Part 6: Spying Snake, Hidden Dragon

Shadowcobra and Draco were both sitting in the living room. Draco was looking at his darker friend. Shadow was quiet, as usual, but unusually, his eyes were glowing black and it was like he was in a trance.

"Anything yet?" Draco inquired.

Shadow got out of his trance as his eyes turned back to normal, "They're still just driving." He shook his head, "And Pluto's playing 'Who Let the Dogs Out'." He groaned, "I hate that song."

"At least he didn't start playing 'I Ain't Nothing Like a Hound Dog'," Draco replied.

Shadow sighed, "You're right."

Draco crossed his arms and pouted, "I just wish that I could see what they're doing."

Shadow rubbed his chin, "Maybe you can," he smirked.

"Huh?"

"Hold still," Shadow produced a shadow snake in his hand and advanced on Draco. The fire starter backed away.

"Where are you going to put that?" Draco asked, dreading the answer.

"Nowhere…just in your head," Shadow grinned, "Now, hold still."

"No way!" Draco leapt off the sofa and ran towards the door.

Shadow shook his head, sighing, "Why do they always want to have this done the hard way?" he summoned up a few shadows, creating a wall that blocked Draco's path. Draco turned.

"You're not going to put that in my head!" Draco screamed, summoning his fire powers.

Shadow sighed and made the snake and wall disappear, "Fine." Shadow moved his bangs away, "We'll just have to do this another way." His mark began to glow red.

"Shadow…" Draco blinked, "Your tattoo is glowing…"

"It's not a tattoo," Shadow hissed, "It's my birthmark." He turned sharply towards the TV and fired a crimson beam at it. A picture slowly began to appear. It was blurry at first but then became clear. They could hear voices from the blurry picture. It was Pluto and Blackfire.

"So, what movie you wanna see?" the Pluto onscreen asked the onscreen Blackfire.

"Wow…" Draco's eyes went wide.

"A little trick I learnt. Whatever my shadow snake sees, I can see, and what I can see I can project," Shadow smirked, his eyes glowing black like in his trance-like state.

"I'll go get the popcorn!" Draco volunteered.

Shadow shook his head, smiling, "Everyone loves these reality television things." He sat down on the sofa and looked directly at the screen to keep up the projection.

"Hey dudes!" Beast Boy walked in. He saw Draco in the kitchen popping the popcorn into the microwave and also saw Shadow watching TV. He then went to the latter.

"What're you watching?" Beast Boy asked.

Shadow joked, "My Date with a Human Dog."

"Really?" Beast Boy inquired, his interest peaking. He then noticed Shadow's eyes, "Hey, why are your eyes black?" he also noticed the mark on Shadow's forehead glowing red, "And what's with your tattoo?"

Shadow hissed, "It's not a tattoo, and my eyes are black beca-"

"Because we're spying on Pluto and Blackfire's date," Draco answered, holding a large bowl of popcorn. He sat down next to Beast Boy. Now Beast Boy was in between the two Knights.

"What? No butter?" Beast Boy looked at the popcorn.

"We don't have any butter," Shadow answered, "Draco finished the last bit of it for his butter toast."

"Hey, I love butter toast," Draco remarked, "Sue me."

"So," Beast Boy began eagerly, "What did I miss?"

"Nothing much. They're just talking," Shadow replied.

"So, how did you join the team?" Blackfire asked.

"Well, Karmen," Pluto smiled, "It was by accident, really. Shadow and I had to follow Draco. That little rookie gets into trouble all the time." He laughed.

"Karmen?" Beast Boy quirked an eyebrow, "Did he just call Blackfire Karmen?"

"Maybe it's an alias she decided to use," Shadow answered.

Draco's eyes narrowed as he growled, "Rookie…?"

"Really, Takada?" 'Karmen' giggled, "So, what's up with that friend of yours. The one that wears black and purple all the time?"

"Shadow? He's cool. But the guy is so uptight! He should loosen up! I mean, he takes things seriously all the time!" Takada replied. "I think he's got some issues or his underwear's riding up. Maybe he's chafing."

Draco and Beast Boy laughed as Shadow hissed, "Riding up? Chafing?"

"Now that's funny!" Beast Boy laughed.

"Yeah!" Draco chuckled.

"Shut up, Rookie," Shadow told him.

"So, got any special woman in your life?" Karmen asked.

"Maybe…" Takada said cryptically, "She has long black hair, these amazing purple eyes and has a strong spirit. And…" Takada smiled as he pulled into the drive in, "She's sitting right next to me."

Karmen blushed, knowing what he meant. She shyly tucked a strand of hair back behind her ear. "Thanks." She then looked at all the parked cars, "Where are we?" she asked.

"It's called a drive in," Takada answered.

"You mean those fast food places where you can order in your car?" she inquired.

