Part 6: Mortuary

Within a caged fighting ring inside an abandoned warehouse, stood two figures, one being a very large biker with tribal tattoos covering his bald scalp and the other figure was that of a teenager with long black hair, blue eyes, a toned body, and scars covering his torso. His blue jeans and black gloves were covered with the blood of his earlier opponents.

"Come on kid; just give up before you hurt yourself," said the biker in a very cocky tone.

"If you haven't noticed I've beaten down every opponent before you and I still have energy to spare." The teen smirked. "So I should be saying that to you."

"Fine, it's your funeral."

Seconds after the bell rang and the fight started, without any hesitation the biker ran towards his young opponent. The teen quickly ran towards the cage and climbed with lighting fast speed, he then leaped off of the cage landing behind the biker and giving him a quick elbow to the back which caused the biker to fall flat on his face. The biker quickly got back up grabbed his opponent and gave him a fierce head butt and afterwards throwing the young contender over his shoulder. The teen was left on the floor of the ring with many small streams of blood running down his forehead. The crowd roared at the sight of this.

"All hail Ox!" shouted the biker as he raised his arms in the air.

Unknown to Ox, his young opponent was slowly getting back on his feet. The crowd went silent as they saw the young man standing straight and staring at Ox with hate filled eyes.

Ox turned around and gave one look at his opponent and just crossed his arms and shook his head.

"Boy, there's no way in Hell you're gonna beat me so just go home," Ox said insultingly.

"I'll go home when you're in an ambulance," the teen retorted.

With that Ox ran towards his target and attempted to land a punch, but before he could he noticed the fist that found its way to his gut. He was stunned at how fast this "kid" punched him. Then with no delay the young fighter started pulverizing Ox with lighting fast punches and kicks.

Ox staggered back in a complete daze from what just happened. In a desperate attempt to win, Ox decided to get his opponent in a hand grapple in hopes of breaking the young man's arms. What ended up happening was the opposite as Ox's arms were broken with his bones shredding out though out his entire arm. Ox let out a roar of pain and then went out cold.

The crowd's cheers became deafening at the sight they just beheld.

"Tonight's winner and champion is MORTUARY!" The announcer screamed into the microphone.

Mortuary then walked out of the ring and started to gather his belongings. He was ready to claim his prize money until…..

"Titans go!" shouted Robin as he and the other Titans burst through the warehouse doors.

Most of the spectators made a break for it, but there were others that decided to take the Titans on. Little did the thugs know that they were going to be fighting a losing battle.

Mortuary decided to get out because getting arrested would only mess up his plan. As Mortuary got near one of the doors he noticed two Titans in particular. One of the Titans was clad in black and red. Mortuary heard of this Titan, he was the only reason for Mortuary coming to Jump City in the first place. The other Titan was one of his closest friends, a friend he fought the forces of evil with many times, a friend that was like a sister to him for the longest time, a friend named Tara Markov. Mortuary then decided to leave the warehouse and wait till the Titans were done fighting to be able to go on with his plan.

Mortuary was walking the back streets of town pondering on how he was going to get into Titans Tower and eliminate his target. Mortuary was thinking more about Draco and how he slaughtered his men. The thought of Draco filled him with rage as did the thought of every other beast like him. He was also thinking about Terra. How could Terra side with a monster like that? Maybe she didn't know or maybe she felt sympathy for the creature. Either way, he wanted to shoot first and ask questions later.

"I'll get you for what you did, even if it kills me," Mortuary said in a hate filled tone.

Back in the warehouse, the Titans won their fight against the thugs and shortly afterwards the cops came to clean up the mess. With their job done the Titans headed for home. Robin noticed that Shadowcobra…Shadow…was deep in thought about something.

"Something wrong, Shadow?" Robin asked

"Not sure," Shadow started. "I had a strange feeling back there"

"What're you talking about?"

"I felt a magical presence, necromancy to be exact. Not only that, there seemed to be mass gathering of souls, but they were fused into one."

"A mass of souls into one?" Draco interjected "How is that even possible?"

"I have no clue," Shadow answered. "I've never heard of anything like that before. Shamanism has the same effect but this was a more extreme kind."

