Part 52: Dinner with Draco's Mom 1

The group arrived at the restaurant just in time. Mrs. Hasuma walked up in front of the main entrance.

"Reservations for Emiko Narukawa Hasuma, party of," she turned to count the teens, "12."

The tuxedo clad man looked at his reservations book, "Ah, yes. Welcome madam."

Mrs. Hasuma bowed and smiled, "Thank you." Mrs. Hasuma entered, followed by the group of teens.

"It's great that you're mom's treating us to dinner like this," Jen whispered into Leo's ear, squeezing his hand slightly.

Leo shrugged, "Yeah, I guess. I mean, Okaasan hasn't seen me for a long time. She probably wants to talk about old times and what I've been doing."

"Just don't tell her exactly what you've been doing for these two months," Tim reminded, holding hands with him was Kori.

"I know, I know. Secret identities and all," Leo whispered back.

Ichijyo muttered, "She probably found out anyway."

"What was that, Ichijyo?" Rachel asked.

"Nothing," Ichijyo answered.

"Don't lie," she warned, squeezing his hand a little too tight. He winced.

"He said she'd probably already figured out about our identities as Titans as well as yours," Takada answered. Ichijyo turned to glare. "I have dog-like hearing, sue me."

"You mean she knows who we are?" Rachel asked, worried.

"Not really," Ichijyo said, "I meant that she probably knows about me, Takada and Leo being with the Titans. I doubt that she'd figure out the connection, but this is HER we're talking about. She's really sharp."

They entered and sat at the table. Leo immediately whispered to his mother.

"Okaasan," he began, "May we go talk, in private," he whispered.

Mrs Hasuma recognized the tone as a tone of urgency and nodded. She then smiled to the rest of the teens. "Don't order without us," she warned, playfully. She then walked away with her son.

"What do you think they're gonna talk about?" Takada asked Ichijyo. The snake Knight only shrugged.

"You don't think Leo's gonna tell her, do you?" Rachel asked.

"Worried, luv?" Ichijyo smirked.

"Just cautious," she glared.

Jen fidgeted in her seat. This was noticed by Kori.

"Friend Jen?" Kori asked, "Why are you shaking."

"Nothing, Kori," Jen lied. Kori raised an eyebrow. Jen then sighed, admitting, "I'm just a little worried that Leo's mom may not like me."

Terra then cut in, "Don't be scared, Jen. She likes you, trust me."

"I hope you're right, Tara…"

Gar grinned, "Hey, my girl's always right about this kinda stuff." He said, proudly.

"Someone has to be right in the relationship," Ichijyo quipped, causing everyone to laugh.

"So not funny, dude," Gar said.

"Don't call me dude," Ichijyo glared.

Vic placed a hand on his best friend's shoulder, "Easy…Gar."

"Is he always like this?" Sarah said to Vic. Vic only shrugged.

Meanwhile…

"So, what is it you want to talk to me about?" Mrs. Hasuma asked.

Leo sighed and reached into his pants pocket and took out a pink velvet box. Mrs. Hasuma's eyes widened. She then continued, "That's for Jen, isn't it?"

Leo blushed and nodded. He answered, "It's a 'Promise Ring'." He answered. He was immediately swept into a strong hug from his mother, who was squealing like a school girl.

"That's wonderful! I'm sure she will like it!" She exclaimed. She then let go and clasped her hands together.

Leo hushed his mother, "Not so loud. I want to keep this a surprise." She nodded. "Also, there's another reason I wanted to speak with you in private." His expression turned grim.

"About?" she prodded.

"It's about…Kat," he answered. Mrs. Hasuma suddenly frowned.

"Neko?" she asked. Leo nodded. "She hasn't been freed from the Cat Armor yet, has she?"

"Yeah," Leo rubbed the back of his neck. "She still wants to kill me." Mrs. Hasuma hugged her son.

"She will come back to us, Ryuki…I know that she will…" Mrs. Hasuma said softly.

"I know that too…Okaasan," he closed his eyes.

Mrs. Hasuma then reverted to her happy self, "Now, let us go back before your friends wonder where we are, kay?"

Leo wiped the forming tears from his eyes and smiled, "Okay, Okaasan."

Meanwhile, Gar was holding a menu. "How's about a salad?" Gar suggested. This was met with a groan from Ichijyo, "What?"

Leo and Mrs. Hasuma arrived later. Leo then noticed the look on Ichijyo's face. "What happened?" he asked.

"Gar wanted to order a salad," Ichijyo answered. This time Leo groaned.

"What are you two groaning about?" Gar asked, confused.

"Let's just say we had a bad experience with a garden salad," Leo said.

"The giant mutant vegetables…" Ichijyo added, groaning.

"Aw, come on!" Takada exclaimed, "It was not my fault!"

"And I'm the King of France…" Ichijyo cynically remarked.

