of the village who were mainly orphaned. Truly it was just like Inuyasha in the end, all bluff and blather, but with a heart of gold. She told it all to her cousin, the pain, the heartbreak, her temper, all the battles and kidnappings she'd been subjected to, then of course there was the final battle, and the semi-conclusion to her tale.
"My brother and I came to terms after I finished high-school, that I should return to Feudal Japan. All in all it was a good thing; I was trained by Lord Sesshoumaru, my new onii-chan, and his Generals in: Extreme martial arts, including hand-to-hand and weaponry. My archery is now beyond compare… But due to my going back after my self-imposed mission was over, I returned to the day that I left to return to the Feudal Era; and so only three days passed. But I was included in a severe sparring session with a pissed High-General, and earned several more…"
"Whoa- that is intense! Kagome, you- I mean- wow- that's just-" unable to express himself, BB turned into a monkey and screamed, then turned into a chicken running around like crazy in a circle before turning back into his normal green human-y self.
"You are like a crazy, super-awesome, time-traveling warrior, chick!"
"No where near that savvy." Kagome said blushing.
"How long till you go back to T-tower?" Beastboy asked.
Kagome sighed. "Gar- I never remembered how many nerves I had that have been severely and chronically irritated…"
"Kags, it's no big deal… Star should have known better than to say something like that… Her people have been thought to be "nothings" other races call them "Troqs" which literally means nothing…"
Kagome sat back, leaning on her hands. "I just don't know BB… I thought I was over all this… I mean, living four years in the span of four seconds in this timeline is weird enough, but to have to deal with knowing all of it and being unable to deal, that is something-"
She trailed off, not sure how to describe her feelings and emotions.
BB decided to break the ice with one of his usual off the wall and out of the blue comments: "So Ramen became a staple for you and your group huh? Too bad you couldn't introduce them to Tofu waffles!"
"I don't think that would have gone over too well with three meat-eating demons in our group, not to mention, we needed to keep up our strength for all the battles we were constantly in…" BB gave Kagome a hand and pulled her up.
"Come on- I found this cool restaurant just off of main that's in an attic! It is sooo cool, and we can get you started on your-" He cleared his throat with a grin- "new allergic reaction…"
It was obvious that "Operation Bait-and-Switch" was now to be in effect.
BB took her to the restaurant, one of the times where being a snake was a good thing… We got there and ordered a pizza with half vegetarian and half pineapple and pepperoni. And BB started explaining to Kagome in his poor Japanese all the adventures he'd had up to date with the Doom Patrol and the Teen Titans…
Due to their now better understanding of one another, they had an even better time before with a wink, BB ordered something called a Picasso pizzazz parfait for the both of us. After a couple spoonfuls on both our parts during our conversation, Kagome allowed her powers to color her hands a purple shade before it moved to her throat, easier to see…
When she started acting like she was having trouble breathing, BB "freaked-out" and after paying the bill for their lunch, a $20 bill went a long way to a $15 lunch, and dragger her outside where he transformed into a pterodactyl and grabbing Kagome in his talons flew to the T-tower.
() * () * () * () * () * () *
Robin and the rest of the Teen Titans had finally gotten a lock on BB's communicator as well as his and his cousin's energy signatures thanks to Raven and Cyborg and were headed to their location when they saw BB drag Kagome out of a restaurant, transform into a Pterodactyl and fly in the direction of the T-tower.
Thanks to the displays Cyborg had recently added to the T-car they were able to see Kagome's face, it was slowly turning purple like her throat.
Screeching to a turn the two means of transportation made a 180 degree turn and blasted back to the T-tower.
Something was wrong with Kagome.
Raven smiled slightly hidden by her cowl. She could sense a feeling of complete trust as well as a feeling of closure. Fences had been mended, at least by BB and Kagome, and it seemed like things were going to go according to plan.
It was obvious to her then that "Operation Bait-and-Switch" was in full swing.
"I'm going to prep the sick-bay for Kagome…" Raven said as a shadow portal appeared and she sunk into it.
"Oh I feel terrible- how could I have said such mean things to someone I barely know?" Star-Fire asked.
"I don't know Star… But it would probably go a long way if you were to apologize…" Cyborg said as he completed another turn that lead them straight back to the Tower.
"I shall do that as soon as she awakens… I truly did not mean to upset her; I merely wished to clarify what had been said…" She said, looking down at her hands folded in her lap as she sat in the back seat of the car.
Well- what do you think?
Your reviews are fuel for my muse!
Jowashington