"We'll worry about that tomorrow, it's late and we should be heading back to the Tower," Robin stated.

With that the Titans headed out.

At the Tower, all of the Titans were sleeping except for Draco who decided to get up and get a midnight snack. He reached into the refrigerator and pulled out a sandwich then sat at the table. He was remembering what Shadow was talking about earlier and it was starting to scare him. A being that's composed of many souls shouldn't even exist and if it was a villain would they be able to face it?

Mortuary had finally reached the Tower and noticed that one of the lights were on. Mortuary aimed his hand at the light and his hand started to glow with a green energy which looked similar to Starfire's. The energy kept charging and he waited for the right time to strike.

Mortuary smirked "It's time."

Draco had finished his sandwich and was getting ready to head back to bed until….

KABOOM!

The living room window shattered into pieces and the force of the explosion knocked Draco on his back and surely awoke the other Titans. Draco then noticed a dark figure flying into the window. As Draco got a better look at the Tower's attacker he noticed that the attacker was just a kid his age or a little older. This attacker had long black hair and blue eyes, he was wearing blue jeans, combat boots, fingerless black gloves, and a black t-shirt with a skull and cross bones on the front. The young man drew out a gun and pointed it in Draco's face.

The young gunman spoke up "I'm Mortuary and I'll be your Angel of Death for this evening." Draco was stunned as Mortuary walked slowly towards his target with gun in hand waiting to fulfill his hunger for vengeance.

"Goodbye, kid," Mortuary whispered darkly to Draco.

Before Mortuary could pull the trigger, a wave of pink energy flew by and just slightly missed his head. He then looked to where the energy came from and saw the same group of teens that he saw at the warehouse.

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM!" Jinx screamed at Mortuary.

Mortuary then put his gun back in its holster and charged his Necroplasm.

"I don't want to hurt any of you, but I will if you get in my way!" Mortuary threatened them.

"You're the one who's gonna get hurt," Robin started. "Titans, GO!"

"Alright then, let's go!"

The fight started of with Starfire and Mortuary trading off barrages of starbolts and Necrobolts. Eventually, one of the Necrobolts hit Starfire and knocked her into a nearby wall. Before he could make his next move, Mortuary was pinned down from behind by Beast Boy in bear form and Cyborg.

"We got him!" Cyborg called out to the rest of the Titans

Mortuary smirked, "That's what you think."

Mortuary's eyes started to glow a bright green as he summoned the souls into his body. He then fused his soul strength into his physical strength and with that he was able to throw Beast Boy and Cyborg off of himself without much effort. As soon as he got back on his feet, Pluto already had a sword drawn and started swinging. Mortuary was able to dodge the attacks but only slightly. Mortuary could tell that Pluto had been using swords for a while, because he was having a very hard time dodging his attacks. An idea then popped in Mortuary's head. Mortuary kept dodging until he got near Blackfire. When he was near her, he grabbed her quickly and used her as a shield. Pluto was able to stop his attack before he could harm Blackfire. Mortuary then threw Blackfire into Pluto and drop kicked them both. Robin was able run up behind Mortuary and whacked him across the back with his Bo-staff. This caused Mortuary to fall face first on the floor.

"You made a big mistake by breaking in here," Robin stated as he had his Bo-staff ready for another attack.

"Your mistake was getting in the way!" Mortuary muttered out in anger.

Mortuary was then able to make his Necroplasm into an energy shield which knocked Robin back a couple of feet when it was activated. Mortuary noticed Shadow and Raven flying towards him, so he converted the energy shield into a large Necrobolt and was about to fire until….

"STOP!" Draco yelled at the top of his lungs.

The Titans stopped their attacks and Draco approached Mortuary.

Mortuary pointed his finger accusingly at Draco and demanded, "Release them from your control!"

"What're you talking about?" Draco asked with a very confused expression on his face.

"Didn't you command them to fight me?"

Draco then pointed at Mortuary, "Hey, you broke into OUR Tower and aimed a gun at ME! What else would they do?"

Mortuary retorted, "You know, they'd probably be begging me to kill you if they knew what you really are."

"Huh? Say what? What I am?"

