A/N 4-21-11: I liked writing this chapter. An unintentional reveal came out that I didn't plan to write, but I loved writing the banter in this chapter.
Chapter 52: Cat and Mouse
Kid was a land bound creature by both nature and choice. When he had been born he hadn't floated out of his crib to bob along the ceiling, nor had he started spontaneously defying gravity after the lightning strike which had turned his life upside down. Even when Kid chose to defy gravity by running up walls (or skyscrapers) with only his velocity helping him elude gravity's covetous grip, Kid had always preferred to keep both of his feet firmly planted on the ground. He held a high respect for both gravity and friction, two forces which had contributed too many childhood cuts, bruises, and scrapes. So understandably when Kid found himself free falling in dark sky surrounded by glittering stars with no ground in sight, he was disconcerted.
But to his credit he didn't scream. Not when he realized the stars he fell past weren't actually stars but mirrors. Not when he realized he had breathable air to fill his lungs, nor when the plunge seemed endless. Not even when the realization came he wasn't on earth anymore, nor when a small blue rectangle began growing beneath him, and the realization came that he was about to crash.
Landing only further proved to Kid that he was no longer on earth, for instead of a bone breaking impact, he bounced immediately back in the air only to skip like a stone along the platform until finally skidding to a stop on his face. Unfortunately, the unusual gravity did nothing to ameliorate the pain sliding along the ground on his face brought. Rock quarries were softer then the ground his nose was buried in, Kid griped, but not for long. Pushing off the ground he sprung to his feet and took stock of the situation.
Endless midnight blue stretched for fathomless eternities into each horizon, and strung through this world's sky like a multitude of stars hung mirrors. Far above his head rectangular mirrors adorned in the sky, glittering in the depths of this strange place. The platform stretched half a football filed in length in length and seemed to hang unaided and unassisted in the same mysterious way as the mirrors. A flare of pink caught his eye.
Descending from the clouds surrounding with an aura of her distinctive energy came Jinx. Unlike Kid's path, her descent was controlled, and she touched down lightly onto the platform. At first contact the glow haloing her body transferred over onto the platform, and Kid felt a heavy weight settle on his shoulders as the platform briefly glowed pink before resuming its original coloring.
The pair couldn't have been more than twenty yards apart, but Kid recognized the emotion behind the tilt of her chin and set of her shoulders. If she was an angel, then she was an avenging one, and every nuance of her posture screamed that she thought she was in control of the situation. And maybe she was, Kid conceded, but a spark of amusement lit as he reflected that he and authority had never been the best of friends, so when Jinx took initiative and spoke, he jumped right in following her lead.
"I believe the deal was," she had started cold eyes locking on his, "'You tell me yours, and I'll tell you mine'."
At this Kid couldn't help but smile. "You were the one who said that, if I recall correctly, and I don't remember agreeing to that."
Unphased she continued, "Well, you know who I am now."
"Jinx," he teased. "Such a fierce name for such a pretty girl."
An eye roll was the only acknowledgment her received. "But the question remains," and once again she did the impossible by managing to lock eyes with him. "Who are you?"
A smile crossing his face and mischief dancing in his heart, Kid took the challenge. "I'm Kid, the Kid. Also known as Kiddo, Shorty, Runt, Ginger, Freckles occasionally, Hey you, Squirt or Brat, but I prefer Kid."
Clearly underwhelmed, Jinx drawled, "What kind of villain name is Kid?"
Dodging the barb with ease and his natural impish streak fully fueled, Kid in turn replied, "What kind of hero name is Jinx?"
"An accurate one!" And another pink flare of light came barreling towards him. Laughing he dodged the flare even as the event cemented an opinion in his mind. Messing with her was going to be so much fun. Like a little boy he childishly wondered if he tweaked her again would she respond with the same delightful outrage. A laugh escaped him but any anger Jinx had was quickly hidden as she schooled her features. He could feel the tendrils of emotion being constrained and reigned in until a placid, cool face looked back at him. A similar depression in his high spirits focused his thoughts and purpose. He had questions and he would get answers.
"So if I run fast," he mused aloud, "then what do your pretty waves do other then pack a punch?"
"Doesn't matter," Jinx said and crossed her arms across her chest. "Neither of our powers will work here."
That startled Kid; experimentally, he took a step reached for that force which spurred his step to speeds unknown, and tripped falling flat on his face in front of a girl. At the muffled, grudging giggle that escaped her, Kid felt his heart go twitterpated and thump appreciatively.
Focus Kid, he scolded himself as he pushed himself off the ground, again. "Where are we," he asked curiously, gesturing to the alien sky and its strange stars. Disinterest crossed Jinx's face, but she answered in an obviously bland tone.
