DISCLAIMER: I do not hold any rights to any Time Warner franchises or to those of its subsidiaries.
Cyborg was angrily pacing back and forth on the opposite side of Robin's desk. "How can you just sit there and act like what you did was okay? Did they really deserve to be publicly defamed like that?"
"They attacked US, Cyborg! The sooner we find them, the sooner we find Starfire and I just know that Beast Boy had something to do with her disappearance. I regret having to declare them as wanted criminals but it needed to be done." Robin's tone remained unreadable for the most part which frustrated Cyborg to no end.
The mostly metallic Titan stopped his pacing and turned to face his so called leader. "You're leaving something out and I know it, Dick. I'm not the only one who's noticed."
Suspecting that Cyborg did indeed know something important that he didn't, Robin let the venomous usage of his name slide. "What do you mean?"
Cyborg gladly hinted at what he'd meant in the hopes that making Robin sweat a little would loosen his tongue. "Raven probably hasn't seen the news yet but I certainly did and I can tell you that I'm definitely not the only person who suspects something."
Frowning at Robins prolonged confusion, Cyborg continued. "Do you really need a hint?" He questioned rather sarcastically. "Blue overcoat, matching fedora and an ungodly penchant for keeping their face out of view."
A moment of silent pondering took place. 'There was that one reporter in the front that questioned me. All the live video feeds were being shot from the back where they had a good view of me so they must not have caught his face and that stupid fedora obscured his identity because he was below me, but... his voice was...'
Robin went wide-eyed in recognition. "You don't think it's...?"
Solemnly nodding, the battery powered teen pressed on. "I'm on to you and so is the League."
"But why would he reveal himself so openly like that?" Robin figured that the man in question would've at least worn his true face and donned a different outfit in order to remain incognito but he hadn't.
'To intimidate you, genius.' Cyborg withheld his little internal comment and brought up the matter at hand once more. "That's not my problem. What is my problem is what you did to the grass stain and his gal pal the day that they 'attacked' you. Raven still won't even speak to me and your explanation is almost as bad as your color coordination. Do you even care that Raven is even more reclusive than when we first formed the team? She must be feeling like-"
Robin reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose, his testy nature began showing in his voice. "I told you! They-"
The cybernetic teen brazenly pounded a fist on the desk in front of him, leaving a dent, and spoke out before Robin could finish. "Yeah, yeah; they attacked us for no reason whatsoever and the footage of the incidence magically disappears - footage that only you and I should have access to."
Robin's stern look was immediately wiped off his face as he stood up in a fit of rage and more or less told Cyborg to get the hell out.
Time passed quickly back in Raven's room now that Raven herself and Jinx were on decidedly agreeable terms.
Jinx watched the empath as she tirelessly worked away - the cracks in the mirror were being sewn back together extremely slowly as some sort of red aura passed over them as a consequence of a complex series of chants and hand motions being completed. Raven noted that halfway through the process her energy reserves were strangely drained by a gargantuan amount in a matter of seconds which left her feeling dazed and remarkably tired but she had enough to finish the job, that much was certain.
Feeling exhausted after finishing the delicate process a few minutes later, Raven plopped down in her chair. "I hate blood magic." She barely slurred out before slumping forward in her seat.
Secretly grinning at Raven's theatrics, Jinx walked over and examined the eery hand mirror that had been the cause of all their problems. 'Not a single crack.' She inwardly cheered. 'But it doesn't feel right... Shouldn't it be doing something?'
She glanced back down at Raven before picking up and reading what the sorceress had translated into English from the tome she'd used. 'Ohhh! That's why she called it blood magic...' Her attention was immediately drawn to the unused knife that lay next to where the mirror was set. 'Let's see... If this is right then all that's left is to bind the mirror to its owner. Just a few drops of blood are needed.'
Feeling slightly guilty about considering extracting a little more than just a few drops of blood from Raven, Jinx gently shook the pale girl next to her.
