A/N: Hey guys, been a long time since I was here last. Thought I'd post this up and give you all a quick word. I'm planning on picking back up all of my stories, however, updates will likely be a month or so apart due to an ever dwindling lack of time for writing.
Kyd Wykkyd sat near the monitor of the Hive Five base, reading some ancient tome of lore that he had recently... acquired. He sat, trying to ignore the massive argument in front of the large flat screen television. Billy Numerous was trying, with little success, to take the remote from Gizmo. Gizmo was watching some sort of tech show when Billy came in demanding to watch 'wrastlin', whatever that was. Kyd smiled as the other two members of the Hive Five walked in, and instantly chose sides. Mammoth grabbed the remote from Gizmo by using his height, earning an infantile insult, but was quickly thwarted by See-More's eyeball hitting it out of his hand.
Kyd placed his hand into his cloak, and grabbed the remote through the shadow it made on the floor. The brawl stopped as all of them looked to Kyd, who just smiled as he changed the channel to an action movie. The crew sighed in defeat and sat down, accepting the compromise without argument. Jinx was right; they are all like a bunch of kids. That thought brought up conflicting emotions. It'd been five years. Five years since the battle between the Titans and the Brotherhood of Evil, and none of the Five had seen neither hide nor hair of the hex-casting vixen.
Though Kyd couldn't blame her, she had a lot to deal with back then. The five of them were kids, and they acted like it, both on and off the job. Besides that, Jinx was like him: They had morals, if distorted ones. Like her, Kyd would never endanger an innocent, even if it would save them. So it really didn't surprise him that she went hero, he's been debating it himself, recently.
"Hey, Kyd." Gizmo yelled from the couch. "The flick's done; can we get the crud munching remote back now?" Kyd sighed before tossing the remote over the couch and onto the table in front of it. 3...2...1... "I wanna watch wrastlin'!" "No, you snot licking barf brain, we're watching the tech channel, I wanna see what's out there to steal." "But that's so boooooring, Gizmo, let's watch wrestling, its fun." "There ain't nothing fun about watching men in tights fighting, we see that all the time!"
Something strange stopped all the commotion in the room. The door buzzer rang. "What the crud, since when did we have a doorbell?" Gizmo yelled as the rest of them, along with himself, got into battle formation. Kyd nodded his head to them then stuck his head into his cape, exiting it out of the entrance to their lair. His eyes caught sight of a very soaked looking Jinx standing in the snow. His eyes widened as she looked at him. "Well, you gunna open the door, Kyd? I got nowhere else to go."
Kyd's head re-emerged from his cape, and he looked at the others with his eyes still wide in shock before running to the door and opening it. "'Bout damn time, Kyd." Jinx snapped at him with a tad bit too much vehemence, and then stalked inside, straight to her old room, locking the door behind her.
Raven sat up in bed, reading from her favourite book. A collection of works from Edgar Allan Poe, an author whom she could relate to. His works held a darkness she felt was needed in all literature: Not too dark, but neither was it a story without sadness, And even though his most famous work was her namesake, she truly cherished the works for their originality. She even drew a lot of her own drive from his example. He lived in a time where life was, by definition, a living hell. Yet he strove to bring people some clarity of entertainment even if it meant he'd go without food sometimes. It's a tale none too different from her own. So it wasn't surprising to see her reading that book, while thinking of her own Lenore.
Oh, how that pink haired vixen had always driven her wild. Nobody knew which way Raven swung, not even the Boy Wonder, and that's because she hid her emotions so well. And unfortunately for our raven haired heroine, the only one who's ever piqued her interest was that thief with bubblegum hair and eyes. Oh how she hated her own weakness for that Cheshire grin, but she was the woman had hexed and vexed her from day one when they attacked the Tower. "What are you doing now, Lenore?"
Her mind began to wander down into Nevermore, taking a stroll, literally, down Memory Lane. Knowledge seemed to have inherited Raven's dry humor, and so Raven's memories were organized into movie theatres that ran along a nearly endless street called 'Memory Lane'. It had taken all of Raven's restraint not to wring the aspect's neck when she first came here. Now it, oddly enough, amused her. "Knowledge, where are you?" Suddenly an information kiosk appeared in front of Raven, with the grey cloaked Knowledge inside. "What do you need, Mistress?"
"The usual, Knowledge." Suddenly an arm covered in pink fabric wrapped around Raven's neck, as Happy glomped her. "Dwelling on her won't help you, Mistress." A green version of herself kicked the pink one off and then smiled at Raven. "She's right, Mistress. Go get our girl back!" Even the yellow cloaked Timid agreed with everyone. "Without her, life will only get worse." Raven smiled at them all. "I wish I could go get her... but she's happy with someone else. That's enough for me." As soon as Raven entered the theatre, she knew something was up. There was two seats inside the theatre, when every other time, just one had been there. And the other seat was occupied by someone wearing red.
