Part 38: Renia's Return
The Z-Titans had returned from another day of battling evil and were not in the best of moods.
"That was the most surreal experience I've ever had," Mortuary said.
"Tell me about it," Pluto agreed. "I thought I'd be used to magic after all this time." He groaned, "Apparently, I was wrong."
It had only been Mumbo Jumbo, or 'The Amazing Mumbo' as the insane blue skinned magician called himself. Since the Orphenochs seemed to be more of a threat compared to the usual brand of villains, they thought it would be easy.
Apparently, they were wrong.
"What is wrong with that person?" Draco asked, tired.
"Who knows?" Jinx replied, "I'm just glad that experience is over."
Mumbo was robbing the bank again when the Z-Titans arrived to stop him. Mortuary took one look at Mumbo and laughed, making fun of the magician. Mumbo didn't take it too kindly.
"Serves you all right for underestimating him," Shadow chided. He knew more than anyone not to piss off a magician. His whole family was made up of powerful magic users with equally volatile tempers.
"Hey, we beat him, didn't we?" Blackfire said.
"Barely," Shadow said pessimistically.
"He's behind bars, which I'm thankful for, now we can rest," Terra said as she stretched and yawned.
Let's just say the experience was very, very, VERY weird. As if their lives weren't weird already.
It was, however, about to get weirder.
Sitting on the couch, watching TV, was a little girl with long blonde and braided hair. She was wearing a sleeveless black zipped up shirt and black baggy pants. She wore brown combat boots. Slung over the back of the couch was a red overcoat. Not too far away was a very large pile of sweet potatoes and she was clearly eating one as she was watching wrestling.
The Titans, without a doubt, knew who this was. Unfortunately, Mortuary didn't and decided to comment, "Hey, who's the little kid."
The Titans all froze with fear as the blonde girl's back stiffened. She turned her head over to where she had heard that word.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING LITTLE, BUSTER?" she yelled at the top of her lungs at Mortuary. The necroplasmic teen and Knight of Aries was literally blown away by the power of this little kid's voice. "YOU WANT ME TO MAKE A STATUE OUT OF YOU BECAUSE THAT CAN BE EASILY…" she then looked down and saw Brimstone looking up at her, wagging his tail. She stopped her tirade abruptly and picked the up little dog, despite his demonic appearance, and hugged him. "Oh, you're such a cute little thing!"
Mortuary was peeling himself off the wall and blinked in confusion.
Shadow stepped in front of him, arms crossed, and warned, "A word of advice, don't say that word."
"What? L-" his mouth was covered up by Terra's gloved hand.
"Yeah, that one," she said. She took her hand back.
"But, who is she?" Mortuary asked. "And how did she get in?"
Renia put down Brimstone and took her coat before putting it on herself. She walked over and introduced herself, brandishing a T-Com, "Renia the Crystal Alchemist!"
"She's a Titan?" Mortuary asked in shock, "But she's so-" This time Draco's hand covered his mouth before Mortuary said the dreaded 'L' word or any other word with the same meaning. The Titans sighed with relief, relieved that World War 3 had been safely avoided.
"It's good to see you again, Renia," Shadow welcomed her with a handshake.
"Hey, glad to be back," Renia said with a wink. "This place is like a home to me, y'know?"
"I do."
"So, who's the jerk?" Renia pointed to Mort.
"Jerk?" Mortuary said as he stepped over to Renia and bent down so they were eye to eye. "Listen here you l-" A black energy dome engulfed his head to drown out the sound of his voice. Mort cursed, but no sound came out. Shadow was doing this, obviously.
"That, Renia, is our newest member Mortuary. He joined the team less than two months ago. He's a real asset to the team despite what you saw," Shadow assured her.
"Well, Master Rorek taught me that first impressions are really important and he made a real lousy one," Renia pointed out. She then said, "Oh, I also brought some sweet potatoes. Help yourselves.
