Part 28: The Big Apple

…Also known as New York City.

The large black and silver jet landed on the airport runway. This was one of many of Smart Brain Corporation's jets, not just used to transport cargo but people as well. The passengers that were allowed on, of course, had to be of VIP status. No one, and I mean NO ONE, else was allowed onboard. The only people allowed were the pilots, flight attendants, Smart Brain executives and…Special Smart Brain Operatives. In the case of allowing exceptions onboard, the exceptions in question had to be associates/friends of the Operative or executive, which was why Jennifer Wilcox/Jinx and Craig Smith/Zodiac Knight Mortuary were allowed onboard since the Operative in question was none other than Ryuki Leonard Hasuma/Zodiac Knight Draco.

The trio exited the jet and went towards the arrival gate where their luggage would be checked. They were dressed as civilians (I'll let you decide what they are wearing) Ryuki took his backpack as well as the pet carrier that was holding Brimstone. It was made of solid steel to make sure the hellhound puppy would not escape and cause havoc. Letting Brimstone loose was a bad idea as the teens had learnt from experiece.

Mortuary wasn't allowed to bring his gun for obvious reasons, which was why it would be delivered to him later. A large black limousine is there to welcome them upon leaving the airport. Their luggage would be delivered soon to the place that they would be staying at. In the meantime, they would be meeting someone. The two motorbikes were unloaded from the jet and parked near the limo. Ryuki strapped on a backpack and slowly put Brimstone inside after taking his pet out of the carrier. The puppy fitted snugly inside the bag and Ryuki smiled.

"So, who is this person we're meeting?" Craig asked as he was finally given his Death Buster back. He discreetly slid it into its holster.

"Just a friend of mine," Ryuki answered, giving a helmet to Jen.

"You don't know him, but let's just say he looks up to Ryuki like a brother," Jen further explained. Jen had put a glamour spell on herself to look like an Indian girl. She was from India and was born of an American man and Indian village girl. This was what she had looked like before her powers manifested. She had dark skin and jet black hair as well as normal brown eyes. Her hair was down. However, she did allow some pink streaks to show in her hair. She did this so she wouldn't stand out. New York was one of the many places that wasn't so tolerant of mutants and her unusual appearance would have people mob her, accusing her of being a mutant. She was a witch, not a mutant, but not many could tell the difference.

Craig merely blinked in confusion, 'Come to think of it, I don't really know anything about Leo's family.' Ever since he became a rogue Orphenoch Hunter, he always told himself to ignore who the Orphenoch once was, including the Orphenoch's life and family. All that didn't matter much to him as long as he killed the Orphenoch, thinking he was doing a service to the Orphenoch's family in getting rid of a freak. He looked to Ryuki who was smiling and laughing a bit. He had never forgotten what Ryuki really was, and would be prepared if Ryuki would one day turn to an evil Orphenoch. He gripped his fists, which glowed with necroplasmic green energy.

"Yo, Craig," Ryuki called, snapping Craig out of his thoughts.

"What?" Craig asked abruptly.

"You zoned out a bit. I asked you if you wanted to get anything before we leave. There's a Burger King nearby." Craig shook his head.

"No, I'm not hungry. Are you?"

"Me neither. I got full on airplane food. I just thought you might be hungry."

"I'm fine," Craig strapped on a helmet. "Let's just go."

Ryuki got on his bike and Jen got on behind him. Ryuki said to Craig, "Just follow my lead." Craig followed him, revving up his engine and both bikes raced away from the airport.

The bikes stopped and pulled up in front of a electronics shop on Canal Street. Craig asked in bewilderment, "Is this the place?"

"Yeah," Ryuki answered, "It's been a while."

"You've been here before?" Craig asked.

"It was recruitment mission and one of the new recruits comes here a lot." They then heard an explosion, accompanied by a loud, "AIYAH!" Ryuki chuckled, "Looks like he's here." Brimstone got freaked out by the explosion, but Ryuki pulled him out of the backpack and pet him reassuringly, hugging the puppy. "It's okay, boy. Nothing's going to hurt you here."

"What the heck was that?" Jen asked.

"Maybe Fu is helping Jake make a potion and that yell was his grandfather, Lao Shi. I'll introduce you," Ryuki went to the door and turned the knob.

Craig muttered something, "I swear that my life just gets weirder and weirder." The necroplasmic powered teen followed them in.

Ryuki went to the countered and rang the bell. Immediately, a short Chinese man in dark purple robes walked down the stairs. He had a long white beard and held a lot of wisdom. This man was Luong Lao Shi.

"Greetings, how may I be of service?" he asked.

"Lao Shi-ojiisan," Ryuki chuckled, "It's me, Leo!"

"Ah, Leo!" Lao Shi finally recognized him. He shook hands with the Dragon Knight. "It's you. I barely recognize you. I'm really glad you're here." He then saw Jen and Craig. "Who are these people with you?"

