The Death of Captain Cab

Who: Cab and Kyte.
What: Seth has sent Kyte to kill Cab.
Why: To leave the Titans without support in the upcoming trials.

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Captain Cab woke up early this morning. This is going to be a good day, he thought. The young man stood up, stretched, and then dressed himself in his casual clothing: sweatpants, a t-shirt, and tennis shoes. He slicked his long, brown hair back in the mirror and walked downstairs for breakfast.

His payroll in the military afforded him a very nice appartment, but at times his job caused a lot of stress. Many of his superiors were decrying the Teen Titans as a menace to society, and Cab felt that he was alone in defending them. The Titans were the future. If the military tried to interfere with them, it would only cause chaos and disorder.

Cab wondered about how he could help improve the Titans' image today as he sipped on his coffee.

Kyte arrived near the proper address, looking upon the house of the Captain Cab with curiosity. It seemed to be a small home. Kyte suspected due to the time of day, that people were still waking up. He was in his demonic form already, and had already decided how he was going to go about this.

Making sure he was on a side where no windows could reveal his location, Kyte picked up a rock, and flung it with pinpoint accuracy into one of the second floor windows. Scare tactics, if you will. Before Captain Cab could come to inspect or even look out that side of the house, Kyte would dart into the back yard. Waiting twenty seconds so that Captain Cab would have time to inspect the damage to his home, Kyte would then immediately dart to the other side of the house, tossing a rock into the very same second story, breaking a window there as well. He would then dart behind the house again, pulling out the katana and slicing off the knob to the door, pushing the door open with his foot slowly. He would stand in the house, looking around, until he found the stairs. He would stay ten feet from the stairs, with his katana, deathly still, at his right side in one hand, with a sadistic smirk on his face.

Broken glass upstairs? Cab ran to investiage. Something had smashed through it. A rock?

Suddenly, another window broke. Another rock? What was going on? Was his house under attack?

Cab heard a noise from the front door. It opened and he heard a soft footstep inside.

Walking to the top of the stairs, Cab looked down them at the demonic figure with a sword below him. Who was this? Someone from L.A.W.? Were they daring enough to attack him at his house? The opponent looked quite fearsome, and Cab guessed that he had enhanced speed, strength, and possibly healing powers. The sword hopefully meant that he wasn't an elemental.

"You have my attention. Whether you're from L.A.W. or not, I have more than enough power to take you down. Even on a weekend."

He stayed where he was. His opponent would be at a disadvantage running up the stairs in an enclosed space attacking with a weapon. Cab waited for the enemy to move.

Kyte could barely hold his excitement in as he looked upwards at the stairs. So this was the man Captain Cab. Nothing looked very special about him; though Kyte had to admit he had some muscle, which he commended him for. It also seemed that along with his muscle, he had trained one people usually forgot to: the brain. As he saw now, the opponent was being smart, and not descending the stairs. Doing so would have been suicide, and would put Kyte at a major disadvantage if he decided to run up them.

...seeing you aren't an idiot is the best thing that could have happened today. I was afraid this would be boring...

It was then that he looked directly at Cab, smiling that evil grin of his, as his eyes briefly flashed their crimson color.

So...

In an effort to distract Cab with idle banter, Kyte immediately darted forward. It was time to see if this Captain Cab was really worth all the caution Seth granted him. He darted towards the stairs from his position of ten feet away at thirty miles an hour. At that speed, he would have reached it instantly...if it wasn't yet another trick. No, Kyte had done something much more strategic. It seemed the the man's stairs were supported by a few wooden boards hiding behind a wall. That was how most stairs were designed, after all. Before reaching the bottom of the stairs, Kyte would suddenly shift off of course by a few inches shifting to his top speed, sixty miles an hour. His stairs were on average about thirty feet long horizontally, and so, traveling at that speed, it would be almost instant, as Kyte swung from his left side to his right in an upwards arc to match the angle at which the stairs rose, cutting through the wall and all of the boards all along the length of the thirty feet since at that speed he covered the distance instantly. Normally the stairs would have stayed up. But Kyte had also sprouted the ebony black claws from his left hand; also swinging in an arc from his left side to his right, stretching out about a foot each as they sliced five sections from each of the boards, which would cause the staircase to crumble under Cab's weight; especially if he had been fooled by Kyte's actions and had reflexed. The shaking would have done the work for him as Cab would fall in the rubble (If of course it worked). The swings of both his arm and his katana would spin him around as he reached the wall, so that he faced back towards Cab with his katana over his shoulder and his claws hidden once more.