"'Bout time you showed up, mistress."The cloaked figure turned its head, reveal two solid red eyes. "Don't worry, I'm not your enemy anymore. Father used me as much as he did you." The aspect spat at the mention of their sire, then signalled for Raven to sit beside her. Raven did so reluctantly. "How are you out of your plane? I bound you there." The aspect shook her head and smiled. "No, you bound Father there. I'm no longer under his control. I'm your natural Anger." The movie began playing, a compilation of all Raven's memories of Jinx. Both watched it in silence until the memories began featuring Kid Flash. That's when Anger began to growl. "You say you're happy as long as She is happy, but if that were true; why do I feel the need to rip Kid Flash's intestines out and strangle him with them?" Raven couldn't deny it. She was angry at Kid for taking her Jinx away. "Even if I'm mad at Flash... Jinx still deserves happiness, with or without me."
"But what if she's not happy? You know as well as I do what that bastard is like." Raven glared at Anger for a bit, but she couldn't argue with her aspect. Anger was right, Flash was a total douche. Honestly, she was amazed that Flash hasn't cheated on her yet, considering he flirted with anything with two legs. "If she's not happy... I'll rip out Flash's intestines myself and give them to you." Anger flashed a sadistic, toothy smile then. "Glad we agree... for once."
After leaving Nevermore, Raven needed to get out. It was a beautiful day outside, and, contrast to her dark demeanour, she loved to be out on a sunny day. Porting herself into the commons with her shadows, she motioned to Robin, who was cuddling with Kori on the couch. "When did you get back, Dick?" She inquired, and Kori answered excitedly, as always. "Oooooh! Raven, I have a Niece!" The alien princess rushed up to Raven and hugged her violently, and for once, Raven thanked her demonic heritage. The news that Blackfire, one of their oldest enemies, now lived on Earth with Derrick Jordan of all people, truly surprised the half demon. And now she had two children, a boy and a girl. "Congratulations, Kori. Did you give Blackfire my message?" Kori nodded, smiling. "Your gift made Blackfire cry. A warding charm that uses the love of family... how do you always know what to give?"
"Probably just my demon nature. Temptresses and all that. Anyways, Dick, I'm going out for a bit." Robin nodded his acceptance. "Just keep your T-comm on, never know when trouble might happen."
And so, Raven quickly flew to her favourite dark cafe in town.
Kyd silently snuck up on See-More, tapping him on the shoulder to scare him. "Don't scare me like that, Kyd!" He whispered violently. Kyd began to move his hands swiftly, using sign language to converse with See-More. You shouldn't be spying on her, See-More. She'll catch you. "I know what I'm doing Kyd." Another finger tapped him on the shoulder. "No you don't." The Cyclops turned to see that Cheshire grin aimed at him, just before a hex bolt hit him and sent him flying into a wall. "You ever spy on me again, See-More, and you won't live the night."
Kyd tapped Jinx on the shoulder, gaining her attention before using sign language to talk to her. Are you okay now, Jinx? The sorceress smiled at him. "You learnt sign language, good. And no, I'm not fine, though I'm feeling better. I just need time, Kyd. Thank you for worrying though." Kissing him on the cheek, she giggled lightly then returned to her room, dropping the happy-go-lucky facade and fell onto her bed in sobs. "How could he?! We actually had something there, and he threw me aside like trash!" She lay in bed like that for a while before falling asleep.
Her dreams disturbed her. They flew between a red and yellow blur that she chased but couldn't catch, and her own shadow, with a raven upon its shoulder. A flame rose, a red beast roared in the distance, a lasso came out of nowhere and bound her to a wall of silver before the raven upon her shadow's shoulder flew from it and broke the rope. She ran, and ran, until she came upon a river. She drank to quench her thirst, but after her first sip, the river began to steal the pink energy that flowed through her. The Raven flew to the other side of the river, and, after its shadowy body flowed into the river, became Raven.
Jinx woke with a start. What was that about?Sure, she'd always played on both teams, but this was Raven she was dreaming about. Albeit a mythical, prophetic type of dream, but a dream nonetheless. "Well, may as well go out and get some air. Can't keep myself cooped up forever, after all." Getting up and getting ready for a night on the town, Jinx smiled as she looked herself over in the mirror. She kept the traditional horns that she always wore, but this time she bound them in twin spiral ribbons that tied at the top and streamed down to her neck from them. Her dress was a mix of pink, purple, and a tad bit of red at the hems, with a knee length skirt that had a slit up the left side. Her back was exposed in a V that went down to the middle of her back, and there was a small diamond cut into the front where her bosom met. Her breasts had grown a bit lately, and she felt like showing off her now not flat chest.
