I do not own Teen Titans.
Something Wykkyd This Way Comes
A Strange Partnership
If anyone were to ask someone who lived in the subterranean Hive which room everyone was careful around, they would point you to a rather unassuming corner of the dorms. If one were so inclined to pursue this inquiry, against the earnest warnings of the Hive kids, you would eventually find yourself in front of a door, seemingly the same as every other in the barracks.
But it was what, or rather, who lay behind that door that raised these earnest warnings.
Jinx looked up from her workbench. Someone was knocking. She raised an eyebrow and glanced at the clock on its surface. Her other eyebrow rose as well. She gave a cursory glance at her room, looking for anything too incriminating, a habit she drilled into herself. Using a foot foot to nudge a bra out of site, she pivoted on the other and looked at the door. Her glance alternated between the door and her bench and, with a sigh, she threw a piece of canvas over the new Wayne Enterprises lock she was trying to crack.
No use letting someone else get an advantage over her.
She walked forward, carefully stepping between the various piles of clothing, lock-picks, burner phones and notebooks. As she neared the door, she idly wondered who would be stupid, or desperate, enough to bother her so late. Or was it early? When did late night become early morning anyway? She shook her head at the errant question and huffed out a breath to blow away the stray lock of hair that fell across her face.
She took a deep breath, whether to greet or berate, she did not know, and reached out for the handle. It opened with a muffled click, easily ignored after years of exposure. The held breath whooshed out of her in bewilderment. She smirked at her guest, trying to hide her bemusement. She leant against the doorframe, the metal cool against her exposed arm and spoke, "Kyd! What brings you to my doorstep?"
Kyd Wykkyd let his arm drop from where he was ready to knock again. He stepped back a pace. His method of communication needed a tad more space to work. In that second, the two teens studied each other.
Kyd looked at the girl he'd come to visit. Her fuchsia eyes were alight with curiosity. They rarely interacted when not on a job, and even then they rarely crossed paths, so it was only to be expected. Her hair, matching her eyes, was gathered in a messy ponytail, slightly off-centre. She wore a lime green tank-top, short enough to show a sliver of ash-coloured skin above her scarlet shorts. Combined with her traditional striped tights, it clashed horribly. He idly wondered if that was the effect she was going for.
Jinx looked at the boy who had come to visit her. His eyes were pools of scarlet, a red so vibrant she sometimes caught herself waiting for blood to leak from them. His skin was a shade darker than hers. That in of itself was strange, but Kyd embodied more secrets, many of them more worthy of her attention. Like how he could stand the heat in his costume, thick wool and a silk under layer, even inside the base. Granted, he had at least gotten rid of that stupid helmet.
Or how he never spoke, even though his medical records showed that he was perfectly capable, his mutations not affected him in that regard. She knew. She checked. How he got the inside of his cloak that strange shade and texture, how or why the shadows inside it seemed to writhe when not looked at directly. Or even how or why he was mutating as he was.
She looked at him now, glancing at the changes she noticed since he joined the Hive.
His lack of hair. He had not always been like that. She could remember when he first came to the Hive, he had a full head of hair. His habit of wearing it slicked backwards had earned him many a joking remark about gangsters or vampires.
The bumps on his lips, the teeth pressing up against them from beneath. She knew they were changing, his diet alongside. It had been a long time since she saw him eat anything that hadn't bled at some point.
The strange, almost pebbly skin on his head. It came in patches, seemingly radiating out from the crown of his skull. In the right light, she could vaguely see them reflecting the surroundings. Entirely too much like scales for her to be perfectly at ease. Even in their profession, something like that was anything but commonplace.
Their surveying had taken mere moments, but they knew what happened. Jinx grinned, insolent, and Kyd's mouth twitched into the ghost of a smirk. He glanced down, rather deliberately and started signing.
Jinx looked at his hands. Kyd had fallen into the habit of using the HIVE's operational sign language. It meant that basically anyone he interacted with understood him, but it limited his interaction with civvies and non-Hivers. Not that it mattered. He was not really in a position to mingle.
- Greetings - Leader-
Jinx palmed her face with her free hand. Her voice was muffled as she spoke, "You want something, don't you?" Her eyes were visible through the gaps betwixt her fingers.