"That's a drive thru," he told her, "This is where you can watch a movie in the comfort of your own car." He began exiting the car, "You want anything to eat? Popcorn? Soda? Candy? A variety of assorted junk food?"

Karmen rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless, "A large soda, and a large popcorn, maybe."

Takada bowed, "Your wish is my command m'lady."

"Oh brother," Draco rolled his eyes.

"Is that how he always treats his dates?" Beast Boy asked, sipping a can of soda and shoving a handful of popcorn into his mouth.

"Pretty much," Shadow answered. "He's using the fact that he's a Knight as an excuse to be chivalrous." Shadow added, "Pretty slick, even for him."

"I'm back!" Takada jumped into the car, carrying a large popcorn and two large cups of soda with great difficulty.

"Great!" Karmen took the soda from him and took a sip, "Mmmm…I miss this." She sighed.

"You've never had soda?" Takada asked curiously, taking a sip from his soda.

"Not for a very long time. Then again, prisoners don't get special treatment."

Takada nearly choked on his soda, "Pri…prison?"

"I was in a Centauri prison a while back for stealing a Centauri Moon diamond," she looked at the ground sadly, "I regret it to this day."

"Hey…" Takada placed his hand on her shoulder, in an attempt to sooth her. "It's okay, people make mistakes. Look at me."

Karmen looked at him and he said, "I'm supposed to be an inventor, a genius, but I make mistakes too."

"A lot of them," Shadow muttered under his breath.

"But I never let them take me down," Takada continued.

"Have you ever tried to frame your sister for a crime you committed and then tried to get her married off to a big green slime alien?" Karmen asked.

"What?" Shadow's eyes widened.

"That's new," Takada said, eyes wide, "Even for me. But we all have things we regret doing and the only thing that we can do to make up for them is to live."

"Best advice he ever gave," Draco said.

"The only advice he ever gave," Shadow replied, "Unless you count his 'How to pick up and date girls' tips."

"True," Draco agreed.

"So, what're we watching?' Karmen asked.

"A classic James Bond movie, starring Sean Connery!" Takada said excitedly.

"Let me guess, he's a James Bond fan?' Beast Boy asked.

Draco and Shadow nodded. Shadow answered, "He has a large DVD collection of all the movies."

"And he collects the books too," Draco added.

"James Bond?" Karmen asked, "Is that Earth pop culture or something."

"Yep!" Takada told her, "James Bond is an international super spy who works for Her Majesty's secret service! He gets to go on all these cool missions, use far out gadgets, drive cool cars, fight evil super villains and he always get the girls…my favorite part."

"The only reason he watches is for the girls," Shadow remarked.

"So you wanted to be like him when you grow up?" Karmen asked.

"He's my hero!" Takada replied before adding, "Aside from my dad," he said this with a little sadness in his voice.

"Your dad must be proud of you now," she told him then noticed the look on his face. "What's wrong?"

"My dad…he's dead," Takada told her.

"I'm…I'm sorry…" she apologized, "I didn't know."

"Yeah, I don't talk about it much, the accident I mean."

"What happened?"

"Car crash," he began, "Me, my dad, mom and sis were in our car and then something just flew out in front of dad. He lost control of the car and crashed into a speeding truck. He died instantly. Only me, my mom and my sis survived."

Karmen gasped, "Oh my."

"My mom…my mom's in a coma. She hasn't woken up yet," he finished.

"Is that all true?" Beast Boy asked. Shadow nodded.

"He never told me," Draco said to Shadow.

"You had enough problems already, Draco. He kept this from you because he knew how this might affect you," Shadow told him.

"And he told you?" Draco asked.

"I found out myself," Shadow replied.

"Wow, now I know why Venus never talked about her folks," Draco realized.

Beast Boy was silent. Pluto's story was similar to his own. His own parents had died, leaving him the only one to survive.

"But that's all in the past," Takada put on a cheerful mask.

"Takada…" Blackfire whispered, scooting closer and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Karmen…?" he shuddered at the smell of her hair. It was nice and intoxicating. He couldn't quite place his finger on it but the smell calmed him down and brought him out of his funk. "Hey…the movie is about to start."

"What movie?" she purred, looking up at him and puckering up her lips. Takada eyes slowly closed as he leaned closer too.

"Oh man," Beast Boy gripped a nearby cushion.

"He's gonna kiss her," Draco said in anticipation.

That was when the screen went black.

"HEY!" the Dragon and Changeling exclaimed.

Shadow's eyes reverted to normal, "Let's give them some privacy."

"Privacy?" Draco retorted, "He raided our rooms and took our clothes, remember?"

"If we spy on this, it makes us no better than he is," Shadow chided, "Besides, we have all night and I'm hungry. Who's up for some dinner?"

To Be Continued…