The Z-Titans, save for Draco, gaped at the pile. Some sweet potatoes? It was a large pile that nearly touched the ceiling. How could she still call that some?
Draco, on the other hand, was happily eating a sweet potato alongside Brimstone and Silkie. Cyberdog just watched as it couldn't consume organic matter as of yet. "Hey, guys!" Draco shouted. "These sweet potatoes are delicious.!"
Shadow sighed and let go of Mortuary's head. Being able to be heard again, he was ready to give Renia a piece of his mind when he caught glowing glares from the girls. He gulped, knowing fully well what the three were capable of. He had a gun, the ability to duplicate himself and necroplasmic powers but these were some of the most powerful women in the city and he didn't want to push his luck. Letting his temper simmer down, he joined the others.
Mortuary took a sweet potato and looked at it warily. He had never had one, roasted or otherwise. He took a bite and chewed and agreed with Draco, "You're right! These things aren't half bad!"
So, the Z-Titans began eating the sweet potatoes. Blackfire ate a lot as she couldn't get enough of them. It was a VERY large pile so a lot of eating was required. Thankfully, they had Silkie, Draco and Brimstone around, some of the biggest eaters in the Tower. Oh, don't forget Renia, of course.
Jinx sighed happily, enjoying the hot taste of the sweet potato as it melted in her mouth. It was tender and just delicious. She didn't remember when she ever had something this good.
"Cheap and delicious," Terra commented. "Where did you get these, Ren?"
Ren was Renia's nickname and she said, "Here and around."
Kat was uncovering the smoking hole in which she buried some of the sweet potatoes she was roasting. The rest of her team, Cathy, Wintergreen and Slade were outside with her.
"They should be ready, guys," Kat said.
"It's too bad Joey had to leave, though," Rose spoke thoughtfully.
"Well, more for us then," Grant licked his lips. "At least this is one thing she can cook that won't cause food poisoning."
Kat peered into the hole and her eyes widened. She gaped at it and gasped before screaming:
"WHERE ARE MY ROASTED SWEET POTATOES?"
"I did manage to get some, didn't I?" Renia smiled.
Shadow, again, took one skeptical look at the pile, 'This is some?' He too was eating sweet potatoes.
"Back on Tamaran, something that tastes this great would be considered a delicacy," Blackfire stated as she took another bite. She sighed, "Oh, X'Hal!"
"A good meal after a hard day of work is a good thing no matter what," Pluto put in his two cents.
"Exactly," Draco agreed. "Ever since I was a little kodomo I've always loved roasted sweet potatoes."
"We know," Shadow reminded, "You would always bring some home and roast them yourself."
"When you can shoot fire and have sweet potatoes, roast them," Draco said offhandedly. He handed another sweet potato to Brimstone and the little Kaiser puppy ate it with gusto. Silkie merely swallowed them whole.
Pretty soon they were all quite full, well except for Draco, Renia, Brimstone, Terra and Silkie, but that was expected of them. Even so, they still had A LOT more sweet potatoes to eat. Where were they going to keep them?
At the rate Draco, Renia, Brimstone, Terra and Silkie were eating, there was a possibility that none were going to be kept, except in these five stomachs.
Of course we all had our limits and these five were no different.
Draco belched, smoke blowing out of his mouth, "Okay, NOW I'm full." He patted his stomach.
"I can't eat no more," Terra added, belching loudly that it literally shook the Tower. The intensity of the burp would've made Cyborg and Beast Boy proud.
Even Brimstone and Silkie had enough as their tiny stomachs bulged, forcing the two pets to lie on their backs. Cyberdog/CD just tilted its mechanical head to the side and observed them with its tail wagging.
Renia, of course, was not stopping. Mortuary had to say, "Where does that all go in that t-" his mouth was covered by Terra since he almost said 'tiny' and Renia would've taken offence. The Tower wouldn't last if World War 3 broke out. Beast Boy learnt about Renia's temper the hard way and no one wanted a repeat of one of the young Alchemist's outbursts.