...are your precious Titans going to come save you? Or are you sure you still don't need some help?

Kyte grinned sadistically, ready.

As the assassin rushed up the stairs, Cab was impressed. This guy was faster than his human form. Still, with his mind and reflexes, Cab should be able to parry any attack.

Wait. Why was he cutting the wall?

As the stairs started to crumble, Cab jumped backwards and into the room behind him. Seeing the assassin land on the wall near the top of the stairs, Cab clenched his teeth together.

"I don't need the Titans to save me, sir. The last time I beat them up was a piece of cake, although I hated doing it. Killing you, however, will be quite enjoyable."

Running towards the staircase, Cab jumped at Kyte. In mid-air, he transformed into a car.

The flying car was going to ram Kyte, and crush him.

Kyte laughed mentally as his plan did work, but it didn't catch his prey. Cab had jumped into a room opposite the stairway, watching as Kyte grinned at him. Apparently, he had also fought the Titans before, saying he had easily defeated them, but he had hated doing it. Kyte almost frowned, until he said that he would enjoy killing him. He then grinned, as the man started running, bracing himself for an attack.

Funny...I was just about to say the same thing.

However, Cab leaped into the air. Kyte instantly reacted to intercept, but what happened next was...well...certainly not expected. He turned into an automobile. All of the training and experience Kyte had never prepared him for this; except for giving him proper enough time to quickly throw himself forward and roll low before the vehicle could contact him. He instantly stood up, doing a one-eighty to look at the car as at the angle it went off of the steep drop, it would probably put the front end of the car into floor, right where the stairs had once stood and began. Time seemed to stop around Kyte completely as he did a quick anatomical observation of the car. One, Cab had almost instantly turned into the car, meaning he could do it very quickly. Kyte didn't know if it took the same time to morph back, but would have to assume so for the time being. Also, he would also have to assume that Cab could transform the different parts of his body into individual parts of the car; though if it was possible he should have done so in that attack so as not to bury himself in the floorboards.* Those were the known variables.

The unknown variables, however, almost entirely outweighed the known. The most useful unknown variable; if Kyte's suspicions were indeed correct; as with most anthropomorphic transformations, was that the transformed form linked with the human form in such a way that if the transformation was damaged, the human form was damaged as well, and vice versa. Kyte didn't know if Cab had a regenerative quality (All humans did, but he meant an advanced one, such as his own), but if he did, it might make the battle a bit more difficult. Linking to this theory, he did not know if the vital parts of the human body could be linked to the vital parts of a car, but he would give it a test run. The most vital parts of a car were the tires, headlights, engine, transmission, and gas tank. The mirrored parts of the human body in that order would be the limbs, eyes, and heart. Though they didn't really mirror any parts of the human body Kyte could name that quickly, the transmission would most likely function like the spine, and the gas tank would nearly function as energy for the human body to use.

Time slowly sped back into pace,** as Kyte would quickly sprout his claws in his left hand; simultaneously turning the titanium katana underhand and plunging it into the wooden floor, before quickly ripping off the claw in his right hand by pulling it out. The base a bit covered in blood, his left middle finger was now bleeding, but that soon closed up. Kyte didn't show a sign of pain, though he certainly didn't enjoy it; sheathing his claws (So to speak), and then throwing the sharp, razor-thin spike at the rear-end right tire. If it connected, it would instantly pop the back right tire, sending out only a slight shockwave of compressed air, and if Kyte's theory was correct, when Cab returned to human form, his right leg would no longer function. If his theory happened to be incorrect, he had another theory that had a 98% chance of validity.

* I only say this like it happened because Cab was prepared to hit Kyte full on with the car, so I don't think he could instantly change back to avoid impact with the floor. Of course, trying to insinuate such 100% would be godmodding, so I leave that up to you.
** Note that Kyte's not actually freezing time or anything. It's like those moments when you can swear you're thinking a million thoughts in one second, but just a bit more detailed for fun.

OOC: I gotcha. Your character can think whatever he wants, and come to any conclusions. It isn't god-moding unless you were to say "Cab ran into the wall...severely injuring himself." lol. I know that you know what you're doing, so don't worry.

BIC: Cab missed the enemy. He had been able to dodge the flying car.

'Wow he's fast."

The wonderful thing about being a car was that you had rear-view mirrors. Seeing Kyte pull a spike out of his hand and prepare to throw it, Cab felt both disgusted and worried at the same time. The spike came flying at his back tire, and it would have been a hit. Fortunately, Cab was able to transform back into a human in time to 'dodge' the attack (by shrinking out of it's path) and landed gracefully at his entryway.

