Tomorrow Titans – The Next Generation
Saga Arc #1: Charnel House
Chapter #2: "Surprising Encounters"
Disclaimer: Well, I'm not quite sure what to say. It's no secret I'm not fond of disclaimers, as I believe that it's obvious that I do this not for money or any kind of gain at all, and that barring some exceptions, such as Nightstar and other DC/Marvel original characters, the rest are either mine or belong to my friends, as stated before. If there's anything I've missed here, and I'll put it up in the next disclaimer.
Author's Notes: Now, here is where I begin to write more according to my personal beliefs, so if I offend you, I'm honestly and truly sorry for that, but this is how I want to write this, in a realistic and believable manner.
The day started like any other. Beast Girl awoke from her bed, a bit disoriented at first, before realizing she had moved into the Tower, wearing a t-shirt and a pair of shorts, yawning, and ran a hand through her long hair, before getting out of bed and putting on a pair of slippers, and a robe, and padded out into the hallway, slouching as she walked. As she neared the All-Purpose room, she could smell a pleasant, calming odor, a smile spreading across her face. It was breakfast.
When she entered, sitting at the table were Gehenna - with tousled hair and slouching back, wearing a rather revealing short black nightgown, which was a contrast to her more conservative costume, and an open black silk robe – Mar'i – wearing a large t-shirt and shorts, and looking rather chipper for such an early hour – and Mary, who was wearing a loose tank top and pajama bottoms, grumbling under her breath.
"God, what is that smell? It smells like…plants." The quarter-demon complained, covering the lower half of her face with a hand
Beast Girl looked over to the kitchenette, and was surprised to see Death's Head at a pot of tea, pouring some into a cup, and walking over to the table, sitting down on a specially reinforced chair. A closer examination revealed it to be…yes, green tea. The cyborg sipped on the cup, closing his mismatched eyes and letting out a contented sigh as he paused to enjoy the flavor…something he couldn't do in his old body. "Uhm…DH…is that…tea?" The green girl asked redundantly, a bit surprised that the lethal and efficient cyborg could actually enjoy tea in the sophisticated manner he was demonstrating now. He gave her a look, like she was crazy, and blinked.
"Uh, yeah, it is…why are you staring at me? I enjoy flavored beverages, big deal." It was also then that she noticed he had long, almost flowing dark red hair. She had originally mistaken the hair for loose wires, but this close she could make out the dense, individual strands, and marveled at how smooth they were, and, hesitantly, reached out with a hand to touch it, running her fingers through the strands, and giggling. The cyborg gave her another look, surprised, and blinked rapidly. "…Invading my personal space here, kid." Taken aback, Terri retracted her hand quickly, paling a bit.
"S-sorry! It's just so soft…I didn't know you had hair…"
"It's fine." Death's Head waved a hand, and sipped more of his tea, and looked over to Mary. "The bacon's burning."
"Oh shit!" The silver haired girl bolted out of her chair, and ran over to the stove/oven, and quickly turned it off, removing the bacon from the plate with her bare fingers, cursing a bit as she singed her fingertips, though they would heal quickly soon enough. "Damn it! You did that on purpose, you skull-faced ass!" The peacekeeper laughed a bit, and set his teacup down.
"Who, me? Of course not. I wouldn't want to starve you all, today especially…we're going to have visitors. Important ones." He snickered anyways, as Mary began distributing the bacon on five plates, Beast Girl looking visibly ill when a plate was set down before her. "Don't be an idiot, Mary…"
"What, what now, oh great leader?"
"Beast Girl is a VEGETARIAN. She doesn't eat meat…or cheese. I don't know about milk…she certainly doesn't eat meat." Death's Head chuckled as he removed the bacon from the plate, and began to idly chew on a piece. "Oh my, this is rather charred. No wonder you moved in here…"
"HEY!"
The other girls snickered and laughed, while the white haired girl went red in the face, and sat down, Terri going over to the fridge and poking about, and noticing some tofu set down on a platter with a bottle of soy sauce, and blinked. "Hey…this isn't mine…" She took it out anyway, curious. Mar'i giggled, and looked over to her childhood friend.
"I put it there for you, actually…I figured one of us should be ready for the next day…" The half-alien smiled sweetly, blinking her green eyes at the green girl, who blushed a bit. The cyborg chuckled yet again, sipping his tea again, and leaning back in his chair.