Renia burped. No matter how much she could eat even she had her limits. She picked at her teeth and took a swig of soda. "Now, THAT'S good eating!"
"So, anybody mind explaining how this l-" Mort got a few glares and corrected himself, "How she got on the team?" Everyone sighed in relief.
Pluto nodded and commanded, "T.I.T.A.N., please pull up the file on Renia."
Renia questioned, "Who's Titan?" She hadn't been at the Tower for a while so she was pretty clueless over the upgrades they had over the past few months.
T.I.T.A.N,'s face showed up on the monitor, much to Renia's surprise, and spoke, "Affirmative." Immediately, the monitor was replaced by file footage of Renia and a small commentary of Renia's abilities.
"Renia, codename Crystal Alchemist, possesses the ability to crystallize any substance on contact. She can either turn something into crystal or cover it with said substance. She also possesses a right hand made of crystal and the ability to perform a form of transmutation known as 'Alchemy'."
"Does that answer your question, Mortuary?" Shadow asked with a cocked eyebrow. Mortuary was shocked, staring slack-jawed, when he saw the file footage. This was something else. The footage of Renia beating Mumbo to a bloody pulp was funny but the battle with Malchior made him think twice about Renia's capabilities. For someone so young to have that kind of power, plus that kind of temper, was both frightening and amazing.
"Okay, NOW I see how she got on the team," Mort said as he finally realized it. He didn't know that the file was leaving some bits of pieces of Renia's past and origins a secret. Everyone else knew but they had no right to tell anyone else.
"Just don't make her mad," Pluto said as he rubbed his jaw. "Some of us learnt that the hard way."
"So, what are we going to do about these sweet potatoes?" Jinx asked.
"Allow me," Renia said as she took out a small satchel. She opened it up and the remaining pile of sweet potatoes was sucked in. She explained to the shocked Titans, except for the magic users, "Master Rorek gave me this subspace pocket bag to use to store all of my stuff. Makes packing a whole lot easier."
"Can you fit a person in there?" Mortuary asked.
"Want to find out?" Renia smirked.
"Alright, now that Renia is back, we should get to some training," Shadow said. Everyone, except Renia and Draco, groaned. "What?"
"Can't we rest a bit first?" Pluto pleaded. "I'm still pooped from that fight with Mumbo."
"Which is why we have to train," Shadow said firmly. Another round of groaning. He sighed. "Fine, I'll be in the gym. Would anyone like to join me?"
"I'll join you," Draco spoke up.
"Count me in!" Renia added. Brimstone barked as Renia carried him.
The trio and one demon dog left for the gym. The remaining Titans in the living room just gawked at the door.
"Honestly, those three aren't human," Blackfire commented as she petted Silkie.
"Blackfire, where have you been all this time?" Jinx asked as Brimstone rested his head on her lap.
"What do you mean?"
"Let's see…" Pluto began to list, "Shadow's a Vampire and Angel hybrid, Draco's an Orphenoch and Renia's a Homunculus. Does that answer your question?"
Mortuary then spoke up, "A Homunculus? What's that?"
Pluto slapped his forehead for blabbing. "Oh, shit! Never mind, Mort. It's nothing really."
"No," Mort said firmly. "I want to know what you meant by that, by Homunculus?"
Terra sighed. "Okay, Mort," she said but then advised, "But please promise not to tell Renia that you know, okay? She doesn't like it when we talk about her past behind her back."
"It can't be that bad, right?" Mortuary questioned. The look on everyone's faces spoke, "You have no idea…"
"Alright," Terra began, "A Homunculus is…"
Mortuary listened…
After having learned this new info about Renia, Mortuary wanted to take a walk around the Tower to just think of a few things. His recent visit to the Xavier school with Leo and Jen had got him thinking about the young Crystal Alchemist in a different way. Was she just like him? Mort had learned recently that he was not really the last survivor of an alien race, when his mind was read by Jean Grey he was actually able to discover his own origin that he was a clone but he didn't know what he was created for.