"Giant mutant vegetables?" Sarah questioned.

Vic answered her, "We've been hearing a lot about that. Never got a straight story."

Takada said, "I'll be glad to explain."

"Um…Takada?"

"Let us not and say we did," Ichijyo replied.

"Why not? It might be an interesting story," Tim said.

"Yes! Do tell!" Kori said excitedly.

"I wanna hear!" said Tara.

"Me too!" Gar added.

"Me three!" Jen raised her hand.

Takada began, "Well what happened was…"

(Flashback…)

"At last!" Takada exclaimed. "My Science Fair project has been completed!" he began cackling madly.

Leo walked in with Ichijyo. Leo yawned. "What's all the noise? I was having a cat nap, you know?"

"And I was reading in peace until I heard your laughter, mutt," Ichijyo remarked, annoyed.

"Guys!" Takada ran towards them and placed a hand on Leo's shoulder and another one on Ichijyo's shoulder.

"You do know you're touching me, right?" Ichijyo's eyes narrowed.

Takada shook his head excitedly, "Never mind that! Check it out!" he turned their attention to an engine, attached to a model car. Strangely, the engine was glowing…green.

"What is that?" Ichijyo pointed.

"Ooh," Leo's eyes widened, "Pretty!" he was attracted by the glowing.

"This, my friends, is my latest invention and entry to the Science Fair at school today!" Takada laughed.

"You do know it's glowing, right?" Ichijyo pointed out.

"Pretty colors," Leo said, in a daze.

"I decided to use Plutonium," Takada grinned.

"PLUTONIUM!" Ichijyo gasped.

"Something wrong?"

"Is that why you're dressed like a mad scientist?" Leo asked, now free from his daze.

"Yep!" Takada posed proudly, "Looks good on me, right?" he was wearing a blue lab coat, black safety goggles and black latex gloves

"A straight jacket would be more appropriate," Ichijyo hissed. "How did you get plutonium?"

Takada played with his fingers and whistled, "I have my ways…" he mused.

"You do know that this stuff is radioactive right? And in my house, I might add!" Ichijyo shouted.

"Details, details," Takada waved off Ichijyo's outburst. He rubbed his hands together. "Now let get this baby to the Science Fair!"

"There," Takada said, placing his entry in his booth. It was concealed by a white tablecloth. However, the cloth did not hide the green glow.

"Shouldn't we be wearing some protection?" Ichijyo asked.

"Sure," Takada threw them some lab coats, latex gloves and black goggles.

"What are these for?" Leo asked.

"You two are gonna be my assistants!" Takada said proudly.

Ichijyo looked at the clothes, "What makes you think I will help you?"

Takada shrugged, "Leo's helping." He pointed out. Leo was already dressed in the red lab coat and had the gloves and goggles on.

Ichijyo reminded, "That's because you bribed him with tuna."

"So?"

Ichijyo sighed, "Very well. I have nothing better to do anyway." He began wearing the purple lab coat, grumbling. Takada gave him a pat on the back.

"That's the spirit!" Takada grinned.

"Don't touch me," Ichijyo hissed.

However, they didn't notice that the glow of Takada's invention was becoming stronger and the glow was reaching the entry in the next table, which was a basket of vegetables.

An hour later, the judges came. Takada skipped in anticipation. "This is gonna be great! I'm gonna win and get a blue ribbon and everything!"

"It's the prize money, isn't it?" Ichijyo whispered.

"What else?" Leo whispered back.

The judges passed by and looked at the entry next to Takada's. A girl was explaining why vegetables were a healthier choice of food when suddenly, her basket began shaking.

"Are those vegetables looking a bit bigger then they should?" Leo pointed.

"You know, that tomato does look a little big," Ichijyo rubbed his chin.

Suddenly, the vegetables turned to face the judges. They now had glowing green eyes and razor sharp teeth and were continuing to grow.

"Okay, I would say that's bad thing!" Leo pointed out, eyes wide.

"You could say that again, my friend," Ichijyo grimaced.

"Zoinks!" Takada exclaimed

The vegetables grew quickly and were now gigantic and glowing. They had also apparently mutated. The monster vegetables roared.

"Everyone! Please remain calm!" said a security guard, but he suddenly yelped as a pea the size of a soccer ball took a bite out of his butt. "OKAY! EVERYONE PANIC!"

The contestants, judges and the guests began screaming, panicking, and running out the gym as fast as they could, leaving Takada, Ichijyo and Leo.

"That's sure something you don't see everyday," Leo gulped.

"What did you do?" Ichijyo glared at Takada.

"Why are you blaming me?" Takada shot back.

"Because your experiment and those monster vegetables are glowing the exact same color! Green!" Ichijyo pointed out.

"Coincidence!" Takada barked.