Mortuary got into Draco's face, "Don't toy with me. You know damn well what I'm talking about."

"Er...no...not really...Do you mind explaining please?"

Mortuary screamed out, "You're Orphenoch scum!"

Draco was shocked and backed away at this statement, "How...how did you know about...about...?"

"I sensed it in your soul."

"Is that it? You want to kill me because I'm an Orphenoch?"

"I want to kill you because you killed off my team!"

All of the other Titans were shocked and turned their attention towards Draco.

Jinx slowly walked toward Draco, "Is this true, baby?"

Shadow then spoke up, "Did you kill his team?"

Draco just looked down at his hands, "I don't know...I remember killing Blood, Johnny Rancid and those FOH bastards...but that's all I remember killing."

Mortuary had a shocked look on his face. He couldn't believe that they all knew about this. "You all know what he is?"

Robin started, "Of course we do."

Starfire added, "And Draco did not do what you accused him of."

"Trust me Mortuary, you've got the wrong guy," Terra stated

"Terra, I know I'm right," Mortuary answered.

Shadow asked, "Terra? You know this guy?"

Terra answered, "Mortuary and I used to travel together before I met the Titans."

"Heh, just like Ekelo and I," Raven said

Mortuary turned his attention back towards Terra, "How are you so sure about this guy, Terra?"

Terra simply answered, "He's my friend, like you, I trust him. That's all that matters. What happened to the gang?"

"We all went separate ways after you left."

"So...why are you after Draco here?"

Mortuary was about to answer until Blackfire interjected, "Waitasec! I remember seeing you at that place we raided!"

Mortuary just shrugged, "Yeah, I have to make money somehow."

Robin spoke up, "Then we have to take him in."

Draco started, "Robin, wait." He then turned towards the rest of the Titans, "Maybe we should listen to what he has to say about me."

"You sure?" Jinx asked.

"Positive," Draco answered.

Robin agreed, "Okay...but we'll be ready for anything."

"First of all, let me ask you something," said Mortuary

Draco nodded, "Shoot."

"Do you remember things that you've done while in your Orphenoch form or do you lose all of that memory when you revert to human form?"

"The details are blurry...but they come back after a few seconds so I know what's going on."

"So you have no memory of me then?"

"Except from when you drew your gun in my face, then no. I've never seen you before in my life."

"That's strange, because the Orphenoch that killed my team also attacked me. You're telling me you remember everything from every time you've changed, so I don't know what to think."

Shadow then decided to step into conversation, "It could be a different Orphenoch." He turned to Draco "Leo, do you mind changing into your other form?"

Draco shrugged, "I guess." He was still a bit uncomfortable about changing into the Ifrit Orphenoch but shifted into his Orphenoch form anyway. "There. Recognize anything?"

Mortuary examined Draco and then came to a conclusion, "The one that attacked me looked similar, but I see a major difference."

Draco shifted back into human form. "You do? What?"

"The one that attacked me didn't have horns, but the fact is that you're still an Orphenoch and I can't say that I'm too fond of that."

"Well, if you think so, why don't you shoot me?" Draco dared.

All of the Titans gasped at this statement.

"Dude! Have you gone mental!?" Beast Boy yelled out

Draco turned around and smiled, "It's okay BB." He then turned around to Mortuary "Go ahead."

"Ryuki…" Jinx called out in a scared tone

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing," Draco spoke softly to Jinx

"Why are you giving up that easily?" Mortuary asked.

"To make a point. I may be an Orphenoch now, but I used to be human and still have a soul. Plus, you said I was controlling my friends. What do you think may happen when I'm dead and that you were wrong? There are 10 Titans here minus me."

"…Damn." Mortuary muttered.

"So, can we talk like civilized human beings?" Draco paused, "Well that doesn't exactly apply to me anymore, but you get what I mean."

"If Terra trusts you then I guess I should too…for the moment," Mortuary said as he slid the gun back into its holster.

"That's good," Draco sighed. "So….you got a place to crash?'

"No, not really," Mortuary admitted.

"Why not stay here then?" Draco suggested.

The Titans had to gasp again, all except Terra.

"Draco! Are you crazy?" Robin asked.