Mortuary wanted to learn as much as he could about himself before his time was up. Mortuary thought if he could possibly be a Homunculus as well or just a scientifically born clone. Mortuary knew one thing now that he found somebody that he could actually really relate to now, someone that had been born the same way he had. There was also the fact that Renia had the same temper as him if not shorter.
Mortuary was getting bored with just walking so he thought he should head to the gym and see how the hot tempered Alchemist fought. When he entered the Tower gym he saw Renia sparring with Draco. He leaned against one of the walls and studied his friends. He then noticed Brimstone right next to him, growling. He just took one look at Kaiser puppy and simply said, "Shut up." Mortuary was never too fond of Brimstone. In fact he hated it when Brimstone would sneak into his room and think the Death Buster was a chew toy.
Mortuary walked up to both Draco and Renia and said, "Hey Leo, mind if I take over?"
Leo crossed his arms and smirked, "I dunno, Craig. Renia over here packs quite a punch."
"Yeah, and I wouldn't want to fight a weak jerk like you anyway," said Renia with a confident grin.
"I'll have you know that I'm probably the strongest member of the team. So if you don't want to fight me I'll understand if you're scared…." Mortuary turned his back to Renia "….shorty."
Renia's eyes widened and then narrowed, teeth gritted. She demanded, "What did you say…?"
Draco looked worried, "Um…Mort? I hope you didn't say what I thought you said because if you did…"
Mortuary just said reassuringly, "Trust me, Leo. I can handle her."
Renia's aura flared up. It was sky blue and magical in origin. She said through gritted teeth as a transmutation circle appeared under her feet, "You think so…do you?"
Shadow was training via shadow boxing by literally bringing his shadow to life and sparring with it when he heard the commotion. He shook his head, sighing, and calculated how much damage would be caused and how much would it cost to fix it.
"HANDLE THIS!" Renia roared as she went on the attack. Renia punched Mort across the face with her crystal hand which made Mort stagger back a bit afterwards. He recovered quickly and let out a small chuckle.
"What're you laughing at?" Renia asked, confused. "I just punched you across the face!"
"I just think it's cute that you thought that punch hurt me." Mortuary removed his protective vest as well as his belt and holster. "I want you to give me everything that you got. No holding back on anything."
The fight began with Mortuary performing a dive kick which Renia was able to dodge. Renia used her powers to create a crystal pole to fight with. Renia swung the pole swiftly and Mortuary had activated necro-shields on his arms to be able to block the pole. Renia's pole assaults were getting her nowhere. She was actually surprised with Mortuary's skills as she figured him to be the type of guy that was all talk. Mortuary took Renia down with a quick sweep and leapt up in the air to perform another dive kick. Renia quickly got back up and was able to dodge this second kick as well. As soon as Mortuary hit the ground, he shot a necro-bolt at Renia which hit and knocked the young alchemist back a little. Mortuary rushed at Renia and started attacking with swift punches but Renia was able to move around them swiftly. She then did a couple of back flips to get distant enough from Mort. Renia made a solid crystal ball and launched it at Mort. Mortuary blocked it with a necro-shield which sent the crystal back at Renia. Renia was ready for the crystal ball's return as she summoned the crystal pole she and got into a batting stance. As soon as the ball was near, Renia swung as hard as she could and soon as the ball was hit it flew as fast as lightning…..into Mortuary's forehead. The Knight of Aries was out cold from the force of the impact.
Renia's eyes widened with shock as she covered her mouth. "Um, that didn't look so good."
Draco ran to Mort to see if he was OK. He was alive since he was still breathing and had a pulse. "You alright, Craig?" He asked as he started to slap him a bit.
Mortuary opened his eyes slowly with a dazed look in his eyes. "Hey, you're not my regular doctor," Mortuary muttered as he was delusional at the moment.