"Time to get the wow factor going." The hex caster giggled out as she walked out with a sway to her hips. She smiled at the boys as she walked past the rec area. "I'm going out for a bit, boys. I'll be back sometime." Before any of them could comment she was out the door. She strutted her way down the streets of Jump City, heading down to a local club she always loved. The doorman smiled as she came up. "It's been a while, Jinx! Where ya been?" Jinx smiled her Cheshire smile back at the man. "I was out of town, Rick. How's the club tonight, busy?"
"Extremely, just like ya like it, girl. Get in there and show em how to party." The man smiled at her and opened the door. Jinx walked into a dark room with lots of neon and flashing lights, fast paced dance music playing so loud, she could barely think. "Hey guys! I'm Back!" The hex caster yelled with a laugh, and rushed into the crowd to mingle. The night was young, and she'd stay with it until it died.
The sun was breaking into the dark cafe, signalling the first rays of the morning sun. Raven had been pleasantly surprised when she walked into her cafe to find an all night poetry reading in progress. The owner had smiled when she walked in. "Was going to call you, Miss Roth, but the bureaucrats wouldn't give me your contact information." She quickly gave him her T-Comm number, then took a seat at her usual table, which had a few of the other regulars sitting at it, and began listening to the poets.
She made a few turns herself by the end of the night, a surprise that all of the customers appreciated. Not often was the voice of this dark Titan heard by anyone other than her team. And it turned out Raven had a knack for the dramatics, enthralling the audience with her own rendition of Poe's The Raven. But now it was time for Raven to get home. She bowed to the audience and walked off stage, handing a twenty to the owner to pay for her tea and the enjoyable night. "Let me know when you do this again, Hank." The owner grinned widely. "I will, Miss Roth. It's an honor to have you as a regular here."
She smiled graciously at the owner and walked out the door... only to have the door itself slam into someone's face. Raven's eyes went wide as soon as she heard the 'thud' of a body hitting pavement, and instantly moved to the person's side. "I'm sorry, I didn't..." The person she hit... was Jinx. It was like destiny was being a total bitch, giving her tastes of what she wants but can never have. "Jinx?" The pink haired ex-villain opened her eyes, revealing hazed over eyes. Judging from the chaotic bliss rolling off the woman, she was drunk. Like, drank like a fish drunk. The hex caster suddenly gave Raven one of her trademark grins, bringing butterflies to Raven's stomach. "Hello, gorgeous, I was just dreaming about you. Hic." She tried standing, but almost fell over again before Raven caught her. "Woah there, Jinx. You're in no condition to walk. Where's Wally?" The sudden change in Jinx's demeanor made her feel two things: Hope... and Anger. "As far as I know, not far enough away."
"I'll take you to the tower, Jinx. You can sleep this off in the guest room." Jinx giggled a bit. "I usually don't go home with you on the first date, but I'll make an exception for you, Miss Roth." Raven just kept blushing. "Keep that up, and I'll dump you in the bay along the way." The whine and look Jinx gave her almost made Raven's knees buckled, but she held firm her glare until Jinx agreed to keep quiet. She then levitated the two of them off the ground and into the air, then accelerated towards the tower.
When she arrived, she walked into a normal early morning scene. Ops was filled with half awake heroes... and the fearless leader, who never slept. Beastboy yawned loudly from the couch as he turned on the television to some odd comedy show. Terra melted over the back of the couch and took up a position beside him, as per their normal morning schedule. Cyborg was already cooking, the flashy meat vs tofu argument just waiting on BB's reaction to the smell. Robin sat at one of the computers, reading several news reports simultaneously, and Star sat at the computer beside him checking her Email and updating her status and looking at her friends' status on some sort of social network. But all eyes went to her the moment she stepped into the door, guest in tow.
"Raven? Is that..." Terra began, but Raven cut her off. "Yes, it's Jinx, Tara. Don't ask for the details right now, she needs to sleep off the night she just had." And with that comment, Raven floated her and Jinx to the spare bedroom. The Tower was built to house seven heroes, originally, but since both Kid Flash and Wondergirl had declined their memberships, two rooms had gone unused for most of the time. Now one of those rooms was for Terra, and one was a guest room. It was Fitting that Jinx was sleeping in Kid Flash's room. At least she got something out of him... When I see his face... Remember our promise, Mistress.