"Guys!" Leo shouted to get their attention, "Shouldn't we, I don't know, run? I don't like the way that broccoli is looking at me."

"The tomatoes must think we are a tantalizing snack!" Ichijyo rolled away from a hopping mad tomato.

"How do we stop these things?" Takada shouted. He was being chased by green peas

"I got an idea!" Ichijyo said, grabbing a broom and using it to keep an eggplant away. "Leo!"

"On it!" Leo took out his lighter and lit up a broom, chasing the killer veggies away.

"While Leo has their attention, we use your experiment!" Ichijyo continued.

Takada took out a remote, "Let her rip!" he turned on the remote and his invention roared to life. The small RC car jumped off the table and raced all over the floor. Its glowing green engine attracting the monster vegetables.

"LEO! STOP CHASING THE CAR!"

"But it's pretty!"

Well, maybe not just the vegetables.

"Does this thing have self destruct switch?" Ichijyo asked.

"Yeah. How did you know?" Takada asked.

Ichijyo shrugged, "Lucky guess. Don't press it until I say so."

They watched the vegetables chase the small plutonium powered car, causing a mess. The peas and tomatoes splattered all over the walls.

"I'm not cleaning that up," Leo stuck out his tongue."

"Wait for it…wait for it…" Ichijyo said calmly. He eyed a table that had two of its legs gone. It was now the perfect ramp.

"NOW!"

Takada drove the car up the ramp and into the biggest veggies mouth.

"TAKADA! BLOW IT UP AND LET'S RUN!" Ichijyo shouted. He grabbed onto Leo.

"BUT MY SCIENCE PROJECT!" Takada cried. Ichijyo rolled his eyes and grabbed onto Takada as they ran out of the gym.

The trio was able to escape the gym as it exploded.

"Never knew smoke could turn green," Leo commented.

"What have we learnt today?" Ichijyo glared at Takada.

"Don't use plutonium?" Takada answered, sheepishly grinning.

"Bingo."

(Present)

"Thankfully, there was no permanent damage," Takada said. "Except some people found out and got me banned from the Science Fair for life." He glared at Ichijyo.

"Serves you right," Ichijyo hissed, "And no permanent damage, my foot. The whole school had to be closed for 2 whole months to clean up the mess you caused. Trust me, being banned from participating in another Science Fair was a light sentence. Thankfully, it was a contained incident and the radioactive cloud didn't spread. That was a lucky thing."

Leo blanched, "I could never look at a salad the same way again."

Everyone at the table looked at the three with wide eyes and dropped jaws.

"You're exaggerating, right?" Tim asked.

Mrs. Hasuma shook her head and said, "With those three, very little exaggeration is needed."

"You weren't kidding when you said your new friends were interesting," Sarah whispered into Vic's ear.

Vic shook his head, "Interesting is an understatement."

"How about fish?" Leo suggested. This time he was met with collective groans. "What's wrong with fish?"

"Can we not have fish, this time?" Tara grimaced.

"It's not that bad," Leo remarked.

Tim answered, "Well…we have been having a lot of fish these last few days."

"So I have a thing for anchovies on my pizzas!" Leo said.

Vic stuck out his tongue, "Anchovies! Yuck!"

Leo glared.

"I share Vic's sentiment exactly," Takada nodded.

"Kori? Jen?" he asked, hopefully.

"Let's have something else that isn't fish, okay?" Jen asked sweetly. Leo sighed in defeat but agreed.

"Okay." He looked at the menu again, "How's about some chocolate cake for dessert?" Leo suggested.

Mrs. Hasuma, Ichijyo and Takada shouted at the same time, "NO!"

"Do you not remember what happened the last time you had chocolate, Leo?" Ichijyo asked. Leo shrugged.

"The details are kinda fuzzy…"

"What happened?" Tim asked.

"What didn't happen?" Takada answered

(Flashback…)

Leo, Takada and Ichijyo were dressed in their school uniforms and stood in front of a chocolate factory. They had an assignment to do for the school newspaper. They were to see how chocolate was made.

"Um…chocolate," Ichijyo sighed, licking his lips. "The sweet smell of the ebony sweet delights my senses."

"Also very nice to have for a snack," Takada agreed, "Wouldn't you say, Leo?"

Leo shook his head, "Don't know. Never really had chocolate before."

Both of his companions turned to stare.

"Never had…" Ichijyo began.

"Chocolate?" Takada finished.

Leo nodded.

"Why?" Ichijyo asked.

"Can't say. Okaasan says it's bad for me," Leo answered.

"Maybe you're allergic?" Takada asked.

"I'm not…I know something happens if I eat chocolate, but my mind is a blank," Leo scratched his head.

Ichijyo rolled his eyes, "Let's just do this. I'll handle the interview while you and Takada take some pictures." He then warned, "And no sampling!" he said, sternly.