The violet haired girl failed to stir. Jinx shrugged her shoulders; Raven didn't need to be awake for this anyway. Taking the knife, she gently pricked one of Raven's thumbs and let the necessary few drops of blood spill onto the reflective surface of the hand mirror.
Expecting some sort of flashy and dramatic explosion of magic and awe, Jinx was disappointed to see that the blood merely disappeared into the mirror as it was seemingly absorbed.
Only one thing was left to decide. 'Now, do I go to him or does he come to me?'
The tantalizing conclusion to the battle of beast versus construct in Nevermore quickly arrived and it could be said that for a certain rock solid being, it arrived a little too quickly.
If it were possible, the possessed statue's eyes would've widened in surprise as it finally saw what was coming for it. It'd only just begun swinging one of its swords when a blaze of dark emerald fire collided with its chest and shot straight through it, splitting the now lifeless statue into two with one clean stroke.
The billowing cloud of dust from the resultant collision settled almost painfully slowly which gave Rage ample time to recover from the cumbersome expulsion of the energy she'd previously released in the act of protecting her green traveling companion. Making her way over to the sight of impact with a subversive limp thanks to her stiff muscles, her eyes came across something unexpected.
"Beast Boy?" Rage confusingly called out upon seeing his green form, not a hint of anger was in her voice. 'Since when could he turn into that?' She couldn't be sure what "that" was but it was clearly another one of his numerous avian forms; this one now being about the size of her whole upper body which happened to be noticeably larger than the peregrine falcon he'd been a minute ago and its appearance was far more... unique.
Its feathers were entirely coated in an entrancing dark emerald color with the tips of its lengthy tail and wings glowing softly as they flickered to and fro like a flame.
It idly used one of its powerful wings to support itself on the ground as it lifted the other and preened the underside of it with its blackened beak in an exceedingly nonplussed manner.
'He's acting like he didn't just smash straight through a stone statue.' She unconsciously downplayed his feat by forgetting to bring up that it was a bewitched statue that happened to be trying to kill him.
Her clouded violet irides swiftly turned red as she gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. 'Fucking showoff.'
Fortunately for her, the mythical-looking creature passively exuded an aura of so much raw and unexplainable power that very air around it was rippling with it which prevented Rage from charging forward and making a poor decision. Of course, she'd never admit that she was actually daunted by a bird of all things so she forced herself to calm down at least slightly in the knowledge that she'd already exhausted her reserves of energy when she shielded him from harm only a minute or two ago.
The powerless empath warily took a silent step towards the flaming bird which somehow alerted it to her presence. Only years of acting like the toughest girl in the neighborhood prevented her from flinching when it immediately snapped its head with unnatural speed towards her. Its eyes vehemently stared her down for a short eternity before it let loose a harmonious trill and jauntily began making its way towards her, using its wings as another pair of legs in order to support its large body.
With every predatory stride it took, Rage found herself feeling something she wasn't supposed to feel...
Wave after wave of tranquility washed over her form. The alien and unwelcome feeling sent her to her knees due to the unexpectedness of it.
Barely able to keep from collapsing entirely on the ground, Rage was grateful when the calming waves suddenly stopped and after a few seconds of forcing the unheard of emotion out of her mind, she looked up to see what had happened.
The bird, which she now safely concluded to be a phoenix thanks to her knowledge of various tomes of lore, had directed its gaze towards the uniquely designed and previously inactive Forbidden Door in the distance which was was positively glowing with a red energy that seemed to flow in circles that made the black abyss on the other side of it seem to go on endlessly.
All thoughts of getting payback on Beast Boy were lost when it stood upright on its own two talons and stretched its powerful wings before thrusting them downwards a single time and darting into the sky towards the door, not caring about the gust of dirt that it'd left in its wake.
