"Anober." Robin chanted, his small hands pounding on the floor of the jet. "Do anober one Jink."
The other small Titans clamored in agreement, their eyes wide as they stared at Jinx. Raven took a break from driving the jet and turned ever so slightly in her seat, watching them all. It wasn't really a secret that she didn't trust the sorceress, and she made it was obvious as possible so that Jinx wouldn't think twice about acting out. But so far, with the exception of cursing colorfully, the pink-haired criminal was on her best behavior.
The kids even seemed to like her.
"Okay, okay." Jinx said, grinning from ear to ear. It was plain to see that she enjoyed the attention. "Now look closely. If you blink- you miss it."
"We shall not do the blink!" Starfire quibbled.
Jinx chuckled and she extended her hands out, and in the palm of her hand, there was a tiny glowing ball of pink. It rose above her palm in the shape of an egg, and before everyone's eyes, it started to hatch. A small, holographic pink animal crawled out of the egg and floated in the air, stretching out it's wings and opening it's mouth in an invisible squawk. The kids all squealed at once, throwing their hands up in the air.
"Oooooook at it!" Cyborg howled, falling backwards on his back and wiggling his legs in the air.
"What dat?" Raven saw Beast Boy ask Jinx. His green eyes were wide with interest, and he tried to touch the pink animal in her hand, only to have his hand pass right through. "What dat ammial?"
"An-ni-mal." Jinx enunciated. The image in her hand disappeared in a puff of pink smoke and she extended her arms like wings, showing him how big the animal used to be. "That's a flying dinosaur, Beast Boy. Its called a pterodactyl. It's huge and can fly really fast, almost as fast as this jet! You can turn into animals, right pip-squeak? Try and turn into this thing and be useful for once in your life."
"Not in the jet." Raven said darkly, turning back around and turning the jet off auto-pilot. Perhaps Jinx wasn't on her best behavior after all.
There was a collected groan coming from the back, Jinx included. The pink-haired sorceress flopped onto the middle seat next to Raven and whined. Her head was right next to Raven's ear, much to her irritation. "Why not, Raven? You're always such a fuddy-duddy. The kids need to have some fun, you know!"
"Once Slade stops stalking us, maybe we can have some fun. Or better yet- we can find a way to turn them back to their normal ages and stop this nonsense." Raven scowled. "This isn't the time for fun and games, Jinx."
"Well I'm bored." Jinx grumped, pulling away and crossing her arms over her chest stubbornly. "We've been riding in this jet for more than two days, and it's getting effing stupid! Why can't we land?"
Raven clenched her teeth at Jinx's whining. Could she go just one day without complaining? "When I find a safe place to put the kids, than I'll land. Their safety comes first, you know."
Jinx put her head on her hands and stared at Raven with large pink eyes, her expression deadly serious. "Don't fool yourself, Raven. No place is safe." she murmured quietly. "No one can be trusted, because there are bad guys around every corner."
"Just like you?" Raven asked softly.
Jinx's face tightened for a minute, and then she relaxed back and smiled mischievously, the corners of her lips tugging upwards. "Oh, Rae-Rae, I forgot how funny you are. You should really take a part time job as a comedian."
A flash of her in front of a large audience, clutching a microphone and rambling off knock-knock jokes suddenly came to her mind. It was similar to those comedians that Beast Boy and Cyborg used to watch, laughing obnoxiously and stuffing their faces with pizza. Raven cringed as she thought of it.
"Whatever." she finally managed to spit out, looking intensely at the sky even though there was nothing to look at.
There was a moment of silence from Jinx, and then there was a sullen mumble. "We can't stay up here forever."
"We will if we need to!" Raven snapped. Part of the dash suddenly glitched dangerously, sparks erupting from the main button. The kids behind them let out a squeal of terror, and then there was quiet sniffling from the back. Raven sighed and let go of the wheel, gently pushing the auto-pilot button. "Guys, I'm sorry. That was just an accident."
"Is you mad at Jink?" Beast Boy asked quietly.
Jinx looked at her, a mock sad look on her face. "Yeah, Raben. Are you mad at Jink?"
"God I swear-" Raven started to feel her face heat up with embarrassment and frustration. Her hands started to clench and she felt as though she was going to lose control, when she heard a crackling coming over the radio. Both Jinx and Raven turned to the dash in astonishment, the both of them deadly silent. The radio kept crackling with static. It was the first time that the radio had ever gone off on it's own.
Jinx looked at Raven, her pink eyes wide with surprise. The look on her face was shock, as though she was confused whether or not it was a bad thing. Then with a careful glance at the dashboard, she slowly got up from the middle seat to the back with the kids. Raven heard her quietly murmur to the kids to be quiet and stay near her, a gesture that Raven reluctantly appreciated.
With a breath that she was holding, she slowly reached for the button for the radio and pressed it, allowing anything to come through. A part of her hoped that it was the Titan East trying to signal their stolen jet. "H-hello?"