Shadow smirked, "And you only wonder this now?" This was rhetorical question.

Pluto stated, "He tried to kill you."

Draco started, "But he's Terra's friend…"

"And a criminal," Robin finished.

"I just think that he could stay and see for himself...Terra, you think so too, right?"

Terra agreed, "It'll be good to have you around Mort."

"Are you sure about this?" Mortuary asked

Draco laughed, "It's not like you're gonna sneak into my room and shoot me in my sleep!" he then paused and thought about what he said, "You won't, right?"

Mortuary laughed, "I don't think you'll have to worry about that."

"We'll make sure of that," said Robin firmly.

"Me too," Jinx said, she then whispered to Draco, "I'm gonna go sleep with you tonight, okay?"

Draco blushed, "J..Jinx?"

Pluto got in front of Mortuary, "Just remember, Morty, we'll be watchin you."

Cyborg cracked his knuckles, "So don't get any ideas."

Mortuary just decided to shrug off their threats.

Draco called out to Mortuary, "Let me show you where you'll be sleeping."

The two then walked down the hallway near the living room.

Draco pointed to the end of the hall, "There's an empty guest room. You can sleep there tonight. I think that you'll find the Tower very comfortable"

Mortuary nodded, "It's already better than what I'm used to, trust me"

"Well...that's understandable." Draco then decided to make conversation, "So, you're a friend of Terra's?"

"Yeah, for a couple of years now," Mortuary answered.

"Well any friend of hers is a friend of mine," Draco smiled.

"Likewise," for some reason, Mortuary couldn't help but feel a little comfortable with talking to Draco, even though the Dragon Knight was an Orphenoch.

"Are you really okay about me, knowing that I'm an Orphenoch?" Draco asked hesitantly.

Mortuary answered, "I'm not sure," he paused, "It'll take some time to get used to."

"Believe me...after I found out about it, I wanted to kill myself," Draco said half jokingly.

"I can relate," Mortuary nodded, remembering his old gang.

"My friends were there to help me and I've been going to therapy..." Draco sighed, "Although, I don't think I'll ever be going to THAT again."

"Your friends must really care about you."

"Yeah, they tend to do that a lot. We're not just a team...we're family..."

Mortuary reached a decision, "You know what? I'm not gonna kill you. I'd be monster if I took you away from friends that care so much for you."

"I believe you," Draco yawned, "Night."

"Going back to your nightly pleasures?" Mortuary asked slyly.

Draco raised his eyebrow, "Huh?"

"That girlfriend of yours," Mortuary smirked.

"Oh," Draco blushed, "Yeah."

Mortuary laughed at Draco's blush.

"Goodnight Mortuary! See you in the morning for breakfast!" Draco called out to Mortuary as he was walking back towards the living room.

Mortuary gave a mock salute, "See you then, night."

(SMART BRAIN CORP, NEW YORK CITY-NIGHT)

Kat slowly slipped into Smart Brain's secret research lab. She was using the latest in Slade's stealth tech and was using it to her advantage. She had also disabled all of the security devices. She searched for her target, or targets: The Emperor Gears.

The Emperor Gears were special devices that enabled the wearer to gain super enhanced abilities. They could also construct a suit of powerful hi-tech battle armor, similar, but more powerful compared to the Smartrooper suits or even the Zodiac Armors. The suits and weaponry were kept in the phones and made out of nanotechnology. The suits ran on photon energy. Regardless, the Emperor Gears were Kat's for the taking. Once the technology was duplicated, Slade would be unstoppable.

That is, if a certain web-slinging superhero in red and blue didn't happen to drop by.

"Drop in for some late night shopping?" Spider-Man queried, hanging upside down. Kat turned and snarled. Luckily for her, she had a mask on to hide her identity. "Let me guess…Catwoman…or are you related to Black Cat?"

"Not exactly bug boy," Kat sneered. Her eyes glowed as she grinned. She leapt up and stuck to the wall, facing him. Spider-Man raised an eyebrow, "My name's Copycat, guess what I can do?" she shot out a line of webbing that Spidey dodged.

"You can copy powers, right?" Spider-Man said as she lunged at her. Her eyes glowed green as she phased through the wall. He slammed into the wall face first.