Coughing and waving away the flurry of airborne matter, Rage was just grateful that she wouldn't be forced to experience such untempered levels of tranquility again. Being at peace was something that defied her very existence - now knowing exactly what it felt like; it sent shivers down her spine every time she even so much as thought of the experience.
'At least he's gone. He wasn't much of a kisser anyway.' She spared one last glance at the Forbidden Door to see the green animal just now tumbling through it which sent her thoughts spiraling towards a much more important issue. 'It's time to remind every other emoticlone why they fear me.' She grinned sadistically. 'Of course, I won't break them too much. I'll even save Timid for last.'
Setting a determined look upon her face, Jinx gripped the hand mirror and stared gazed steadily into its reflective surface only to yelp as the mirror glowed a blinding bright white before Beast Boy himself came hurdling out of it to land on top of the person he wanted to see most.
With a splitting headache, his only saving grace was that he landed on something soft. "Ugh, dude. Did anyone get the license plate number of the truck?"
The only response he received was a very unladylike scoff and a quick shove off of his glorious human pillow and onto the cold ground.
Jinx sat up and eyed Beast Boy who was rubbing he head while still laying next to her. With a seemingly permanent smile on her pretty face, she all but leapt towards him as she pulled him into as much of a bone crushing hug as possible. Not caring that he'd yet to return the hug, she rubbing her face into his chest and inhaled deeply, not bothering to pretend that she wasn't taking in his naturally addicting woodsy scent.
Tensing up, he finally realized who was squeezing him for dear life and avoided wrapping his arms around her even though he so desperately wanted to. That itch in the back of his mind wasn't exactly in the back of his mind anymore. "Jinx, I don't think you should-"
Her warm and inviting lips cut him off as she moved to straddle him - he found the temptation to be too much and almost happily moved his own lips in sync with her own as his hands found their way to her hips.
A second or two passed before her tongue brushed against him and he obliged her request, parting his mouth to allow the battle for dominance to begin. Before he could strike the killing blow, the need for air became apparent all too soon and Jinx pulled back, causing Beast Boy to let loose a growl of annoyance.
Smirking at his lost reluctance, she addressed him. "You were saying?"
The changeling fought back his smile. "I missed you."
If at all possible, her smirk became even wider. "I know you did."
His questioning brow dropped as she sat straight, pushing her rear against his groin which brought his attention to a certain hardened appendage that he'd failed to notice steadily rising as Jinx was previously kissing the life out of him.
The breathy groan he let loose in response to the feeling made her laugh. Both the attention she brought to his lower region and her musical laughter, of course, brought more erotic thoughts to the forefront of his mind. "Look, I don't think you should be near me right now."
Her smile vanished only to replaced by a look of concern. "What do you mean?"
'Why does she have to look so hot when she's serious?' He painfully pondered. He was about to respond when a voice to his right caught his attention.
"He's not feeling quite like himself right now." Raven's monotone voice called out.
Turning his head to face Raven, the real Raven, his face took on a vicious look as his grip on Jinx tightened. "What the fuck is she doing here?"
The only remaining Teen Titan in the room frowned as she felt the peculiar urge to lift up her hood again. The familiar tight ache she'd been feeling in her chest as of late immediately returned.
Annoyed at Raven's awakening and her interruption but soundly interested in what the girl was saying, Jinx brought a comforting hand forward and gently turned her boyfriend's face towards her. "It's alright. She was the only one who could fix the mirror so that you could get out of where ever you were." As an afterthought, she finally gave him a quick once over to make sure he wasn't actually injured before looking into his eyes.
With his anger only slightly abated, he suddenly felt a little awkward just laying there on the ground with Jinx on top of him. "Fine. Can we at least stand up?"
Looking somewhat reluctant, Jinx complied with his request after leaning down and lightly kissing one of his cheeks.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The quasi-BB bashing I did in Disregarded has made it hard to deal with the characters that I butchered but I'm still soldiering on regardless. Oh, the joy.