"That's very precious."
Gehenna looked over at their de-facto team leader, and tilted her head a little. "Hey, get back to the bit about the visitors…"
"Oh, sorry. Some members of the Justice League and New Titans will be stopping by to see if we've gotten everything 'ironed out', as it were. A bit of hassle, yes?" the blue armored being sighed a little, and ran a finger along one of his head horns, stroking it just a bit, thoughtfully. "Hopefully it won't be anything too serious, but Superman's going to be here, and I'm not looking forward to that. A hassle." There was a collective groan, and everyone shared in a sigh. "Yes, they don't trust us it seems…or at least me. I spent all night setting this shack up, and it's all completely state-of-the-art…probably even better than what the other teams have now."
There was a moment of silence, which was promptly filled with chewing, mostly from Gehenna and Mary, while Death's Head had finished his some time ago, and had his head tilted to the side, brushing his hair away from his shoulders momentarily. Finally Gehenna sighed, and gave him a look. "So basically you want us to keep low, I'm guessing."
"Well, I wouldn't put it exactly like that. More like I want you all on your best behavior, and try to keep the curses to a minimum. You know those Superman Family members hate that stuff. I have the feeling ol' Kon-boy is trying to stick us with something…" DH paused as he spoke, and finished his tea, setting the cup down and lacing his fingers together, looking as thoughtful as he could, considering the nature of his face. Then he pulled his fingers apart and clapped his hands together, loudly, startling everyone. "Let's take care of the last of the dust, yes? Want to have this place looking nice and tidy." With that he stood up, and headed over to a supply closet near the kitchenette, and took out a mop and bucket. "Who wants the mop, and who wants the broom?"
Hours later, after the rest of the team had been roused from their slumber, with some fighting in the process, the Tower was completely cleaned and smelling lemony fresh. By the Tower, that meant the above ground levels. They were going to take care of the lower levels after the 'surprise' visit. Gehenna had gone off on her own, saying cryptically that she was going to be in her room studying some of her mother's old books, and Valkyrion was watching the television with Beast Girl, who kept trying to take the remote from the boy, who simply placed a fingertip against her forehead and kept her at bay easily with his enhanced strength. Nightstar had decided to fix up her room a little more to her liking, and Ranko, whose mood had not improved over night, had stormed out to the training room and selected a program to work out her aggressions on, ranting and fuming all the while, and screaming Japanese, English, AND Norse obscenities while she slammed her mace into the training robots.
Death's Head was busy watching Beast Girl playing a video game with Valkryion, musing a bit on the state of his life that he was reduced to this, but then realized this was something he'd already been doing since he first came here, and decided to quit. And so, he walked over to the couch/sofa and sat next to her, stretching out a bit and leaning back as he sat and pushed Valkyrion to the side, sitting in between him and Beast Girl and looking at the TV screen with some interest, blinking a few times and sighing, before finally speaking. "What exactly are you two doing?"
"Playing Mega Monkeys X, why?" Terri didn't look to him, just remained engrossed in her game, and fidgeting around a bit, standing up after a few moments and a victory, and did a little dance, prompting Death's Head to laugh softly. "What's so funny?"
"That's a ridiculous dance, girl."
"Nyah! You're just jealous you can't dance like me!" She pulled down one eyelid and stuck out her tongue at the Cyborg, who promptly reached out, and caught her by the tongue, making her squeak in surprise. "Whaaa…? 'eggo mah tung…"
"And why should I do that?" He let go anyways, and wiped his fingers on the surface of the couch. "I hope my hand doesn't smell of tofu now…" Terri kept her tongue out of her mouth, fuming a bit.
"Dat wath tho mean…"
"And undeniably funny."
"Grrr…."
"Oh, lighten up…from what I've heard your father was on the receiving end of worse in his day." The green girl sat down, putting her left hand on her chin and thinking thoughtfully, in vain, on how to pay the cyborg back, and couldn't come up with a single idea. Then one came to her…a trick her father once tried to do on Cyborg. She grinned, and sat upright, then frowned and sagged – she had just remembered that that particular prank instead hit Starfire and covered her in motor oil, and earned him the title of 'Klorbag Varblernelk.' She certainly didn't want to slime Mar'i in a similar fashion…plus Death's Head was called Death's Head for a reason. She really didn't want to try her luck with him, at least not until he'd gotten endeared to her…and she could endear anyone to her with enough time. DH regarded all of her actions with a curious eye, and blinked a few times, before shrugging a bit and running a metal hand through his long synthetic hair. "There you go. Nice and calm. If you behave, I'll get you a treat, yes?"
