(A/N: What did I tell you about my fingers? Well don't get used to it, I just had a spur of the moment idea, that's all, so that's why it moght not be as good. Also, let me know if Starfire seems a little OOC. Don't worry, I can take it. sniffle)

I'm Not Evil…But My Friends Are

A figure sat in a room, watching a computer bank. One large monitor sat in the center of six others. The one in the middle, currently displaying a news report from live TV, was hooked up to a laptop sitting on the desk in front of the bank. As the figure watched, he tapped a few keys, pausing the video and accessing a schematic.

Good ol' TiVo.

Titan's Tower popped up, and the figure compared the video to the schematic. Sure enough, the hole was right where the prison area would be, which was the entire sixth floor. A few more keystrokes closed the schematic and the video, and the figure leaned back, clicking his manicured fingernails together.

A door opened behind him, and a large, muscular form walked in, accompanied by a slightly shorter, leaner form. The large form stayed back by the door, while the leaner of the two stepped forward, saying "Sir, the experiment is stable…for now. We-"

"Morris, would you please be so kind as to let Parker update on his own project, or is he too stupid to do so?" said the figure in the chair, not even turning to look.

The larger form, Parker, stepped forward, clearing his throat and letting the insult go over his head. In his deep, booming voice, the large man said "We did what you said and injected the live nitroglycerin into the experiment's system. I wasn't sure at first, but apparently the compounds already in her bloodstream made a stable chemical reaction."

"Her, Parker? Getting slightly attached now, are we?"

Parker realized his slip up and said "Well, sir, with all due respect, I've been working on her for six years. I think I have the right to view her as sort of like my daughter. Just as-"

"Just as any of us would view HIM as our son…the rebel teen who always got in trouble." said the apparent leader.

Silence.

The seated figure looked back over his shoulder, saying "Very well. Where's Ferguson with the equipment update?"

Morris stepped in, saying "He sends his apologies sir. One of his prototypes was disastrously unstable. He needed to devote as much time as he could to it. He has given me a piece of news, though…the new devices are almost done."

"Excellent. Parker, your stabilization formula?"

"Completed, tested and perfected as of two days ago, sir."

The seated figure turned, getting up and stepping towards Morris and Parker, hands now gloved and clasped behind his back.

"Gentlemen, let us have a look at what our 'son' has gotten himself into, shall we?"

All three men snickered, then stepped towards the video room to watch the tapes from the thousands of hidden wires in security cameras around Jump City. As each figure stepped underneath a swinging light bulb over the door, their features were illuminated.

Morris was pale, with bright red hair in a crew cut. His eyebrows were also red, as well as his moustache. An eye patch covered his right eye socket, and the patch was held up by six black cloth strips which went around his head at various angles. He twirled a pistol idly from his left hand, tossing it up in the air sometimes to catch it behind his back without looking.

Parker was dark skinned, bald, but had a full beard, which was lime green. The same went for his eyebrows. His arms were muscled beyond what seemed possibility, and he had a bloodstained lab coat over one shoulder. Stuffed in his belt was an equally bloodstained machete, still dripping with the fresh combat from down below.

However, when the light swung over the leader's face, all it revealed was a black and orange mask without a left eye.

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Robin was so pissed off.

"ALRIGHT! WHERE THE FUCK DID HE GO?!"

Although, of course, he was yelling this while his nose was encased in a cast, so it came out more like "ALBITE! BERE DA MDUCK BID E GO?!"

It would have been quite humorous if not for the fact that his looks was so murderous that Beastboy, having only a bloody nose, black eye, and concussion, Cyborg, sporting a large bruise over his organic eye and a small dent on the metal part of his head, and Raven, more shocked than scared, were all cowering in the corner.

Starfire, bless her heart, came up with an instant solution to calming Robin down; she raised her fist, then brought it straight down, hitting the top of the Boy Wonder's skull. Robin's jaws snapped together on his own tongue, making gasp with agony as he opened up the cut again. Actually, Robin had really bitten off the tip of his tongue, and Cyborg had been getting ready to cauterize the slightly healed wound when Robin had woken up.

However, now that Robin was stunned, Starfire could finally talk sense into him.

Leaning over, she focused her eyes one Robin's own…or, at least, through his mask. For a second, she did nothing, her face expressionless.

Then, she snarled "And just how do you expect this will fix anything, Robin? Screaming at your friends to find a man you attempted to frame because he had worked for men connected to Slade? You were just looking for an excuse to get rid of him! I can tell!"