Shadow approached and gave out a small chuckle. "I think you broke Mortuary, Renia."
"Is he going to be ok?" Renia asked
Shadow nodded. "Yes, he'll be fine. Mortuary's got a really hard head on those shoulders." Shadow then turned Draco, "Leo, can you take Craig to the infirmary for me? I'll be up there shortly to try and stop his impending headache."
"Sure thing, Shadow," Draco said as he slung Mort's arm over his shoulder and carried Mortuary off.
"Looks like you showed Mortuary of what you're capable of. I'm actually surprised and impressed that you were able beat him because he can be quite ruthless," Shadow said
Renia just shrugged, "Like I said, he's a weak jerk."
"A jerk, he is. Weak is something he's far from being."
"What do you mean, Shadow?" Renia asked.
"Mortuary's lost a lot of things in his life as we all have; friends, loved ones, lovers. That type of thing would cause people like us to just hang up our "capes" and quit or at least drive us to brink of quitting. Mortuary is different. He keeps pressing forward, and he keeps fighting. Though, I don't agree with his vengeful attitude, willingness to kill, and most of all his habit of disobeying my orders. I will agree with what he said though; he is the strongest of us."
Renia thought of Mortuary a little differently now. She thought that maybe she could lighten up on him a little, just a little.
At least half an hour had passed and Mortuary walked into the common room with bandages wrapped around his forehead. As soon as he walked in he saw strange looks on everyone's faces. Then it hit him. They were trying to hold back from laughing.
"OK, out with it," Mortuary said as he had defeat in his voice.
Everyone in the Tower common room burst into laughter as they had heard about what happened in the gym earlier.
Terra spoke up, "Sorry Mort, but it was hilarious to hear about how it went down."
Mortuary sighed, "Well at least I can be a source of entertainment, eh?"
"Did the healing go well?" Shadow asked. "Because I think you can take the bandages off now."
"Let's see," Mort said as he begun to unwrap the bandages. "I think I'm good. I don't feel any pain or anything."
Shadow walked up to Mort and took a look at him. "Yes, I think you've completely recovered."
"That's good. Man that hurt like hell."
"Well, good thing you're recovered because I have a job for you. I'll also need Draco, Terra, and Renia to come as well." Shadow started to walk into the hallway towards his room/office and everyone he called followed. Draco even brought Brimstone.
As soon as they got into Shadow's office/room, they were facing Shadow who was sitting at his desk. Around his shoulders, and freaking Renia out a bit, was a large python. Brimstone snapped at the large snake and it hissed in response. The Snake Knight was also petting a tarantula that was on his desk like it was a little kitten. This would've unnerved normal people, but the people in the room with Shadow knew him better enough to understand his tastes in exotic pets. Mort's eyes went to the fish tank filled with piranha and gulped.
Shadow began debriefing them, "Sources tell me that there is an illegal fighting and betting ring operating within the city. The police can't do anything because they can't pinpoint its location so they want us to help them bring it down. That is why I've asked you here, Mortuary. You know enough about the inner workings of one of these operations, am I correct?"
Mortuary nodded and said, "Town hopping wasn't easy and I needed the money. There was no way someone with my skills could get a normal job so I did the next best thing. The money was good, plus I get to beat up some guys."
"Good, so you have the field experience for this sort of undercover mission," Shadow said. "Terra, Draco and Renia will accompany you and-" Shadow was interrupted when the pink haired witch and user of the Scarab Inzecter barged into his room. She didn't look all too pleased. "You could've knocked, Jinx. By the way, what is it you want?"
"I want in on this mission!" Jinx said to him, leaning over the table to look him straight in the eye.
"No," he denied her.
"What?" she looked ready to hex him through the wall as her eyes glowed pink.
"No," he repeated. "We already have enough people for this mission. We don't need anymore."
"But…" she began to protest.
"This is about Draco, isn't it?" Shadow asked. Jinx looked over her shoulder at Draco who smiled back at her and she sighed.