Those words caused the girl's ears to perk up noticeably, and she blinked curiously to the cyborg. "A…treat?"
"Yes, some candy or something…whatever children like." He waved a hand dismissively, and shrugged again. "Not that I know anything about what children like…" A mischievous grin formed on the elfin shapeshifter's face, and she clasped her hands together, and began to rub them together.
"Oooh, this is gonna be good…"
Death's Head just sighed, and held his head in his hands. "Oh boy…I've stepped into it now, huh?"
"Oh yes."
Before anything else could be said, the sound of the main door sliding open could be heard, and approaching footsteps as well. The three team members turned around, and standing there was Superman, in his red, dark blue, and black costume, a serious look on his face. The cyborg groaned loudly, and slapped his forehead. "Oh yes, you lot would pick now to arrive." Following Superman were a number of other heroes: One of the new members of the league, the Bulleteer – a 27 year old woman who's body was covered with a silver 'smartskin', and wearing a red top that showed some midriff, didn't cover her shoulders, long length red gloves, and red high heeled knee-high boots, and white pants – Green Lantern, one of the many members of the GL Corp – this latest GL was Jade Rayner, daughter of Kyle Rayner and Jennie-Lynn Hayden/Jade, and had deep emerald-colored skin, black hair with green streaks in it, green eyes, and wearing a black and white bodysuit that had no sleeves, and a Green Lantern insignia on the chest, as well as the power ring she had been given – Wonder Woman – Cassanda Sandsmark, the new inheritor of the title of Wonder Woman and wearing a skirted, more armored version of the familiar costume with a face-framing tiara on– the former Teen Titan Cyborg, now covered with a liquid gold outer shell, and an unidentified redhead with long hair, and wearing a jean jacket over a legless leotard, a red short skirt, black thigh high stockings, and red sneakers. Beast Girl looked quizzically at the newcomers, while Valkyrion stood in awe, while Death's Head was silently fuming over this latest distraction. "Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. Would you like to kick me while I'm down, Kon-boy?"
"Don't call me that, Death's Head. Or would you prefer Minion?" The half-kryptonian sneered slightly at the cyborg, who rankled at the name.
"Minion is who this body was before I was downloaded. I'm Death's Head. I'm never anything BUT Death's Head. Call me that again, and I will hurt you. I will break your bones and I will laugh."
"Promises, Promises."
Snarling, the cyborg stood, only to have Cyborg – Victor Stone – get between him and Superman, the former teen hero giving them both a harsh look. "Alright you two, knock it off. There are kids present." Then Vic looked specifically at Superman. "You know Kal wouldn't have goaded Death's Head like that. When you wear that shield, you're above his petty insults." A hand was placed on Superman's, and he looked back to see Wonder Woman, smiling a bit.
"He's right, Kon. Besides, I think it's kind of a cute nickname. Would've been more appropriate when we were kids, though." DH chuckled softly, and stood, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Now, let's just get this little soiree over with, please. I have to take Beast Girl out on what I'm assuming to be a shopping spree because I grabbed her tongue." That elicited some surprised looks on the elder heroes' faces.
"You grabbed…" Superman started, and Wonder Woman finished.
"…her tongue?"
"Yes, it was very silly of me, and I don't know what came over me. Maybe I'm getting soft in my 'old age'." The former mercenary grunted, and narrowed his eyes a little at the other 'elder' heroes. "Now, what would you like to talk about first? Perhaps that redhead you have with you. Unless the Justice League is recruiting young, I'm guessing you want her to join with us, yes?" Superman sighed, and reluctantly nodded.
"Yeah…Kal wants her in the Titans, and since yours is the only team active at the time, aside from the New Titans – but they're too busy to take her on – you're in charge of her well-being. But Kal says he trusts you…that all your help in the past have proven that in some respects, you're a hero." At those words, Death's Head winced a bit, as the h-word was something he didn't consider himself, even after all this time – he was, and always will be, a Freelance Peacekeeping Agent at heart. "And this is a big thing."
"Why exactly?"