Robin was now sitting up, his arms crossed, an aggravated look on his face. It seemed he was just going to try and ride this lecture out. "What was it, Robin? What was wrong with him?"

"He was…friends of the HIVE. He was a typical street rat-" Robin began, but before he could continue, he was silenced by Starfire, who overrode his explanation.

"NO! It was because he would not listen to every word you said! Nobody is perfect, Robin! It was within the nature of Seth to rebel, because that is how he grew up! Not everyone is sliced away to be 'good guys!'"

At this, Cybrog commented "Uh, that's 'cut out to be good guys,' Star."

His comment was met with a venomous glare, which shut him back up again.

Starfire continued. "Some people come from harsh places on this planet, and their nature is hardened like the snerlic after growing its armor! Friend Raven!"

She whirled on Raven, fury still burning in her eyes. "Why did you distrust Seth?"

Raven stammered, trying to think of a reason. Starfire provided one for her.

"It was because he shunned all advice and did what he truly wanted! It was because he still wanted to be the rebellious individual he used to be! ARRGH!"

Starfire's eyes suddenly glowed green, and she screamed out in fury.

"I CANNOT BELIEVE HOW BLIND AND SELFISH SOME BEINGS ARE!"

Starbolts began pouring out of her fingers and mouth, pelting the Med bay with high energy projectiles. The other Titans took cover, trying to escape her furious barrage. For what seemed like forever, the room glowed green. After about twenty seconds however, Starfire finally stopped, breathing heavily in rage.

The room looked like a battlefield.

Instruments were destroyed, there were holes in the walls, and every loose piece of furniture had been either tipped over or obliterated.

Starfire, however, was nowhere near calm. Storming forward, she grabbed Robin by the collar, hauling him up to stare him straight in the eye, still snarling.

"We cannot afford to fight one another! If we push our allies away because there is a slight peculiarity with them, our enemies draw strength from that and destroy us!"

She finally loosened her hold on him, closing her eyes and taking deep, calming breaths. Finally, she said "Friends, I believe I am better. The rush in my blood is gone."

All of the Titans sighed in relief. A pissed off Starfire was not someone to mess with.

Cyborg stood up, saying "Well, given the current situation, we better get down to it. I don't know about the rest of y'all, but I'm eager to get those cop choppers gone."

He walked over to the computer, which had miraculously escaped the barrage, and started typing commands in the keyboard on his arm, which was linked up to the computer by WiFi. After a few seconds work, a picture of Seth popped up on the monitor. Text scrolled out from various points on the boy's body.

Stepping away, Cyborg began what he would have been doing after cauterizing Robin's wounds, but Starfire's rampage had gotten in the way. Either way, he decided it was time to get things back on track.

As soon as everyone found a reasonably comfortable place to sit or stand on the debris, Cyborg began the briefing. It would have to be down in the Med bay in case someone's wounds opened up again, but it didn't seem likely. All the same, you could never be too careful.

Pointing at Seth's legs, he started with "Okay, so we know that these are his main weapons, right?"

Agreement went around the room.

"And we know he's got all those gadgets inside him, right?"

Agreement.

"AND we know that he's a hell of a lot smarter than he looks or let's on, right?"

Hasty agreement.

"Well, I was also a little suspicious of him, so-" He punched a key, and the screen changed. Now it was replaced with several sets of charts.

Cyborg explained "These charts compare the chemical makeup of a normal human with the chemical makeup of Seth, and Lo and Behold! guess what I found."

Point at several different graphs in the same second.

"His metabolism is five times greater than a regular human's, so that explains why he'll even eat all of Starfire's cooking."

A small shudder went around the room. Starfire had a small frown on her face, and Cyborg caught himself, saying "I mean, he eats so much of it, he might even give Starfire a run for her money in an easting contest."

Starfire had heard this phrase about 'dashing for currency' before, so she knew what it meant.

"Anyway, I also found several deadly chemicals and poisons in there too. Small portions of it, but they're there anyway. It's like someone was trying to make him immune to them or something. I ran a trace through one I'd never heard of, and I got an obscure, limited info file on it."

The next window showed the file, with several scrambled words.

"What it's basically saying is that Seth is carrying a compound in his body that increases the density of everything in his legs. Blood, bone, muscle, you name it. It pours out of his adrenalie glands, which we know have hyper shockers on them, and does its work everytime Seth's heart beats. A slightly similar solution was made by STAR Labs about twenty years ago for muscles and bones, people with deficiencies and diseases and all that. That project was scrapped not long after it began, due to the fact that those who used it suddenly became too poweful and had other...interesting side effects. However, someone was discovered still working with it."