There was a strange crackling over the radio, static buzzing like a horde of flies. Then there was a breathy whisper, one that didn't know at first.
".. Raven.."
Raven blinked, her mouth feeling dry as she slowly recognized the voice. "Robin...?"
"... Raven.. *static* this.. *static* crucial... *static* Titans.."
"Stop it!" Raven shouted, smashing her hands down on the dashboard.
The large window in front of her started to fog, and she realized that it was also a computer screen as well as a window. In the back of her mind, she realized that Cyborg had equipped all the jets of the Titans with computers on the front windows so that they could control GPS while they drove. She flinched back as a video popped up on the glass and started to play.
It was a video of them, back at the Titan Tower. All of her friends were at their normal ages; and they were gathered around a table as Robin was staring down at the table, his face deadly serious. She saw herself sitting right next to Beast Boy, the hood over her face as usual. All she could do was stare in horror at what was playing on the screen.
"Slade has gone far enough." Robin was saying in the video, his fists gathered at his sides as he talked to them. "We can't *static* there's not enough time."
A flicker of static rippled across the screen every couple of seconds, making it hard to understand what he was saying. But Raven remembered that conversation like it had just happened- it was Robin talking about their next attack on Slade, back when he was the biggest threat they had. It had been months and months ago, but yet she still remembered it.
She started to shake.
"What's going on?" Raven pressed the radio transmitter button as many times as she could, trying not to lose her cool as she talked. "How did you get this? Who is this?"
The video kept playing, the conversation between the Titans continuing as though it had just happened. Robin kept lecturing on Slade's whereabouts and his powers and talents, and the Titans contributed with nods and every so often, there would be a comment from them. It was deadly serious, there were no jokes, no smiles, no nothing.
"We need to continue our research-*static* We need to move quickly- *static* Lives are on the line, Titans- *static* Raven I need you and Beast Boy too-"
The video started to fizzle and go back, Robin's face frozen in time on the screen. They all were frozen and shimmering on the screen, static blipping over their images. A distorted voice suddenly spoke over the video, sounding out of place from what they had just watched. There was no static other than the video itself, but the voice was clear.
"Oh Raven. I know what you have done. So sad, dear girl. So sad."
"What the fuck is happening?!" Jinx yelled at her, her voice almost silenced by all the noise. Raven turned and saw the pink-haired sorceress holding crying kids in her arms, Robin looking the most panicked at seeing someone wearing his mask on the screen. Jinx didn't look too calm herself; Raven was surprised to see that tears had gathered in the criminal's eyes.
Raven wanted to talk, but her words were stuck in her throat. The distorted voice spoke again, less clear this time.
"Why do you keep lying to yourself, day after day, trying to be a hero when you are truly the villain? Your teammates are not your friends, but merely pawns in the game of destruction. What is the point of pretending when you are made for greater purposes, Raven?"
"Stop it!" Raven suddenly screamed, her hands clutching at her hair and tears of frustration gathering in her eyes. A well of emotion over-flooded her senses, and black tendrils of black magic streamed out from the gem on her forehead. Her hands glowed and pulsed, and she let out another loud cry of desperation. The jet started to shake violently, the alarms blaring on the dash.
The video started to play again, Robin continuing to speak of their battle plans without a blink. His face was too calm, too measured for Raven to handle. She let out another scream and tried to punch the glass, her hand bouncing harmlessly off the glass.
"We only have a set amount of time before-*static* Beast Boy and Cyborg are going to the warehouses and Starfire*static* must move as quickly as possible to avoid detection-*static* Hurry."
"Leave us alone, Slade! Leave us alone!" Raven howled, tears streaming down her face. The dash in front of her exploded in a series of sparks, showering over everyone. Jinx and the kids let out a loud scream from behind her, but she barely noticed it. The ceiling rained down on them in a series of tiny plastics and foam.
The jet was shaking dangerously, the floor rumbling violently as though it was going to fall from underneath them at any second. The video on the screen started to stutter repeatedly, the frame stuck on the same thing.
"We are running out of t-t-t-t-time." Robin on the screen was talking again. Raven stared at it through panicked eyes, black blurring on the edge of her vision. She was dizzy, terribly dizzy. She could hear the normal Robin talking as though he was right in front of her.
As though he wasn't a child.
"We are running out of time."
"We are running out of time."
"We are running out of time."
"RAVEN!" Jinx screamed, the children crying in her arms. "We're going to go down if you don't calm down! Turn off the screen!"
Raven blearily pressed buttons on the alarming dash, her strength getting weaker and the dots around her vision growing larger. The noises didn't stop, and she squeezed her eyes shut in pain as another flow of emotions overwhelmed her.
"Raven!" Jinx screamed again. "The jet! THE FUCKING JET!"
Raven felt herself plunge into darkness, the sounds around her fading.
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