"She's Kal and Diana's daughter." Valkyrion, Beast Girl, and Death's Head did a bit of a double-take, as this was the first any of them had heard of such a child. The redhead laughed a bit, and rubbed the back of her head with one hand, her jacket sleeve sliding down to expose a black metal bracelet on her wrist, a near-match to Wonder Woman's.
"Uh, hi everybody. I'm A-ko. A-ko Magami." She offered her hand to Death's Head, those clear blue eyes unblinking, an easy smile on her face. The cyborg could do nothing else but reach out and take that hand, giving a firm shake, the redhead grinning as she applied more pressure, to which DH did the same thing, until they were both trying to crush the other's hand, to little effect, as A-ko was nearly as invulnerable as her 'uncle' Kon, and Death's Head's exterior was very resistant to damage, and any damage he would take would be repaired in seconds, due to the large amount of nanotech used in his development. Finally the two let go, a bit of respect shared between them. "Nice grip you got there."
"Same to you." During this exchange, Terri had gotten up, and began eyeing the redhead suspiciously before speaking up.
"Hey, if you're Superman's daughter, where's your S?" She asked, narrowing her eyes a bit and raising one eyebrow in an exaggerated manner. A-ko laughed a bit, and opened her jacket, revealing the red and black logo on her chest. "Oh…well then, nevermind."
"Anything else, Kon—I'm sorry, Superman?" Death's Head turned to Superman again, and resumed crossing his arms over his large blue chest, narrowing his eyes once again, as these two still shared a bit of an animosity that wasn't quite explained to the general public and younger generation just yet, but this was a very personal disagreement. The half-Kryptonian nodded, and crossed his own arms over his chest.
"We want to look over the Tower, and make sure you've kept up your end of the deal and upgraded everything to the latest software, and made any hardware adjustments as necessary, and check your files, that sort of thing." Death's Head just bowed a little bit before speaking, making a flourish with his arms as he did.
"Very well, you may do as you wish. The only part of the building we haven't worked on yet is the subbasements, as we don't have any use for those yet…unless you've seen it in your heart to give us a big budget or a steady paycheque. Those would come in real handy around here…" Superman snorted a bit at that, and everyone else chuckled softly.
"Sorry, no. But we'll have Green Lantern look everything over, and if she clears it anyways, we'll see about helping out…" Superman motioned with his hand, and the Leaguers assembled around him. "Okay people, let's split up. Bulleteer, you take the roof; Green Lantern, you and I will check the subbasements; Wonder Woman, you check the training areas to see if they're set up properly for the kids." Everyone nodded in agreement, and the group broke up, leaving Death's Head, Beast Girl, Valkryion, and A-ko, who had a slightly confused look on her face. Death's Head just sighed, and waved his left hand dismissively.
"My, they get to work fast, don't they?"
Bulleteer made her way up to the roof, sighing a bit and wondering for what seemed like the hundredth time what she was doing here with these people. Her name was Alix Harrower, and she was a widow – her husband had created the smartskin that covered most, if not all, of her natural skin, though her deep crimson hair had been left alone, as had her eyes, and her husband had died in testing the skin on himself. The only reason Alix was still alive was that she had been wearing her wedding band, and had enough exposed skin for the people in the ER to save her, while her husband suffocated. The only reason she became a superhero was to honor his memory, though more and more it was becoming a problem.
She looked around curiously, and noticed something rather odd. There was a girl, on the roof, sunbathing. "Uh, excuse me…who are you?" The girl got up, yawning, and Alix then noticed the girl was topless, and wearing a small bikini bottoms, and had pale grey skin and long purple hair, and dark purple eyes. "Oh my." The girl…no, the young woman…stood and put on a robe she had with her, after putting her top back on, and smiled to Alix in an oddly seductive manner. When the pale girl neared her, she leaned in, and placed a light kiss on the redhead's lips, and gave her backside a firm squeeze.
"My, you're a sweet one, aren't you?" Gehenna purred as she ran a hand through her long hair. "The helmet's a bit much, though." With that, she left the confused, and flustered, Alix on her own, and headed back down the stairs with the intent of heading to her bedroom – which had been her mother's – and getting dressed. As she did, she looked back at the helmeted woman, and waved. "Give me a call sometime, yeah?"
"Oh…oh my…" the former schoolteacher blushed deeply, visible even through the silver coating on her face, and fidgeted a bit, feeling oddly entranced by the Titan. "That was…very strange."