"Yes," she admitted. "It's just…"
Shadow gave him a reassuring smile, "Don't worry. He has good teammates with him."
Jinx gave Shadow a deadpan look, "You mean even Mort?" Mortuary gave her a slightly irked look, feeling offended, while Renia snickered. Jinx sighed, "Fine. But, keep me posted, okay?"
"I will, Jinx," Shadow nodded. Jinx turned around and went over to Draco. She gave him a hug and he hugged back.
"Just…be careful for me, okay?" Jinx said to him, almost like a whisper.
"Hai, Jinxy-chan," he said to her, calming her a bit by rubbing his hands up and down her back. She let go, gave him a quick peck on the lips and left the room.
"You know what your mission is, correct?" Shadow asked, making sure they knew what they were supposed to do.
"We're supposed to take this place down, right?" Terra asked eagerly.
"Don't forget to take into custody the people responsible," Shadow reminded.
"I hate to be rude, but what about me?" Renia said, pointing to herself, "I kind of stick out because of my height."
'Or lack there of,' Mortuary thought. He didn't want to risk another concussion by saying it out loud.
Shadow asked, "Didn't Rorek teach you any spells to change your appearance?"
"There was one," Renia said, remembering. "A glamour spell. It'll disguise me. Why?"
"Use that to disguise yourself as one of the fighters," Shadow said.
"You mean we're going in as fighters?" Draco asked. Brimstone barked.
"Correct," Shadow nodded.
"Sweet!"Renia grinned, punching her crystal hand into her normal palm. "I'm gonna be kicking butt!"
"Don't be too eager, Crystal," Shadow advised, using her codename. "Remember that you're supposed to expose this place and find evidence. You're NOT supposed to turn it into a war zone."
Renia sulked. "Fine…"
"So we'll be spying on them, huh?" Terra asked. This brought back bad memories for her.
"Correct. Each of you possesses skills that are valuable for this mission. You all can adapt to any situation when it calls for it and you all can support one another well," Shadow said. "Now, you may leave."
The 4 Titans and one demon pup walked out of his room and began discussing their upcoming mission.
"The police can't find it?" Terra scoffed. "Yeah right," she snorted. "I bet that these cops are being paid to keep quiet."
"True," Draco nodded in agreement. He had matured and wised up. He knew that not all police were clean and law-abiding. Some abused their power and became as dirty as the criminals that they were supposed to catch.
"So, how are we going to find this place?" Renia asked, holding Brimstone in her arms.
Mortuary gave them a grin, a grin Terra knew all too well since she worked with Mortuary since their days in the Red Wolves. "I think I know a guy who can tell us exactly what we need to know…"
The 4 Titans arrived at the bad part of town, riding on their custom made motorcycles. Mortuary's bike, the Impaler, was created to have the metallic skull of an impala mounted at the front and rocket boosters fitted in the back. Terra's bike, the Machine Inzectron, was made for her since she was the holder of the Cutter Inzecter. The symbol of her Inzecter is located on the windshield. The bikes were standard issue, but Pluto had made some 'modification'. Terra's bike was green and Renia was riding with her. Draco was riding on one his many bikes, the ZX-Dragchaser. Brimstone rode in his jacket, the little demon puppy's head poking out.
"So, where are we headed?" Draco asked Mort through a com-link built into their helmets.
"There's this snitch I went to when I wanted to know where a fight was going to be. The last time I saw him was before you all busted the last place I was fighting at," Mortuary answered. "He hangs out in a really ratty looking bar. You'll see."
"Can't wait," Terra said sarcastically.
The three bikes were parked in front of the bar. Since it was in the bad part of town, petty crooks hung out here a lot. There were drug dealers in the alleys and who knows what lurking in the shadows. Draco, not being accustomed to such places because of his upbringing, looked around nervously. He was mature, but places like this still made him feel a little uneasy. Terra, Renia and Mortuary, since they had enough experience on the road, on the other hand were not unnerved by such places.