"You know…for a guy with Spider sense, you did not see THAT coming!" Kat laughed. She phased right out of the wall and her eyes glowed green.

"Lemme guess, Ghost Powers?" Spider-Man rubbed his head.

"Got it in one," she shot out an ecto-blast that shattered a table apart. Spider-Man shot out a web line and he swung over Kat. Kat turned her claws into adamantium blades and cut through the web line. Spidey subsequently landed on the wall and crawled up to the ceiling. Kat rolled her eyes, "This is the best New York has to offer? Please…the Titans were more of a challenge!"

"You do not diss the Spider-Man!" Spidey leapt down and his foot crashed into Kat's face. Kat staggered and rubbed her face.

"Is that any way to treat a lady?" she asked.

"Trust me, you ain't no lady!" Spidey swung out a fist and dodged under it before giving Spidey's chin a violent uppercut, followed by a reverse spinning heel kick that sent him crashing into some more lab equipment.

"You're right!" she growled, "I am woman, hear me roar!" she then went over to the safe and phased her hand through it. She grabbed onto something and pulled it out. It was a briefcase. Spidey pulled it out of her hands with a web line.

"You shouldn't take what isn't yours!" Spidey shook his finger in a scolding way, "Bad kitty."

Kat snarled and took out her whip. She lashed it around and slashed Spider-Man across the face with it. Despite his Spider Sense, he still got hit and was sent reeling to the floor. He dropped the briefcase and it slid towards Copycat's feet.

Kat picked up her bounty and draped it over her shoulder. "See ya!" she flew up and phased through the ceiling, but not before spraying webbing all over Spider-Man, just to add insult to injury.

Spider-Man groaned, "Okay…this is embarrassing."

Kat was on the roof, waiting for her transport. There was a limit to her powers and flying back to Jump City right now would take a lot out of her. She looked up and a black jet came into view. "Purrfect…" Kay purred as a rope ladder dropped from the opened cockpit. She climbed up and the ladder pulled her up into the jet. The cockpit closed and the jet then flew off, turning invisible.

Inside the jet's cockpit, Kat removed her goggles and ran her hand through her hair. Some of Spider-Man's webbing had gotten into her hair. She turned on the communications channel and Slade's face showed up, "Slade-sama, mission accomplished," she reported, holding up the black and silver briefcase with the SB emblem emblazoned on the front.

"Was there any interference?" Slade inquired

"Yes," she nodded, "From a certain red and blue wall-crawler. Three guesses who and the first two don't count."

"Spider-Man?"

"Uh huh."

"I see…But your mission was still a success, am I right, Katherine?" Slade accessed.

"Yes Slade-sama," she sighed, tired, "It (yawn) was..." She yawned.

"Are you alright?" Slade asked, concerned.

"Just (yawn) a little tired…I'll be back soon, I promise. The jet has been set on auto pilot."

Slade then continued, "Well, get some rest. We can study the Gears and duplicate the technology…Just rest." Slade decided to cut Kat some slack and be slightly lenient. After all, she did risk her life to save him from Trigon's dungeon. He doubted that Robin and Terra would ever do that in her position. Kat remained loyal to the end…she was just insane.

Kat ran her hand through her long black hair and undid the braid, letting it hang down and loose like a curtain or a waterfall. She was a criminal now and when she made a decision she stuck to it. This was her life now and there was no way she was going to leave it…there was something in it…or someone.

Rose…

Kat thought of the beautiful young woman she was in love with…and hoped that they had a future together. She looked at the briefcase and opened it. Inside, there were two SB-Watches, two matching leather belts and two SB-Cell Phones. The first phone was white with a silver trim and a silver alpha symbol on it. The second phone was black with a golden trim and had a golden omega symbol on it. They may have looked like normal cell phones, wrist watches and belts, but anything made by Smart Brain was more than it seemed.

Kat had gotten the ALPHA (SBE-25742) Gear and OMEGA (SBE-66342) Gear…Also dubbed as the Emperor Belts.

Now what?

To Be Continued…

Mortuary is property of Zombi 138. He also wrote some of this chap. Thanks man.