Green Lantern and Superman were, within minutes, in the first level of sub basements under the Tower, where the vehicle garage had been. There were a number of computers and other devices were laying abut, and even a number of tool kits. However, they all belonged to the skeleton staff that had been working out of the Tower for ten years, and the newest tool was about seven or eight months old, and there was a somewhat thick layer of dust over everything, which made Jade's nose wrinkle in mild disgust.
"Oh, yuck. How can they stand this?" She turned to Superman, who was wearing a bit of a smile as he observed the room himself, and ran a finger along one of the remaining large tables.
"Well, the Tower used to be a lot messier, but it looks like Death's Head came through on that part at least. It'll be interesting to see how serious he takes this 'assignment'."
"You're giving him too much slack, Superman. How do you know he won't turn on the kids and leave them on their own."
"As much as I hate to say it, I do have some respect for him…he's saved the universe quite a few times…and Captain America say we should at least give him a decent chance at this before we shut him down." The half-Kryptonian nodded a bit, and began using his x-ray vision to survey the entirety of the floor they were on, and he grunted softly. "Alright, Lantern. We're done on this floor. Let's check the submarine hanger."
"Right." The green girl nodded, smiling a bit, and headed over to the elevator, beating Superman there. "Beat ya." The dark haired man just sighed, and smiled a bit.
"Cute, Jade, cute."
Wonder Woman had checked out the exercise room, satisfied that everything there had been in order, even testing the weights out a bit herself, before setting them down and heading towards the training room a floor down, her heels clicking against the floor as she walked down the stairs. When she neared the room, she could hear the sounds of things being pounded into the floor and walls inside the rooms. Only slightly curious, she pressed the keypad to open the door, which slid into the way, and revealed a scene of pure carnage, as Thunderstrike continued to smash away at the practice robots, her hair sticking to her face as sweat poured down her face. She was also still cursing, in Norse, so Wonder Woman didn't have a single clue as to what she was saying, but she had a fair idea.
As 'strike smashed the last robot, she finally let out a primal, angry scream, and threw her mace a hard as she could, smashing it into the reinforced wall of the room, just about two feet from Wonder Woman' face, the older superheroine unable to keep from gawking. When the redhead saw this, she went pale, and a hand flew up to her mouth. "Oh, God, I am so sorry! I didn't mean to do that! I was just so mad I--" Cassandra laughed a bit at that, easily regaining her composure – she had gotten used to such feats from adults, but somehow, even with her own past experiences, the children still managed to surprise her – and waving a hand a bit to the redhead, walking over cautiously, stepping over bits of broken robots.
"That's perfectly alright, dear. I understand the sentiment—when I was angry at someone I did much the same, except for with just my fists. Tell me, is it a boy?" Ranko sighed, and nodded.
"Yeah, it is. It's that moron Valkyrion." At that Wonder Woman blinked a bit, a curious expression on her face.
"What did he do?"
"Well, most superheroes' archenemies are villains. Mine happens t'be him," the redhead replied as she walked over to the wall, and with a strong yank pulled her mace out, with a loud screeching sound as it tore out of the metal surface, the Japanese girl grunting softly as she slung it over her right shoulder, and eyed the Amazon warrior. "Anyways, what're you doin' here?" she spoke in slang, relaxed and easy, those blue eyes blinking every few seconds.
"Well, I'm supposed to be checking the training facilities, to see if everything's…working properly…" The Amazon then just noticed the massive amount of destruction the demigoddess had wreaked on the practice room, the floor, wall, and roof all buckled, smashed, rended, and ripped, not to mention the fact that most of the cache of training robots were lying in un-repairable chunks and scraps. "I can see that it's not…"
The redhead blushed a bit, and laughed nervously. "Uh, yeah, sorry 'bout that. Guess I still don't know my own strength, huh?"
"I can tell…"
"'spose you guys'll have to food th' bill for that, huh?" At that Wonder Woman laughed a bit, and raised an eyebrow at the teenager. "What?"
"I'm sure your mother didn't teach you to talk like that…" Ranko went red in the face, and tilted her head a bit to the side
"Sorry…too much TV, maybe." She shrugged, and headed for the exit. "And really, sorry about the mess."