"I call it the Mirror Realm. If you know how to open the pathways, then any mirror can take you to this place, and once inside you can reach any mirror anywhere, as you wish."
"So it's a pocket dimension," Kid hypothesized. "Like in String Theory."
With a careless shrug she moved a few steps closer before allowing, "Both science and magic can be used to open the doorways to this place."
"Magic?" Kid frowned and glanced at the strange place around him. Alternate, even infinite dimensions he could accept through science, but magic?
As if hearing his doubts Jinx repeated her statement from earlier. "Believe it or not Kid," ah, a sneer at his name, "the only reason you're here is because of magic."
"That's disappointing. I had always hoped science would rip through dimensions before I went insane, but I digress." If this was insanity, Kid mused, he would at least indulge himself. A few quick steps, a preplanned congratulation and then the Swedish models would come and join him in his madness. Except one step forward and an instinctive grasp at his speed sent him toppling straight into another face plant on the platform nose first. This was getting old, fast, he mused, considerably miffed. He sat up and glared accusingly at Jinx.
"What did you do?" he demanded and finally the indifferent mask on her face fell to reveal her true feelings, cold satisfaction along with a dastardly smirk.
"I evened the odds."
…
Finally the explanation sealed behind tightly sealed lips could be released. With an almost concerning satisfaction, Jinx couldn't wait to see Kid squirm once he found out the truth. Who knew justice could be so satisfying? Before her Kid had discovered he couldn't access his powers. His angry realization proved a refreshing change from his earlier flippant attitude. Now he would listen. Now he would realize his year old mistake.
"The Mirror Realm is naturally conducive for magic users, and severely dampens any nonmagic abilities," a Cheshire grin spread across her lips. "Your power doesn't work here."
"And yours does?"
"Normally, yes," Jinx practically purred and let her eyes gleam with the fire of her magic. "You see, I'm a sorceress."
Ah, so started the squirming, but for his part Kid remained arrogantly brave. "Is this the part where you beat me up?" he asked, and even though the only part of his face she could see was his mouth and jaw, Jinx could already tell he wasn't going to simply be intimidated by any power displays, or at least superficial ones. Good, she admired the steel in his spine. It wouldn't be as fun to play with a coward. At that thought Jinx chastised herself, scolding the theatrics. Careful girl.
While all had been necessary, the spell to draw him to the ambush, and the trip to this realm, the point had been to throw him off balance and make him feel vulnerable, not to torture him. Catharsis, Jinx ruminated as an echo of one of Zatanna's lectures echoed through her mind, brought no real satisfaction; it only aggravated an issue further.
"As satisfying as that would seem, no," Jinx admitted. "I'm not here to beat you up or even to permanently strip you of your powers." Waving her hand at the surroundings, "I brought you here because in this place I would have your undivided attention, and you wouldn't be able to run away."
"So you are a stalker," another cool accusation with the hint of a raised eyebrow.
"No."
"A fan?" he guessed again mischief entering the now derisive tone.
Pulse jumping, Jinx gritted out, "No."
"So you're an unhinged, obsessive "sorceress" preoccupied with yours truly?" His charming grim and excessively exaggerated wagging eyebrows finally sparked her temper.
"Are you always such a cocksure, self-centered, arrogant brat?" she snapped while mentally telling herself that while she could hex him the damage would only be superficial. Despite her best training an underlying train of thought still had to chant, do not hex. Do not hex. Do not hex.
Across from her Kid just smiled that self-assured smirk, and Jinx fought to keep from fuming.
"Two years ago," Jinx began with a forcible change in the conversation, "we met outside a storefront window in Jump City. You tried to steal my backpack and failed spectacularly."
"The backpack had an unfair advantage," Kid quipped. A withering glare conveyed Jinx's unspoken words quite clearly. Interrupt me and die. The permanently amused grin adorning Kid's face widened.
Sometimes, sparks flew when two people interacted, especially between a guy and girl, but if the sparks were flying as Jinx distinctly felt they were, than they were certainly not those sparks associated with romance. So instead of remaining levelheaded and continuing along with her plan, Jinx had to seize back control of the conversation in the one way she had sworn to both herself and Zatanna that she would not.
"Since we've met has your life extraordinarily sucked more so than usual in the past two years?"
Ah, she was a vicious witch. But the intended effect had already occurred with her less then innocent statement out on the table. The smirk was gone, his face was blank, and she had control of the conversation gain.
"Right," Jinx started borrowing a cheery upbeat tone courtesy of Starfire, "So have you ever heard of the Law of Equivalent Exchange?"
"Why does it matter?"
"Because it's the reason why you're here."
Prompt: Innocence