The next window showed a small newspaper article, telling about the rogue scientist's arrest. The name Parker came up in the description at the end.

Moving on, Cyborg said "I looked some more in the STAR Labs files, but couldn't find anything else. However, when I went back and looked at another X-ray of Seth, I found something."

He flicked back to the picture of Seth, then pressed FILTER. Seth's bones and all his internal devices were lit up, and Cyborg indicated the brain, zooming in.

"I don't know how I missed this before but it's there." The other Titans had to lean in, except Beast Boy who wasn't really paying attention. No one spoke for a while. Then, Robin asked "Is that a…microchip?"

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The door opened, and Jinx stepped inside, moving to allow Seth and Mammoth inside, the latter still carrying Gizmo. Seth frowned as the light was turned on.

The place was a goddamn pigsty.

Empty liquor bottles and soda cans sitting on almost all table space, a half used pack of cigarettes spilled over the floor, stains on the furniture, carpet and walls. Oi Jesus, not even a pig would want to live here.

Seth did another visual sweep of the room, then said "We're probably in the wrong place. This obviously belongs to a bunch of slobs. C'mon, I'm sure I saw another hidden shack out there."

Jinx sighed and said "I know it doesn't look like much, but it can still be cleaned…right?"

Seth ran a hand through his shaggy blue mane, fiddling with the strip of leather holding his hair in its ponytail. A small grimace appeared on his face, but he stepped forward, using his foot to close the door behind him. Mammoth had already dumped Gizmo in the miniature menace's room and returned to his own. He was obviously going to try and stay out of Jinx's way, since the witch had been treating Mammoth to death glares on the entire trip.

They were out in the desert, about five or six miles from the city. The shack that Seth had been referring to was hidden in a large depression in the base of a cliff, facing away from the city. From what he could get from Jinx and Mammoth, there were wires going through some caves under the desert, all the way to the city, where they branched off and went to different buildings to get power and internet connection. There was also a pipe or two for water. These guys were well off out here.

Except that there was no sewage. That meant no bathroom.

Seth picked his way through the junk towards the card table in the corner. He picked up a chair, set it upright, and was about to sit down when Jinx said "Um…Seth? About earlier…"

Seth glanced back, forced to blow a blue bang out of his eyes. Then, he did it again to confirm what he saw. Was Jinx…blushing?

"Well, what about it?" Seth said in a playful manner, blue eyebrow cocked. This was his sign for 'No hard feelings, but let's hear it.'

She relaxed slightly, but the blush still didn't go away. In fact, it actually deepened.

"Well," she started as she slowly moved towards him, hands behind her back. She couldn't look straight at his face for some reason. "I…wouldn't mind getting some more of those in the future…but, y'know, more friendly, not something to calm a nervous breakdown."

Seth grinned. Was this the real Jinx? The Jinx under the mask?

"Are you asking for a hug or two?"

"Or three." She giggled lightly.

Seth rubbed his eyes, commenting "It's about time you actually followed your own advice."

Jinx tilted her head to the side, slightly, then caught his drift, smiling broadly and saying "Well, I had to let the whole 'tough as steel' act fall sometime for someone. And, I think you might know this certain someone."

"Oh really? Do tell, what's he like?"

It was a flirt fest, and Seth was determined to win. However, so was Jinx.

"Oh, he's kinda tall, most of his height's in his legs. He never cuts his hair, and he smokes too."

Seth quickly dropped his cigarette and ground it under his boot. "Really? How unattractive. You don't have very good taste in guys, y'know?"

Seth looked back up at her, mischief sparkling in his eyes as he made his way over to her just as slowly, taking his time, seeing the same expression on her face.

"I also happen to have a special someone."

"Oh really? Go ahead, describe him." She was grinning like there was no tomorrow.

Seth stuck out his tongue at her, then said "Well, she's got pink hair that always stands up, wears out of date platform shoes, and keeps telling everyone she's crazy."

Jinx feigned a gasp of shock, even putting her hand up to her cheek.

Drama Queen.

"Oh, how awful! You must be getting blackmailed something terrible to have to want such a horrible girl!"

They were now standing very close. Seth's hands had been in his pockets this entire time, but now he pulled them out, placing them on her hips as he drew even closer.

When their faces were only a few inches apart, he said "Y'know, if you see this girl, there's one piece of advice you should give her."