Mortuary pushed the door of the bar open and immediately the eyes of everyone inside fell on them. Draco felt like he was on display, especially since he was carrying his dog in his arms. These guys looked ready to eat them up for breakfast, lunch and dinner before spitting them out and beating the crud out of them.
"I'll wait outside!" Draco said hastily before Terra pulled him back in by his scarf, nearly choking him.
"Just relax," she whispered to him, "And let Mort do all the talking."
Draco whispered back, "THAT'S what I'm afraid of!"
The Titans were going undercover, in disguise, incognito. Whatever term that was being used they had changed their appearance slightly to pose as civilians. Renia had put on a glamour and looked the same, except taller. She looked 18 now and had curves, wearing the same clothes minus her red coat and was receiving lecherous leers, just like Terra. Since Terra had on a black crop top under her leather jacket with tight denim shorts that exposed most of her legs, she was receiving a fair amount of leers herself. Her hair was in a high ponytail and a pair of shades covered her eyes. Both girls were blondes so I don't need to tell you what was going through some of these men's minds. Beast Boy would kill them if he was here. Mort looked the same except without the skullish face paint. He was still wearing a bulletproof vest under his shirt and had his gun hidden just incase. Draco had exchanged his boots for sneakers and his usual elbow length gloves for wrist length ones. Over a red shirt he wore a black jacket, unzipped, with matching pants and his hair was braided. Around his neck was his trademark scarf. Renia had put a glamour spell on him to make him look like a normal Japanese teen with black hair and brown eyes. He, however, was still wearing his signature goggles on his forehead. Brimstone had on the Doberman puppy disguise thanks to the collar around his neck that generated a hologram to hide his true demonic dog form.
Mortuary walked up to the bar and took a seat he called out to the bar tender, "Get me your best rum."
"You 21 there, buddy?" the bar tender asked.
Mortuary reached for his wallet and pulled out an ID that had a picture of him but it said that his name was Eli Fox and that he was 21.
"Thanks, Mr. Fox. I'll be sure to give you the best we got." The bar tender went to the back of the bar get the rum for Mort. Mort turned to the other Titans and beckoned them over and they sat at the stools next to him. One of the crooks sat next to Renia and was about grab her until he felt a hand around his wrist, Renia's right hand.
"Keep that hand off or I'll tear it off!" Renia told the thug threateningly before letting his arm go. He saw the look in her eyes and had felt her stony grip to know she meant business. He staggered away, running scared. Terra smiled impressively.
"Nice," Terra grinned.
"Thank you," Renia nodded.
The bar tender returned and asked, "So what brings you to this ditch, Mr. Fox?"
"I wanted to know if you've seen Louie Chambers around here as of late. I've got a couple of questions for him."
"What do you want with Louie?"
"Me and my friends here are from out of town and we're looking to make some cash. All of us are also fighters."
"So you want to see if Louie's booking any matches is that right?"
"Yeah, you got it in one and I also wanna get my title back."
"I remember you now. You're the guy that beat Ox a couple of months back. What was your fighting name though? Wasn't it Grave or something?" He then frowned when he saw what Draco was holding. "I'm sorry, but no dogs allowed."
"Gomenasai," Draco apologized, bowing his head.
Terra lied, "Forgive him. He doesn't speak any English."
"Well tell him to keep his dog on a leash, at least," the bar tender said to her.
Draco whispered into her ear, "Not speak English?"
"It was the best I could do," Terra replied. "Sue me. What's your deal anyway?"
"These types of places," Draco began, "Okaasan always told me they were bad."
"She's right, but you're legally an adult now," Terra told him.
"I know…but still…" Draco couldn't finish.
"You've faced demons, monsters and who knows what and a place like this scares you?" Terra questioned. It seemed ridiculous to her after all they had faced in the past year.
"So how do you know this Louie guy?" Renia asked Mortuary.