They all entered after the security allowed them to and the trio looked around, following a private tour guide. Leo felt the smell enter his nose and was intoxicated.

"So this is what chocolate smells like," Leo mused, sniffing it.

"Nice, huh?" Takada began taking shots.

"So, this is where the chocolate is processed?" Ichijyo asked.

The tour guide answered all of Ichijyo's questions as they walked through the large factory. Leo suddenly asked, "Where's the bathroom?"

Ichijyo rolled his eyes. "We passed it a while back. Takada, go with him."

Takada then walked with Leo to the bathroom while Ichijyo continued to take notes.

30 minutes later, Takada returned.

"It's about time you showed up," Ichijyo tapped his foot impatiently. "What took you and where's Leo?"

"I lost him!" Takada exclaimed, panicking.

Ichijyo grumbled, "Let's go. He couldn't have gone far."

Suddenly, their attention was gathered by a loud explosion.

"What now?" Ichijyo yelled. Both teens ran towards the direction of the explosion. They were shocked to see Leo, sitting on the floor, surrounded by chocolate wrappers. The wrapping machine was also smoking.

Also, Leo had a crazed look on his chocolate covered face and an insane smile.

"MORE! MUST HAVE MORE!" he jumped and ran past his two friends.

"I think we just found out why Leo can't have chocolate," Ichijyo said, now worried.

"What was your first clue?" Takada said.

"Let's catch him before he causes more damage."

(Half an hour later)

Both Takada and Ichijyo were panting.

"Boy, he runs fast," Takada breathed in.

"How hard is it to find a teenager with red hair and hyped up on chocolate?" Ichijyo hissed.

Suddenly, Leo bounced in front of them. He was wearing a tinfoil crown and white coat covered in chocolate stains. He was also holding a rod of some sort.

"I AM THE CHOCOLATE KING! BOW DOWN BEFORE ME!" Leo sang crazily.

"GRAB HIM!" Ichijyo exclaimed as they tackled him.

"UNHAND ME ROGUES FOR I AM THE CHOCOLATE KING!" Leo roared, squirming.

"Do you have the tranquilizers?" Ichijyo asked as he pinned down Leo.

"Got it!" Takada took out the syringe but Leo kicked him, causing him to stab the syringe into Ichijyo's leg. "Oops!"

"NOT ON ME YOU IDIOT!" Ichijyo exclaimed, pulling out the syringe but suddenly went woozy. "Oh…dear…" he passed out.

Takada looked at the syringe and gulped. "This can't be good!" suddenly there was another explosion and the lights began blinking red and the alarms blared. "THIS REALLY ISN'T GOOD!"

Takada quickly grabbed Leo, who had somehow fallen asleep and Ichijyo. He placed Ichijyo over his shoulder and held Leo under his arm as they ran out of the factory. The trio made it out and the factory blew up, spilling rocks and chocolate everywhere around.

Takada grimaced, "I can see the lawsuits and restraining orders coming, I just know it." Ichijyo and Leo were still asleep and Leo was curled up like a cat as he slept.

(Present)

"I don't really remember that," Leo scratched his head.

"The chocolate also gave you a total mind wipe," Ichijyo explained

"Thankfully, no one found out," Takada said.

"Excuse me?" Mrs. Hasuma raised an eyebrow. "I donated a large sum to repair the factory."

"So did I," Ichijyo added.

"It's not like it really mattered. The factory got closed down anyway since the health department found some illegal addictive chemicals added in the chocolate," Takada said.

"That would explain Leo being hyper, right?" Jen asked.

"Actually any type of chocolate makes Ryuki go hyper, dear," Mrs. Hasuma answered.

Tim looked at the three Knights warily. He did want to find out a little bit more about their past, but now he regretted his decision.

"I don't really understand why I was yelled at," Takada complained.

"You were supposed to keep an eye on him," Ichijyo reminded.

"Like you haven't caused any trouble before?" Takada asked.

"I never get into trouble," Ichijyo scoffed proudly.

Leo narrowed his eyes and smirked. "I happen to remember something not too long ago. Remember Halloween?"

Ichijyo became extremely pale and began sweating, "What…what are you talking about?"

Takada smirked, "You've been complaining what problems we were. Now it's our turn."

"What happened?" Rachel demanded, smirking. She was really interested now.

"Yes, Ichijyo," Kori joined in, "What misadventures did you cause?"

"Nothing!" Ichijyo shook his head quickly.

Leo turned to look at Takada. Takada gave him the same look.

"Well…" Takada began.

"What happened was…" Leo added, grinning.

Ichijyo placed his face in his hands, groaning.

To Be Continued…

What happened to the Knights on Halloween? Was it incredibly insane? Was Ichijyo the cause? Stay tune for the next installment of Zodiac Knight Draco: Dinner with Draco's Mom 2.