Swindle by SecondLevelWriter (Ed Alger)
Author's Notes: Many thanks for your patience. This story will be completed, by hook or by crook. Oh yeah, and all disclaimers still apply... yada yada, you know the rest. This part of the story seriously deviates from what we already know (and isn't that what fanfics are for, anyway?). I'm trying for something that I hope is a little better, with some extra drama thrown in for good measure.
Chapter 19
Complication
Swipe noticed a brief lapse in Brother Blood's attack and quickly put up his guard, anticipating a psionic attack. Jinx followed suit, casting a quick shielding spell in front of herself. It was then that she heard a voice speak inside her mind. A voice that she thought had been cast out.
'Jinx. Remember that you are my student... You obey only me...'
Swipe's first warning came when Jinx's incantation sharply cut off. He looked over to see the hexer's eyes shut tightly and her teeth clenched. Looking back, he saw that Brother Blood's eyes were indeed focused upon Jinx rather than him. Without a second thought, the rogue threw a handful of knives at his former teacher to try and break his concentration. The plan seemed to work, as Brother Blood had to bring up his psychic shield to deflect the attack.
"I told you to leave her alone! You've done enough damage!"
"Damage?!" the headmaster scoffed. "Young man, 'damage' is the loss of two wonderful academies... 'damage' is the loss of dozens of promising students! DAMAGE is the destruction of everything that you've worked for YEARS to build!"
"Damage is when someone you care about forgets who you are, too."
By this time, Cyborg had regained his bearings and pulled himself to his feet. He was surprised that Brother Blood hadn't taken the opportunity to finish him off, until he saw two familiar faces. Swipe had just readied his daggers, while Jinx knelt off to one side of him. Brother Blood's cybernetics glowed brightly as he prepared a counterattack.
Another lunge. Another clash of adamantine against psionic energy. This time, Brother Blood was able to parry the attack well enough to throw a palm thrust into the center of Swipe's back. The force of the blow shoved the rogue down hard into the concrete, and the follow up blast of psychic power blew him perilously close to the edge of the tower.
The headmaster was about to chide Swipe for letting his guard down, but the lecture would get cut off by a charging Cyborg. Cyborg's bull rush would consequently get interrupted by Brother Blood's psychic incision into his leg. As the robotic Titan tried to pick himself up from the floor, he looked up to see Blood practically hovering over him.
"And then there's you, Cyborg... How is it that the two of you were able to resist my mind-control? What could possibly be the common element?"
"Maybe we're not good at following orders!" Swipe replied from behind. His answer was punctuated with a fierce shoulder tackle into Blood's back, knocking the headmaster off-balance enough to let Cyborg get away. Moving as quickly as he could, Swipe picked up Jinx and found shelter behind an air vent.
"Why ain't you usin' your speed against him, Swipe? You should be able to run circles around him!"
Swipe shook his head, "There's not enough space up here. One false move, and it's over I go. We've just gotta keep the pressure on him, so he can't concentrate enough."
"Sounds great, but how will we do that?"
Brother Blood thunderous shout echoed across the tower's roof, "JINX!"
Jinx shuddered and tightly shut her eyes, muttering, "Not again.. Not again.."
"Jinx... Don't you wish to return to the academy so you can be with your friends again?"
After a few seconds, she yelled back, "I- I don't need those guys anymore. They were never my friends!"
"But Stone is, isn't he? Didn't the two of you become, shall we say, close?"
Jinx fell silent. Swipe readied his blades. Brother Blood grinned confidently.
"What if I were to bring Stone back to you? Wouldn't that make you happy?"
"Don't listen to him, Jinx! It's just a trick!" Cyborg hissed his advice. "You'll just be back in that nightmare all over again!"
"Come back to the academy, and I'll make any wish you have come true. You can be as popular as you want. The entire school could be at your feet!"
At those words, the mental intrustion returned to Jinx's subconscious. It was more forceful this time, as if determined to take control again. Her shriek pierced the cold air as she dropped to both knees and clutched at the sides of her head. Seeing this prompted the thief to take immediate action.
"Hit 'im. Now!"
At Swipe's order, the remaining two heroes leapt from their hiding places and opened fire upon the headmaster. This time, Blood was expecting the attack and already had his shield up. This allowed him to weather the attack while continuing to concentrate on his mental assault.
Jinx had doubled over at that point, still trembling from the searing pain in her mind. She finally went completely still, then straightened herself up to show the familiar red glow in her eyes. Glancing over his shoulder, Cyborg could have sworn that he saw a single tear run down her left cheek.
Brother Blood smugly ordered, "Now, Jinx, here's your first assignment. Help me subdue these two troublemakers, and start with the rogue."
Jinx's reply was monotone, "Yes, Headmaster."
A stinging short kick caused Swipe to focus his attention behind himself. He then dodged a follow-up punch along with a sweeping kick from the hexer.
"C'mon, Jinxie. I ain't gonna fight you. Don't let Teach get in your head again!"
"I obey only the Headmaster. You must be captured."
More punches and kicks came Swipe's way, but he was able to parry them without much trouble. What he wasn't aware of, however, was the fact that he was once again nearing the edge of the tower roof. Seeing that, Cyborg decided to take Brother Blood on by himself once again to buy the rogue some time.
"You seem to like messin' with people's minds, don't you?"
"Why spend years trying to accomplish something that only needs a minute or two?"
A burst of energy threw Cyborg backwards, but did not knock him prone. Cyborg responded in kind with a fully charged sonic blast to force Brother Blood away from the others. The teacher lashed back with a combination of palm thrusts and ankle sweeps, but his foe would not be budged despite his injury. Blood grew more frustrated with each passing moment, knowing that Jinx's mental control was quickly slipping away. In desperation, he made one more attempt to reach the hexer's mind.