This wouldn't work. He couldn't beat this speed demon if he couldn't reach full speed. Cab ran through the door to his house, which had been left open, and headed for the street. Although he was still in human form, he was moving at twice the speed of a normal human.

OOC: Sweet. He ain't called "Wielder of the Flames of Chaos" for no reason. xD

BIC: Kyte saw that Cab could talk as he was in car form as Cab complimented Kyte's speed as falling and lodging himself in the floor. However, it seemed that Cab's review mirrors would have to be taken out first in order to test out Kyte's theory. One of Kyte's theories would be disproved as Cab shaped back almost instantly into his human form; it was to be expected, really. Rarely any anthropomorphic form had different speeds at which it took to shape. However, Kyte mentally cursed himself as Cab was able to run out the front door. This was going to make his prey much harder to catch. He could only assume Cab could accelerate like a car in that form, as Kyte ripped his katana out of the floorboards and jumped off of the ledge, running after Cab out the front door and looking around to locate him as he ran at his top speed after him. Cab was going to need to change into a car once more to outrun him, and Kyte didn't want to give him that chance. Since he was in human form, Kyte assumed he didn't have any way to look behind him now; as Kyte still had a theory of him not being able to transform individual parts of his body, so he sprouted claws, ripping the middle, index, and ring finger claws out with his right hand as he had deposited the handle of the katana into his mouth, biting down on the handle so he could hold it, and clenched his three new knives between all four of the fingers on his right hand. He threw them after Cab at an even more alarming rate than before; 95 miles an hour towards his back area. The middle one would hit the back of his right leg as the other two would just be aimed a general midsection area of his back. He didn't want to hit the spine, as he planned to do something with Cab when he was done with him. The peculiar thing about the claws this time was that instead of rotating through the air, they flew deathly straight, as if having a malevolent force guiding them. He quickly dropped the katana out of his mouth, catching it with his right hand as he kept running so Cab didn't know something was up in that brief instant.

If I didn't know better, I'd say you were making way for the bridge to Jump to call the Titans after all!, he said laughing, taunting his opponent.

Kyte actually wanted Cab to turn into a car so he could initiate phase two.

OOC: Actually, he was supposed to be thinking that, not saying it. I accidentally hit the wrong key. But it's funnier this way, so we keep it.


BIC: Captain Cab was just at the edge of the street when something hit him in the leg. Immediately, two more knives hit him in the back.

How? His opponent was fast, but he shouldn't have been able to catch up that fast. The weapons were projectiles. Where had they come from? Cab had too much on his mind to consider that Kyte might be able to pull knives from his hand more than once.

The pain would slow him down, and his leg would no longer work at maximum output. Still, Cab rejoiced that he had reached the street. Now he had room to manuver.

Transforming again into a classic yellow taxi, Captain Cab spun around to face his opponent, who was running towards him. The enemy was taunting him, but that didn't matter. Cab sped at full speed towards Kyte, hoping to ram into him at 50 miles per hour.

OOC: Lol. I think you'll appreciate how clever this is.

BIC: Kyte kept chasing him, watching his claws hit the man, him slowing down drastically. However, his opponent had reached the street, and so had he. Kyte thought that the man would finally be able to get away now, but then Cab decided to face his fears, turning into a car and turning around to meet his opponent in combat in his car form as Kyte kept running towards him at top speed.

Maybe it was Kyte's recent taunt. Maybe it was his loud mouth in general that frustrated or inspired Cab enough to turn around and use his car form to try to ram Kyte. Kyte didn't know what exactly it was, but was glad he had done it. It was now checkmate.

He kept in motion towards the car; it was almost impossible to stop running now with how quickly Cab had transformed and accelerated. That would usually have worked. However, Kyte didn't want to stop. From his first analysis of Cab's car form, he had already planned this in case manual killing became difficult or impossible. He wore a look of surprise on his face as he kept running forward, attempting to slow down as anyone else would have, until the car was exactly two feet from him. He then grinned, and leaped...directly through Cab's windshield. He spread his arms as he was positioned in the middle of Cab's car body, grabbing onto both of the headrests inside of Cab so that he didn't fly out of the back of Cab. His body could handle the immediate stop as Cab would keep moving, quickly getting into the driver's seat and putting his katana in the middle of the car as he sprouted claws from both of his hands, not even taking the time to pull one out as he just plunged his right middle finger's claw in aligned with the key slot, which actually fit its length. He didn't plunge the claw too far as he snapped it off inside the ignition.