"He got me connected and helped me find work fighting in the underground ring. I don't like him, I barely even tolerate him, but I needed the money back then," Mort said disdainfully. "Let me warn you, Louie Chambers is a weasel and would sell his own mother just for a quick buck." Mort then saw the door open. "And there he is now." The Titans watched as Louie Chambers walked in. "Let me do the talking." They nodded.
Louie Chambers was a Caucasian male with a very short buzz cut. His hair, or what was left of it, was brown. He wore an expensive looking jacket and pants with a white collared shirt underneath. He also wore a silver earring on his left ear and wore a Rolex watch and rings on his right hand.
Louie sat at his usual table and ordered a drink from one of the waitresses before spanking her. She slapped him and continued on her way to pick up his drink. He took out his little black book and began making calls with his cell phone. He did not notice two blonde girls and two guys slowly approaching him.
"Hey, Louie," Mortuary said in a low angry voice. "How have you been?"
Louie's back stiffened and his sweat ran cold. He knew that voice anywhere but he hoped that he was wrong. "Talk to you later!" he said apologetically into his cell before putting it into his pocket, along with his black book. He turned his head over his shoulder and saw that he was looking right at Mortuary. "Hey, Morty!" he gritted with false pleasantness. His voice was cracked and he looked ready to run. "Haven't seen you around lately!"
Craig lifted Louie up by his jacket and looked him dead in the eye. "Louie," he said, his voice both threatening and even, "Do you mind telling me about any new fighting rings lately? Me and a few of my friends are interested in joining." Louie looked to see two blonde girls and a Japanese guy with him. They looked almost familiar.
"Sorry, Morty," Louie apologized. "There hasn't been any business lately. Coppers flushed us out." He was then smashed upon his table with incredible force and making it break. He groaned in pain. Mort grabbed him again dragged him over to the pool table and forced him to bend over on top of it. A lot of people were watching but no one did anything. This was just a normal occurrence here.
"Louie, Louie, Louie," Mort shook his head as he held Louie down. "Don't lie to me, man."
Louie protested, "I'm not!" Mort raised Louie's head up and slammed it onto the table, hard. "I'm telling you the truth!" Mort did it again.
Terra leaned down and said sweetly, smirking evilly, the look she had as a villain showing, "You better tell him. He looks ready to break your skull open." Louie began to sweat.
Draco didn't say anything, still trying to act that he didn't know English like Terra had suggested. He looked around, feeling less tensed. Was it the adrenaline caused by the situation? It felt…it felt…good…The rush of this was unbelievable…
"Better tell us, Louie," Renia said as she picked up one of the pool balls and crushed it with her gloved crystal hand. "Or your family jewels gets it!"
Seeing what Renia did caused Louie's eyes to shoot wide open. He shouted, frantically, "OKAY! OKAY! I'LL TALK! I'LL TALK! JUST LET ME GO!" Mortuary did. Louie rubbed the wrinkles out of his suit. "Jesus Mort, could you be anymore rough?"
"Just talk, Louie, before I have my friend here sic his dog on you," Mortuary pointed to Draco with his thumb. Brimstone barked and snapped his teeth, baring the sharp fangs. Louie gulped, remembering Renia's threat, and nodded.
"They'll have my head for this if I tell you!" Louie said.
"Just talk!" Terra snapped.
"Okay," Louie calmed down and then shouted out, pointing at Mortuary, Draco, Renia and Terra, "THESE GUYS ARE TEEN TITANS!" The Titans' eyes widened with shock. They looked around to see most of the people getting out of their seats brandishing crude looking weapons, knives, chains and anything to cause bodily harm. The waitresses screamed and ran out of the bar. Louie grinned triumphantly.
"Kuso…" Draco muttered under his breath.
Mort grumbled, "Ah, Hell no." They had just been screwed big time.
To Be Continued…
A/N: Lousy Snitch. This is an opening to a new arc so be prepared. Zombi138 helped me out. How was it? Well, a shout out to him. R and R, kay?