It was then that Cyborg picked up something strange in his audio receptors. It was Brother Blood's voice, but he was addressing someone else.
"Jinx! Help me, now! Finish that street urchin off! Quickly!"
Another voice answered. This time, it was Jinx's.
"No... These are... These are my friends now... I won't be your student... Swipe's my... my..."
'How am I hearing this?'
Cyborg's own thought made Brother Blood stop in his tracks. Both opponents stared at each other for just a moment. One with a chilling revelation, and the other with a sudden flash of inspiration. Blood immediately threw a harsh forward kick at Cyborg, now wanting to beat his enemy into submission before he could relay his new discovery.
The remaining Titans could only watch tensely as Swipe tried to get Jinx to shake off the domination. The rogue grabbed each of the hex-caster's arms as she attempted a couple of slapping strikes and pinned them under his own arms. She stiffly resisted, but Swipe became determined to draw her closer.
"Jinxie, please... I know you're still in there. Listen to me. You remember our song?"
"Song... Our song... O-pen...?"
"That's right, it was 'Open Arms.' Remember how it went? So now I come to you, with open arms..."
Jinx's voice became clearer as she picked up the chorus, "Hoping you'll see... what your love means to me..."
Swipe nodded softly, "Now, just keep that thought in your head. Anytime the teach tries somethin', go back to that thought an' focus on it with all you got. You can do it, babe. I know you can."
Brother Blood caught a glimpse of this and quickly seethed with anger. He put all of his might into a double palm-thrust that finally pushed Cyborg to the ground while his circuitry pulsed with energy.
"If I can't make you my students, then I'll just have to eliminate you instead!"
A concentrated burst of energy flew from Blood's hand and hurtled towards the pair. Swipe saw it first, and did the only thing that came to mind. Before Jinx even knew what was happening, she found herself flung to one side of the blast. In those few seconds, she saw Swipe's silhouette against the small explosion just before he was thrown further than the last time. He tumbled and skidded helplessly towards the edge of the tower before disappearing past it and into the shadows beyond.
There was a moment of silence on the rooftop, while everyone took in what had just occurred. Brother Blood stood triumphant as Cyborg and the other Titans stared in disbelief. Finding a moment of clarity, Jinx ran for the edge. She squinted as she tried to peer into the darkness below the tower, desperately hoping that she would see him.
"Swipe... ?"
The waves crashing against the rocky shore below were her only answers. Jinx continued to throw frantic glances, dashing a few feet back and forth along the edge.
"Swipe! Answer me, Swipe!"
Still nothing. When the reality of the situation sunk in, Jinx simply fell to her hands and knees. Tears began to drip from her cheeks and into the dark abyss.
"Swipe... please, don't be dead... please..."
The sorceress finally sat back, buried her face in her hands, and simply wailed while the others could do nothing more than watch. Brother Blood sensed a moment of opportunity in all of this grieving, and promptly grabbed Cyborg by the arm in an over-the-shoulder throw. Their battle raged anew while Jinx sobbed into her hands for several more minutes. As the fight wore on, Brother Blood taunted his opponent.
"Stop this nonsense, Cyborg, and surrender yourself. Or else, you may end up like that foolish thief down there."
Jinx raised her head, revealing eyes that were sizzling from tears meeting with magical energies. Her words exactly echoed Cyborg's own retort.
"Don't you dare talk about him like that."
The Titan glanced past his adversary long enough to see Jinx get to her feet and fix a hate-filled scowl at Brother Blood. Her hands were already sparking with magic, and her words dripped with rage as she chanted the worst hex she could possibly think up. Making discretion the better part of valor, Cyborg sidestepped a palm thrust and left Brother Blood wide open for the punishment he so richly deserved.
The headmaster barely had time to react to the wave of purple-pink energy surging towards him. His psychic shield came up, but the spell wasn't completely blocked out. When the blast passed through, Blood was puzzled to find that he didn't appear or feel any different. This fact didn't seem to bother Jinx, as she was already setting up another hex for her former teacher. Rather than allow her the time to cast, Blood charged forward and slammed the girl into the side of an air vent.
"That will be quite enough of that, Miss Jinx..." he growled through clenched teeth. "I don't know what exactly you tried to do just now, but I assure you that it had no effect on me. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get back to teaching my students."
The intrusion returned, but Jinx's anger towards Brother Blood strengthened her resolve. She struggled to break free of Blood's physical grip, while her mind clamped around the memory that Swipe taught her. The sound of an energy weapon priming caught their attention.
"Get offa her, Blood!" Cyborg demanded, while he trained his sonic cannon on the teacher's head.
Without a word, Blood instead shifted his leverage and pulled Jinx in front of himself.
"Or what, Cyborg? You'll shoot me? I'm sure you'd prefer to not hit your dear friend Jinx, would you?"
Cyborg grit his teeth as he tried to line up a shot. No matter where he aimed, he risked hitting Jinx. His arms relaxed for just a moment, allowing Brother Blood to raise his hand to cast a pulse of psychic energy at the Titan.
"He who hesitates is lost! Victory is mine!"
Blood's moment of triumph quickly ended when a sharp pain lanced through his outstretched hand. Shocked at the sensation, he lowered his hand to discover that he had been skewered by a dagger. He turned back to see where the attack had come from, and went pale upon seeing the dead risen before him. Even Cyborg and the rest of the Titans were amazed at the sight of Swipe standing on an air duct, not nearly as injured as one would be expected to be after tumbling off the top of a multistory tower. He smirked at everyone's reactions before giving the headmaster a simple request.
"Hey, Teacher. Leave those kids alone."
End of Chapter 19
In Chapter 20 - Final Round! FIGHT!