"Lao Shi-ojiisan, these are my friends, Jennifer Wilcox and Craig Smith. They are also my teammates," Ryuki introduced. Jen bowed respectively and Craig nodded politely. Lao Shi knew of Ryuki being a Teen Titan from his grandson, Jake Long the American Dragon. Lao Shin could be trusted with any secret and he would always keep his mouth shut about secretive matters, most regarding the magical world. Lao Shi smiled.

"Welcome to my shop. Please, walk this way," the old Dragon Master led them up the stairs and when they got to the top floor, were not prepared for the sight that they would behold.

To put it simply, the place was an absolute MESS! I won't bore you with the details, but let's just say that it was a potion that went wrong.

"Hey guys!" Ryuki greeted the familiar faces of Spud, Trixie and Jake!

"LEO!" the three younger teens shouted, dropping the mops, brooms and wash clothes they were holding.

"My man! You came!" said Spud excitedly.

"You bet," Ryuki winked.

"Dude, are we glad to see you!" Trixie smiled.

"The feeling's mutual Trix."

"My dragon-brotha!" Jake and Ryuki did their secret handshake. "Welcome back to the NYC, yo!"

Lao Shi explained to Craig, "They are old friends."

Craig observed, "I can see that."

Fu Dog groaned, holding a father duster, "Yeah, yeah. Leave the dog to do all the dirty work." He rolled his eyes.

Craig blinked, "Did that dog just talk?" he pointed.

"It did," Jen nodded.

Feeling offended, Fu Dog told them, "Of course I can talk. I'm a magical Sher Pai. And I'm a 'he', not an 'it'."

Craig and Jen apologized.

"What brings you here to the NYC, bro?" Jake asked.

Ryuki explained, "We're on a mission." He added, "There was a break in at Smart Brain NY over a month ago and we just found out."

"You don't say…"

"You didn't know about it?"

"I knew something was going down, but the higher ups didn't want to give us any of the info."

"Yes. When Ichijyo found out, he blew a gasket," Ryuki remembered what happened when Shadow/Ichijyo received the news. It wasn't pretty. There had been a lot of cursing, swearing and threats on Ichijyo's end. "That's why he sent me, Craig and Jen to investigate. Also, since you're an Operative here in New York, you're in too."

"Operative Jake Long, ready for duty, sir!" Jake did a mock salute. Spud snickered.

"Dude, he said 'doodie'…" Spud said in his chuckles. Trixie rolled her eyes.

"So, let's go to Smart Brain right now and check out the scene, okay?" Ryuki suggested.

"Let's go!" Jake said.

SMART BRAIN CORPORATION NEW YORK HEADQUARTERS…

Both Ryuki and Jake entered the building, clad in their Operatives uniforms. They flashed their badges saluted the security guard. They were going to meet the CEO, a Mister Edward Hawks.

In Edward Hawks' office, the skinny blonde and bespectacled CEO sat nervously at his desk, trying to calm his nerves and make sense of everything. When Ryuki and Jake entered his office, abruptly, he nearly spilt his coffee.

"Thank…Thank you for coming…" Edward said nervously. "Please…have a seat…" Ryuki and Jake sat down on the chairs in front of Edward. Edward took in a deep breath of air before continuing, "You must understand that I had the company's best interest in mind. If I allowed this to go public, Smart Brain Corporation would be ruined."

Ryuki disagreed, "However, keeping it a secret from the head office was not really a good idea. You do realize that now, don't you?"

Edward wiped the sweat off his forehead, "Yes, yes I do."

"Could you tell us what was stolen?" Jake asked.

"It is better that I show you," Edward said as he got up. Please, follow me."

They went to the elevator and Edward pressed a button to the top floor, explaining, "Some of our prototypes are kept up here for safe keeping. Only I have access to it since I hold this keycard." He showed them the keycard and swiped it down a scanner. The light on the scanner glowed green and the elevator went up to the top before the doors slid open. The y saw that the scene had not been cleaned. It looked like it had been ransacked. "As you can see, we haven't done anything to the crime scene. This was the way it was found. We didn't even call the police yet…"

"Was the window broken?" Ryuki asked.

"Yes. We had it replaced and…"

"The thief came in through the window."

Edward blinked, "But how?"

Jake said to Edward, "Dude, there are a lot of weirdoes out there who can fly. Don't you watch the news?"

Edward shook his head, "No. I never have the time, really."

Ryuki looked in the opened safe. He asked, "Tell me: Was there anything important in the safe?"

"I'm sorry, but that's strictly confidential," Edward said nervously.

"This confidential item could be used for evil right now!" Ryuki yelled. "Tell us, now!"

"Alright!" Edward reached into the safe and pulled out a brown envelope. "This contains all the information you need."

"Also, can we have a copy of the security tape?" Jake asked.

"Please do. It's yours," Edward said.

"Thanks," Jake smiled as Edward sighed with relief.

"You'll hear from us when we get to the bottom of this," Ryuki reassured him.

"I hope so. My job is on the line here," Edward said to both of them.

"Can you believe that guy?" Jake asked Ryuki as they walked back to the shop. They were also out of uniform. "He cares more about his job then what the thing that was stolen could do."