"Pray tell, what would that be?" She was flashing those perfect white teeth, even in the half darkness, since she couldn't stop smiling. Damn, what was wrong with her? What was wrong with both of them?

Seth screwed up his face, as if in thought, before he said "Tell her she needs a towel."

Jinx frowned.

"Huh?" Wow, there must also be intelligent life out in the desert.

Seth winked, then grabbed a large cup full of water from the table, pouring it over Jinx's head. She shrieked as it soaked into her hair, making it fall out of its usual hairstyle. She stood there in shock as the water rolled down her uniform, finally puddling at her feet. She spluttered, pulling a few strands of hair out of her face to find Seth doubled over, laughing his lungs out. Jinx just stared at him, then grinned evilly. He wanted to up the game, did he? Seth saw her expression, and realized what it meant. Quick as greased lightening, he made a dash for the door, but Jinx was faster. With a wave of her hand, the faucet bent, pointing straight at Seth's back as he tried to escape.

Too slow.

The water came out with a whoosh! that knocked him headfirst into the wall.

Jinx was merciful though. Sort of.

As soon as Seth was drenched, she shut off the water, allowing the soaking wet blue head to comically slide to the floor.

Seth separated himself from said wall, spluttering and gasping, then turned to Jinx, saying "I guess I deserved that."

Jinx grinned at him, sticking out her tongue and saying "That's what you get for teasing."

She turned towards her room, intending to dry off her hair and get what sleep she could. It was three in the morning, after all.

Before she could get very far, though, a pair of arms wrapped around her waist, and a voice whispered in her ear "Who says I was teasing?"

A pair of lips suddenly planted themselves on the junction between her neck and her shoulder, and Jinx's eyes snapped wide for a moment before she closed them, moaning slightly and leaning back into him.

After about a minute of him sucking at her neck, Jinx turned around in his grasp, crushing her mouth over his before he could react. A slight noise of surprise, and then he returned the kiss, putting one arm up on her back, and the other behind her head as both of her arms coiled around his neck. She licked his lips, begging entrance, and he gave it to her, sliding his own tongue into her mouth. She could taste the nicotine, the whiskey, but it seemed to mix into a sweet taste. Seth could also taste slight traces of the vodka she had had earlier, but Jinx mostly tasted like, slightly surprising, fresh apples and strawberries.

At first, it was simply like that, with them just standing in the pigsty of a room, both sopping wet. Then, with a lurch, they both fell back towards, then started staggering over to Jinx's bedroom door, still not breaking the kiss.

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A reporter stood by the edge of the bay with Titan's Tower in full sight. The hole was clearly visible, thanks to the three police helicopters shining their spotlights on it.

The reporter turned back to the camera and said "Hey Jim, are we ready?"

The cameraman made one final adjustment, then nodded, flashing the thumbs up. The reporter turned on the microphone as the cameraman did the countdown on his fingers.

"We're live at Titan's Tower, home and operations base of the Teen Titans. Just a little over two hours ago, another of our reporters did our first coverage on this incident; a breakout by another mega-teen. Reports say he first defeated Titans Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy before ingeniously releasing three HIVE members and being the first to escape from the Titans' imprisonment. This teen goes by the name of Seth, has blue hair, and smokes quite often for a teenager. Beware, for his kicks can break through bulletproof glass, he is a strategic genius, and he is tough enough to shake off the effects of a bullet straight to the chest."

The reporter looked down at his hand, briefly, on which his notes were written, and then snapped his head back up and continued "To counter this threat, the mayor and Chief of Police have sent a request to the US armed forces, and it has been answered. Two divisions of infantry, as well as five armored units and one Blackhawk attack helicopter are being sent to Jump City as we speak. They will be stationed at the meta-human prison, and will stay there for as long as it takes to take down all the threats in Jump City once and for all. Once again, reporting live for Jump City News Special, this is Stan Johnston."

Stan drew a finger across his throat, and Jim stopped rolling, saying "Stan, don't you think you kind of blew it out of proportion? I mean, c'mon, defeated? He fought Robin and ambushed Cyborg, then bushwhacked Beast Boy."

Stan just shrugged, saying "Who the hell cares? It's a news story. Plus, we gotta milk the excitement while we can. I'm betting this Seth character won't last a week. The Titans are placing a hundred thousand on his head alive, and the mayor and police are putting one fifty-thousand dead. This place'll be swarming with bounty hunters."

(It's all out war on Jump City's most wanted! Now review before a bullet misses and hits you in the head.)