The grooves of the actual key would not have mattered as it sliced through, and he now turned the claw in the ignition to crank it, and actually turn on the engine as he shredded his seatbelt apart in case Cab could somehow control it. He had a hypothesis this would give him control of Cab. *If he was wrong, he still had claws, and plunged his right hand's claws through the dashboard, disposing of the airbags as at the same time they went until Kyte could feel the tiniest resistance. His ring finger's claw and index finger's claw were now threatening to pierce the transmission and the engine. This not only served to stop him from being launched out of the windshield in case Cab decided to pull the breaks; giving him an anchor, but also would threaten to stop Cab if he didn't do as Kyte asked.*

You'll give control to me if you want to live.

Kyte doubted Cab wanted to turn into a human while Kyte was inside him. If Cab did as said, Kyte would shift into second gear, and rev the engine, taking off at a high speed as the tires squealed on the streets towards PowerTech Towers. He would take his hand off of the wheel as he got onto a straight street, which was deserted this morning, and quickly sliced off both rear-view mirrors. If he ran into a cop, he wasn't going to need them. He retrieved the only cell phone he carried in his pocket, and put it up to his ear, holding it there without his hand as he resumed steering with it, having dialed Seth's number. He knew he would pick up.

...Kagemusha,, Kyte called Seth, not wanting to give any hint to what his real identity was, It's Jupiter. I'm currently driving the target around town. Would you like us to come by to see you?, Kyte playfully asked.

OOC: I won't bother posting in the PowerTech Towers thread, since, you know...you post here. xD Just reply in the next post.

* This only happens if he can't control Cab from actually having turned the ignition.

OOC: Clever, but Cab won't be controlled that easily.

BIC: Cab could not let this assassin stab his airbags, or else he would die in human form as his lungs leaked. However, he also would not allow the enemy to drive him like a toy.

Instantly transforming into a human again, every molecule of the car (including its passenger) dissolved into a human body. Kyte's body would return to normal when Cab changed back into a car, but for now he was spread out in the cells of Captain Cab.

Kyte would find his conciousness inside the mind of Cab. The representation of Cab's concious stood before him. "Yes, I know, my power is wierd. Now then. I have full control of this body, so I think you owe me a few answers. Who are you working for?"

Meanwhile, Cab's body, still injured in the leg, back, and now in his left eye, would limp back towards his house. He had something he needed to get before he turned back into a car. He noticed pleasently that his opponent's healing factor was now contributing to healing his wounds, as Cab had momentarily stolen his body.

OOC: God, I love plot twists like that! xD

Kyte wore a deadly grin as he didn't even pierce the airbags. He had not forgotten that Cab's change was instant, but now, he saw it was molecular. It seemed Cab had taken control of his body. No, it was more than that; almost as if he was fused with Kyte's body, but he was in control of Kyte's body. Kyte could only grin at Cab's question as he appeared in his conscious. Kyte's conscious was black with darkness, and Cab would most likely receive images of Kyte's past, which were so full of pain and suffering that it would probably cause his body grief and immense pain. Kyte had already gone through it, so he wouldn't feel a thing. Cab would see Kyte's mother dying, killed by machine gun fire until she was nothing but a bloody lump of flesh, and an endless sea of spraying blood as he was shown all of Kyte's marks and targets dying in the numerous way he killed them. He chuckled inside Cab's mind.

Who do I work for? Hehehe...

He would continuously be shown more of the disturbing images, once seeing a flicker or two of a beautiful woman that was untouched by the tools of war and seemed to be important to Kyte, but Kyte quickly cut it off. The memories kept flowing, but Kyte had to cut the flow off as soon as Cab saw him arriving in Jump. It would flash to Kyte as a child sitting on a pile of ash and rubble, and Cab would see this was just a lonely child who had gone on the wrong path. Suddenly, everything would fade to black in Cab's mind, before a woman slowly walked out of the darkness. She was about as tall as Kyte, and had pitch black hair. She only wore rags that were black as well. She had slightly sharp teeth, and her skin was pale. Her head was slumped forward, so he couldn't see her face in his mind. She was drawing ragged breaths, and had a four foot black longsword at her side in her right hand.

...

Silly man...this...