Cyborg had elected to stay in the All-Purpose room, and had himself hooked up to the mainframe, checking to see if Death's Head really had done everything the way he was supposed to, checking the computers for half an hour or more. Secretly the former teen hero was itching to find something that would give the League and New Titans a reason to disband the new team before their first mission, but much to the man's annoyance, everything was indeed up to date and had the best levels of security. Vic was also a bit frustrated that now the computers were far more secure than when he had first programmed the old systems. Death's Head, despite being so crude and acting stupid whenever he got the chance, was a very, very competent programmer. Then Cyborg noticed something unusual – some of the code markers were actually familiar to him, but they weren't from the Titans or League, or even the Avengers computers.
Then it hit him – he'd seen this kind of programming from his experiences working on the computers of the Fantastic Four. Specifically, Reed Richards' programming. Which, of course, made sense when one knew that Death's Head II, back in the early days of his existence, had assimilated all of Reed's knowledge from his computer mainframe – fortunately for the FF, Reed had a back-up system, considering the process of the Neural Siphon had completely blown out the old one. And now Death's Head was using that knowledge to stay one step ahead of them, and anticipating the Tower's programming needs, and setting everything up so there was no way they could say he was being negligent. In fact, if Cyborg didn't know any better, he'd swear DH wanted this team to work out…
"Are you done yet?" came the irritated voice of the blue and red cyborg, who was standing behind Vic, while Terri and Adam continued to play the video game, while eavesdropping on the two older men. "I'm starting to feel hurt here, Vic, really I am. I went through this system with a fine-toothed comb, so to speak; there's not a single thing wrong with this entire Tower, technically speaking. So stop picking at my programming before I take it the wrong way." Reluctantly, Cyborg unplugged himself, and looked up at Death's head with his red eyes, narrowing them a little.
"Don't get smart with me, Death's Head. You know all of these kids' parents want their children to be kept safe, and a lot of them aren't happy with you being the boss. I know I sure wouldn't be, with you in charge."
"Well, that's just it, isn't it? I'm NOT in charge, you goons are. I'm only doing what you want because it's in my interest. Tell me, do you give Logan this much trouble, or is it just me?" There was a hint of menace to the war machine's voice, as his mismatched eyes narrowed in response to the mild glare he was getting from Cyborg.
"Hmph…Logan's proven himself to us…"
"And I haven't? I've done more good than that furry runt and you know it! Tell me the truth, it's because I was made by A.I.M, isn't it? That's it, right? You don't trust me because A.I.M give you grief."
"Maybe that, and maybe because you have the personality of a stone-cold killer who, unlike Wolverine, has no excuse for what he did other than he did it for money. You're the same way." At that, the blue cyborg laughed, rather loudly.
"Ah, Vic…thank for the compliment."
"Wasn't a compliment."
"It was to me."
Before more words could be exchanged, the main door slid open, and a frazzled looking Bulleeter walked in, followed by a chatting Wonder Woman and Thunderstrike, then after another ten minutes, Superman and Green Lantern. Then, late as usual, Gehenna walked in, wearing her usual costume, affixing the hood over her head, the shadow obscuring the top half of her face, as it did for her mother. Cyborg and Death's Head promptly quieted down, though they were simmering, which was obvious to everyone who had just entered. A-ko waved to the newcomers, blinking a bit as she began counting.
"Hey, there's like…two people missing…"
"Yeah, Nightstar and Mary are out in the city, looking at motorcycles," Beast Girl replied, still mostly engrossed in her game, ears flicking about wildly every so often as she began to move herself to the game, moving about in her seat, jumping up, and gesturing wildly, while Valkyrion calmly remained as he was, a bit amused by her antics. As Beast Girl thrust her backside back, Gehenna calmly walked up to behind her, caught her by the backside of her underwear with a finger, and pulled back, before pulling her finger out, causing the elastic of the waistband to snap, making Beast Girl yelp in surpise. "AHHH! What the feak?!"
Gehenna promptly started to snicker, with attracted everyone's attention, as no one but Death's Head and Cyborg had noticed what the goth-looking girl had done, both of them a bit puzzled by her actions. Beast Girl was now hopping mad.
"Gehenna! You did that, didn't you?!"
"Me? Couldn't be." The pale girl replied, doing her very best innocent looking, hurt face, clasping her hands together over her heart. "Cross my heart and hope to die." A-ko regarded her 'cousin', and blinked.
"Strange girls…"
"Tell me about it."
End Notes: In case you all are wondering, Gehenna isn't much like her mother. Though the extent of this won't be touched on for a while longer, but trust me, it'll be worth the wait.