"Yeah…" Ryuki agreed. He still had the envelope with him, but hadn't opened it yet. He also held a copy of the security tape in his hands.

"What do you think was stolen?" Jake asked.

"Knowing Smart Brain Corporation, it could be anything."

"I was afraid of that…"

They then passed by a Night Club. However, there were police everywhere and yellow police tape barricading the walls. There was also people surrounding the crime scene.

"What's going down, yo?" Jake asked.

"I don't know," Ryuki narrowed his eyes. "But I don't like it." He went over to one of the officers and asked, "Excuse me, sir? What happened here?"

The cop was middle aged and had a graying brown moustache, "Beats me, son. All I know is that no one is allowed in or out."

"Oh, Okay. Thanks." Ryuki walked back to Jake. "I think something bad happened. It smells of death."

"Let me try. I've been practicing my 'Eyes of the Dragon'. Maybe I can use X-Ray vision now." Draco stared at him. "What?"

"Jake, you don't have X-Ray vision. All you got is a dragon's enhanced sense of sight and seeing heat signatures…" Ryuki blinked, realizing something. "That's it!"

"What?" Jake asked.

"Let's get back to the shop! I have to send Pluto these and then review those security tapes." He smirked, "Then, we find out what's going on."

Thank goodness by the time Jake and Ryuki returned to the shop the top floor was clean.

"What you got there, Leo?" Spud asked.

"You wouldn't understand, Spud," Ryuki said to his not-so-bright friend. "Just some documents regarding what was stolen from that safe in Smart Brain NY." He placed the items on the table. "And a copy of the security tape that night." He opened the envelope and pulled out the papers. He looked at them critically. "Okay, now I know something."

"What?" Jen asked with keen interest.

"I don't understand a word of this! Too much technical mumbo-jumbo! Pluto's the engineer; I'm just the martial artist!" he said with disappointment. The documents were blue prints as well plans and some other stuff Ryuki couldn't understand, like the description of what had been stolen and what it could do. Spud looked them over, rubbing his chin. Ryuki asked, "Spud, what are you doing?"

"It looks to me like a special belt-like device that would allow the user to generate a full suit of technologically advanced battle armor that would not only increase the wearer's strength, but speed, agility, reflexes and mind power. The suit uses battle data from you Knights and is made from nanotech that will generate a Soul Metal and Soul Fiber suit. Says here there are two of them. They are codenamed: The Emperor Belts," Spud explained. He looked up to see Ryuki staring at him. "What dude? Do I have something on my face?" he placed a hand on his face. "Get it off dude! Get it off!"

Ryuki blinked, bewildered, "No…It's just that….You understood all that?" Spud nodded.

"I couldn't have guessed it," Jen said and then thought, 'He acts and looks like a stoner a lot. Who knew he was that smart?'

Jake placed a hand on Spud's shoulder proudly, "Our Spud-man here is a regular technological genius."

Craig commented, "It seems that you really can't judge a book by its cover."

"Okay, we know what was stolen," said Trixie, holding the tape, "Now let's see who stole it." She slid the tape into the VCR and turned on the TV. The scene played out in front of them.

"Is that Spider-Man?" Spud asked, looking at the webslinger. "What's he doing there?" The others hushed him.

"Drop in for some late night shopping?" Spider-Man queried, hanging upside down. The thief 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," the thief 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.

'Copycat?' Ryuki. 'Masaka. Could it be…Oneechan?'

"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.

'Yep, that sounds like her…' Ryuki thought regrettably.

"You know…for a guy with Spider sense, you did not see THAT coming!" Copycat 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 Copycat. Copycat turned her claws into adamantium blades and cut through the web line. Spidey subsequently landed on the wall and crawled up to the ceiling. Copycat 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.

Copycat 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." The tape was paused.

Ryuki, Jen and Craig looked at it with open jaws.

"Was that…" Craig began, but got a warning look from Jen.

"That was your s-nemesis, Copycat," Jen added, trying to hide the fact that Copycat was Draco's sister. It was known that Jake, Spud and Trixie did not know who Copycat really was and Draco wanted it to stay that way.

"That would mean Deathstroke has the Emperor Belts," Ryuki said. He took out his phone and dialed Pluto. "Pluto, I'm gonna send you something."

"Okay," Pluto answered from the other end. Ryuki went to the table and scanned the documents with his DRA-Phone before sending them to Pluto.

"Got that?" Ryuki asked.

"Yeah, got it. What's going on?"

"Trouble. I'll send you the contents that was on the tape too," Ryuki said. He took out his DRA-Cam and hooked it up to the VCR. He copied the contents of the tape into the Video Camera. He then connected his phone to his camera and sent everything to Pluto. "Got that?"

Pluto answered, "Yeah, I got it! I'll see what I can come up with."

"Okay, Arigato Pluto. Ja ne." he then looked to Spud, "Spud, if what you said is true, we might be in a lot of trouble."

And Ryuki was right, in more ways than one.

To Be Continued…