He nodded, but made a sign – Affirmative – anyway. She sighed, running her hand over her face to her ponytail, idly tugging on it. "Even the mute comes asking for favours… just my luck."
He stuck out his tongue and gestured – Small -. She looked at him, thinking a bit. She stepped back, sweeping her arm inwards. "Wanna come in? Don't think that's the best spot to ask for a favour."
He shook his head. – Unneeded – Walk –Talk – Discrete –
She pursed her mouth, thinking. She whirled around and called over her shoulder, "Gimme a minute." She didn't give him time to respond, guiding the door closed with her foot. She looked around at the mess and mused out loud, "Where did I put that?"
As she came out, she found him leaning against the wall opposite her door. He came fully to his feet as she closed the door on the ungodly chaos she called a room. She locked the door, using both the keypad and the physical lock. She slipped the loop the key was on over her neck, and tucked it under her blouse.
She smirked at Kyd's raised eyebrow. "What? Think anyone is going to lift it of me without me noticing?" Kyd blinked, smirked and gestured –Acknowledged-
The pair started making their way out of the dorms. Jinx had swapped her casual clothing for something a tad more familiar, slipping into her work clothing, though it felt strange to see her without her familiar horned 'do. The dress was wrinkled and lines crisscrossed its surface, but she seemed not to notice. She adjusted the hem and glanced at Kyd. "So… where we going?"
-Home-Leader-
Home leader? Well… Home would be the Hive… so either the Headmistress or Blood? But we're going to the faculty apartments, and not the academy, so…
"Brother Blood?"
Kyd nodded distractedly. His nostrils suddenly flared and he lightly touched her arm. She glanced at his hand as he flew through signals –Incoming- Silent- No Threat-
So he wants to keep whatever it is a secret? Or make someone work for it. Not like we're actually sneaking around, after all…
They split up when the Enforcer turned a nearby corner. They pressed against the sides of the hallway, letting the robed figure pass. It paid to be respectful to the Enforcers, it truly did. They were less likely to send you to the medi-centre if you treated them with respect.
They walked in silence for a while, until the sounds of the Enforcer's footsteps died away. They didn't need to make a sound, of course, but it was a small courtesy the more astute Hivers were thankful for.
Jinx turned a questioning glance to Kyd and frowned when he nodded. "But Blood is out of the Hive. Don't know why, but no-one's seen him in two days…" She stopped when Kyd nodded and started gesturing. –Known-Mission-Discrete-
Jinx frowned and her voice was faux-idle, "Not really a mission though, is it?" Kyd lifted a corner of his mouth, flashing a bright gleam of elongated teeth. –No-Close-
She was about to ask him to clarify, but blinked in realization. They stood in front of Blood's door. She turned towards Kyd, leaning against the locked door with crossed arms. "What now, genius? We can't get in."
-Wrong- Kyd's hand flashed to the keypad, typing in a series of numbers. The door leapt open and Jinx lost her balance. With a gasp she fell backwards, but she managed to get her hands under her and jump up with a handspring. The landing would have been very smooth, she reflected, had it not been for the sudden flash as the light switched on or the bowl of fruit suspended from the wall.
I am in so much trouble. Jinx scrunched her eyes close and waited for the bowl to shatter. It didn't, though there were a series of thuds as the fruit smacked the floor. Instead, she felt a pervasive feeling of wrongness – like a shiver and being nauseous and losing your balance, all at once. She opened her eyes and was entirely unsurprised to see Kyd with the bowl in his hands. "Nice catch."
She couldn't be sure, with his mono-colour eyes, but she was sure he rolled his eyes at her. He crouched down and started tossing the fruit back into the bowl. Apple, orange, pomegranate, grapes, banana, mango.
He looked up as he put the last fruit into the bowl, only to find Jinx looking at him inquisitively. "How did you know the code?" Kyd carefully kept his face blank, but gestured –Almost- Time-
He stood up and put the oblong bowl back onto the holders set into the wall. He turned around and closed the door. He turned around and saw Jinx looking at him with a smirk on her face and a glimmer in her eyes.
"So… now you have me here… alone… what insidious plans do you have in store for me?" She lightly ran her tongue over her lips. Then she started laughing. "I knew it! You can blush! It's so cute!"