Gekido would rear her head up to look at the man, and he would see her eyes were completely blood red. No irises. No pupils. Just blood red, burning with an infinite rage. She would give a shriek and dart forward, impaling Cab through the left lung. That was the last image he would see from Kyte's mind. However, he would feel the pain and lack of breath that he would experience from a pierced lung, especially with a sword. In the real world, Gekido had formed in Kyte's right hand, and had closed his hand around it. Cab would have a difficult time trying to fend it off as in his mind Kyte and Gekido were fighting for control. Needless to say, two consciouses would be difficult to fight off while trying to control your actions. Kyte did not move his arm. The sword, Gekido, did as she controlled herself, and pulled Kyte's right arm with her, impaling his left lung with half of the blade, and leaving herself in there so Cab could feel the pain.

...is a partnership!

OOC: Just a brief explanation. Kyte and Gekido view themselves as partners, and so they share equal control. Gekido can control herself as a blade, and so Kyte's grip around the blade does not factor in as him moving it; Gekido is. Also, she is inside his body and mind, and therefore it's a bit crowded; not only are you fighting Kyte's conscious, but hers as well.

Cab's eyes opened wide in shock as he was stabbed through the lung.

Inside his mind, Cab would give a disapproving look to Kyte. "I understand that you've had a hard life, kid. I can put the rest of the pieces together."

Cab's physical body would fall to its knees, coughing up blood.

"I'm not angry at you, Kyte," Cab would go on to say. "I can see your reasons for doing this...for killing me. I just want you to know that your anger is misplaced. You have had a diffilcult life, but that isn't what defines you, the present does. You don't have to be angry anymore. You can live your own life, your own good life. Don't listen to those who are trying to control you. You can have a good future, Kyte. You just have to..."

Cab's words started to soften as his mind went dark. He was going to die soon.

"...accept...the light...accept...the love."

Captain Cab, the man who wished only to protect the future for the next generation, felt death come upon him. He turned back into a car for a mere second, to allow Kyte to escape. It was a gamble, but Cab was hoping Kyte would be redeemed someday. With Kyte out of the car, Cab returned to a human, and laid peacefully on the street, dead.

Kyte looked at Cab in his mind, as he looked directly at him. Gekido would just remain there, silent, as Cab spoke to him, saying that he could understand why he did this now, and wasn't angry at him. He wanted him to know that he was directing his anger improperly, and said that the past didn't define him; the present did. Kyte's eyes widened as he kept talking to him, telling him that he didn't have to be angry anymore, and that he could live his own life; and to not listen to people who try to control him. To have a good future, if he accepted the light, and the love. He then separated from Kyte's body as a car, changing back and lying on the ground...dead. Kyte fell backward with wide eyes, Gekido shattering into nothingness and retreating inside his body, as Kyte's body slowly healed his pierced lung. He looked at the sky with wide eyes as storm clouds formed quickly and started raining. He narrowed his eyes. He hated that. Some people said it was his tears, to show sympathy. He hated that.

He got up when his lung was healed, the street covered in blood, looking at Cab's body as he stood there, serenity quickly turning into rage. He walked over to Cab's body, standing with both legs on either side of his body, as he knelt down, looking into his eyes as his were full of rage. He was in demonic form.

Fool! Who the hell do you think you are?! You think you know me?! Get up! Get up, you fool! I know you're not dead! I...I know...

Kyte had been screaming at the top of his lungs up until that last part, which was very, very loud It woke up a few neighbors sleeping. Kyte looked down at him, now wishing he was alive. Why was this happening? He could kill people without so much as a thought. But...this person...

The beast raged once more.

WHAT?! You think you're perfect?! You think you're HIM?! YOU KNOW NOTHING!, Kyte finally screamed out, as a person walked out of their house to see what all the ruckus was, before dropping their coffee mug onto their stone steps, which shattered, as he saw all the blood in the street, and ran back into the house, slamming the door, and calling 9-1-1.

Kyte clenched his teeth, and whipped out his cell phone. He was surprised it still worked with how it was raining, and called Seth.

Seth...it's done.

He then hung up, and started running through the streets at top speed. He heard police sirens in a minute, and dived into the bay, swimming to PowerTech Towers after putting his cell phone in his small waterproof pouch.

Are you even slightly thinking about what that fool said to you?

Kyte didn't respond, as he kept swimming.

Hope blossoms, even in the darkness.
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The police report would later be filed that Cab had been killed by a large blade, and knives. However, they had not even a sketch or any witnesses as to who did it.

OOC: I think this is an appropriate, and poetic place to end. Thank you for role playing this thread with me.