She was sure he was rolling his eyes this time. He grabbed her wrist and dragged her deeper into the apartment. She hadn't been here before, and her gaze flew over her surroundings, but she got only a vague impression of plush carpets, mahogany bookshelves and leather armchairs before Kyd dragged her into what looked like the proper study.
She looked around. The walls were wood, dark and rich. Combined with the scarlet carpet and the low light, it lent the study a feeling of vague decadence. Which kinda fit Blood, had she been honest. The feeling was somewhat offset by the deep green of some kind of plant on the corner of the truly enormous desk on the far side of the room. Kyd walked over to it, and flipped open the silver laptop on its surface. She made to stand next to him, but he stopped her. No gesture this time, just the universal open palm.
She rolled her eyes and watched him type, leaning over the black leather chair. His hands moved with purpose, but a certain hesitance. He hadn't done this many times then. He pressed down one last time, and closed the screen once more. He looked at her and flashed a message –Attention-Important-
Before she could ask what he meant, an image popped up against the wall.
Brother Blood sat at his desk, strangely not in his uniform, but a rather plain white shirt. He looked straight at the camera, and started speaking.
"Good evening, Kyd Wykkyd and guest. Before I start explaining, let me first apologize again for failing to be there Kyd. It galls me not to be able to help you this time. But I hope this will suffice.
"But first… you need the words. Kyd, press your thumb on the keyhole of the second drawer on the right. The words are in there." The image of Blood stopped talking, seeming to wait.
Kyd slipped of his glove and shoved it in a pocket. Jinx felt a slight shiver roll down her spine. He didn't have nails anymore. Claws, black and curved, rich with the promise of pain. She swallowed, trying to ignore her suddenly dry throat.
He lent over a bit and fiddled with a drawer. There was a click as it opened. He rummaged in it a bit and retrieved a piece of paper. It looked like whatever these instructions were; Blood didn't deem them important enough to spare anything save notebook paper… unless that was the defense. How valuable could something on a piece of ripped paper be?
"Now then," Jinx jolted in surprise. She pouted at the image of Blood. "I assume you found it. Dear Sir or Madam, first of all let me just make this clear. You are not to speak of this to anyone. If Kyd is not to trust you with this again, you are not to pursue an investigation or inquire about it." Blood smirked. "We all have our secrets best left buried."
"You are here only to follow the instructions on that paper. Follow them all. Exactly. Your life may very well depend on it. Should he choose to do so, Kyd may deem to share some background with you afterwards. I have to stress it again.
"Follow. The. Instructions. Precisely."
The image of Blood smiled, a genuinely friendly expression. "Good luck, Kyd."
Blood's hand moved towards the camera and the image shut off.
Jinx looked towards Kyd, only to find him next to her. He handed her the piece of paper. She glanced at it; then looked at it more intently. She squinted and made a vaguely disgusted sound in her throat. The spidery writing was atrocious.
Read all the instructions.
Ask Kyd to prepare the runes.
Speak the following – "Great one, I speak on behave of one of the Silent. He seeks audience with thee. We humbly seek audience, one to pay homage, one to serve as a voice. May we approach?"
Step through the portal.
Make not a single sound.
Jinx blinked. "This is a joke, right? It has to be."
Kyd shook his head. He sat on the edge of the desk and started tugging on his boots. He slipped out of one, but kept the sock on. –No- Necessity-
A frown crossed her brow. "He said you'll explain."
Kyd nodded, struggling with the other boot. He finally wrenched it off, and almost kneed himself in the face without the resistance. He clapped his hands to his thighs and stood up, sighing. –Later-Time- He gestured to her feet.
She sighed, strode over to the desk and shoved the paper at his chest. She raised her foot to the edge of the desk and started undoing her laces. She glanced up at Kyd, saw him looking at all the leg she was displaying and let a bit of her power light up her eyes. He turned around in a hurry. She snorted.
She could hear him moving, but she was focused on undoing the laces and trying to figure out what the hell was going on. She made progress on her boots, lining them up neatly on the edge of the desk next to Kyd's. But she made absolutely no progress with the other problem.
She turned around, mouth open to ask a question, but it died before it was formed.
She looked on in shock as Kyd drew something on the wall in what appeared to be his own blood. Oh yeah, it is blood. His thumb is bleeding. Even as she thought this, she could see him stop, frown and bring his thumb to his mouth again, biting deep. With this fresh new blood he continued to expand on the image.
It was a misshapen eye, turned on its side, an elongated teardrop. Its pupil was filled with a symbol that made her eyes water if she looked at it directly, a violent series of lines and curves. She tried to avoid it, but her eyes kept returning to it, the way it seemed to move and shift if she didn't look at it directly.
Kyd moved in front of it as he filled in the last of the symbols around the outer edge and the spell was broken. She felt sick. Not just nauseous, but ill. Feverish. She hugged herself and swallowed back a sudden tightness in her throat. She closed her eyes, but she still saw that symbol, red coiling and writhing on black.
She gasped as something took her hand, something cold and rough, inhuman. Her eyes flashed open and saw Kyd looking at her from a mere foot away. He looked pensive and a bit paler than normal –Necessity- He gripped her shoulder. It should have been comforting, but something was off. It made her skin crawl.
She closed her eyes, took a brief moment to center herself and opened them. "Give me the paper."
Kyd studied her face, nodded and handed her the paper. He moved to stand behind her, leaving her to face the disturbing glyph. She looked down and started reading the words, but a finger on her lips stopped her. She was acutely aware of the hard tip of the claw pressing into the soft flesh just above her lip. The same hand shifted its grip and moved, forcing her to look at the rune. She swallowed "I have to look at that thing?"
The hand made a thumbs-up. She nodded. She swallowed again, taking a bit of time to read through it, to make sure she knew the words. All the while, she could feel his hand on her shoulder, the sharper weight where the claws rested against her dress.
She looked up and shook her head to get her hair out of her face. She could feel her hair hitting his face. He sneezed and she laughed at that simple gesture, clear as a bell. The dread lifted and she looked the eye dead-on and started reciting.
"Great One." And suddenly that dread came back, redoubled. The air was too heavy, her clothes scratching at her skin. The heat from Kyd behind her suddenly burned like the sun and the lights dimmed, the shadows deepening. Everything was wrong, but she couldn't stop.
She tried. She really did, but her body didn't listen to her. The words tore out of her throat, frightfully loud and passionate, "I speak on behave of one of the Silent."
The shadows in the room writhed and twisted and seemed to move closer to the eye. For a moment, the coalescing darkness made the eye seem to blink. A shiver ran down her spine and it didn't stop. The shivers continued, growing stronger and stronger. She felt like she was dying, slowly, leeched away.
"We humbly seek audience, one to pay homage, one to serve as a voice." Her dress rippled in a sudden impossible breeze, heavy with the smell of wet earth and cracked sand, thick with dust and moisture. And the eye did blink, she would swear on it. The shivers grew stronger, her teeth chattering so badly the words seemed to vibrate. "May we approach?"
The eye closed and opened… and opened. A disk of darkness, shapes writhing just out of sight. The lights started flickering. She still couldn't make a sound, though she tried. The silent scream ravaged her throat, as Kyd eagerly bounded past her into that void. He disappeared in that murk. She half expected a ripple, but he just faded into the gap.
She stood still, the shivers still running up and down her spine, that impossible mix of smells still thick in the air. What was she supposed to do? Follow him? Into that? She was a criminal, but she wasn't insane. She made to go to the door, but something grabbed her hand.
She looked back and Kyd stared back at her, his head and arm seeming to just appear from the dark, as if nothing existed behind the wall. She couldn't quite place the expression on his face. He shook his head, almost sadly, and tugged on her arm. She resisted, digging in her metaphorical heels.
She could hear him sigh and he tugged again. The same gentle motion, almost pleading. He let her arm go and held his hand out, beckoning.
She looked at the door, swallowed and took his hand.
He drew her into the shadows.
AN: So finally done with the first chapter of this one. I'm thinking about 5 chapters for this.
And yeah, couple of AU elements in this, most which will prolly become clear as the story unfolds. Not gonna spoil too much here (or anything, actually), but if you really got a burning question, send me a PM. Also, really curious as to how you guys find my portrayal of Kyd's communication. Let me know.
PS - Yes, there is actually a difference between Hive and HIVE. The latter being the organization as a whole, the former being the local branch of it.
Read, enjoy and review.
~GrinGrin
Written: 16/02/2015
Posted: 16/02/2015