Becoming X
By Iain R. Lewis and John N. Kulp
Kakyoin's Notes: Not much to say, except check our Dark Weezing's fics sometime. They're pretty darned good, if I do say so myself. And I do, so HA! Also, read and review, or it may be the end of as you and I both know it. Also the Banana Daiquiri. And life.
And if the formatting of this fic seems a bit off, that would be because of the format we're using to collaborate.
CHAPTER ONE: OBSESSIONS
Just another one of my obsessions
You don't wanna be a special toy
I'd never be the one to hurt you
Like every other girl and boy...
The first thing he noticed was perfume, and the intoxicating allure of the fairer gender. And rising to his feet, he noticed that the room was not his own. It was colder, darker, and like a cool reflection it showed him as he really was with nary a concern. What had happened? What had led to this? He tried to sort it out in his head, but the questions just shouted louder and louder. Begging for attention, begging to be noticed, but most of all, they begged to be answered. He could only let the thoughts subside as he gently took his hand and ran it through her cotton candy hair.
"So," he whispered, "How did a nice girl like you end up in a place like this?" His mouth let it slip before he could correct himself. This was serious. What happened to his sanity that then let her slip through the cracks and tear him apart?
What about his friends?
He began to get dressed. The clothing was cold, black, like dying coal. Glimmers of a bloody red insignia could be seen. His eyes lingered on it while his finger traced it slowly.
What had happened? Did he really want to know?
He let his mind remember where it began.
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The spotlights glared above the runway with muzak blaring in the background. A brunette model walked down the runway wearing an ivory frilly dress with a ruby pearl necklace.
"Simone here is wearing the Contessa Spring formal complete with Misdreavus necklace. The ultimate stylish Promwear for the young or for the young at heart." Explained a middle aged woman in a mahogany business suit from behind a podium
A middle aged couple admired the spectacle. Whether their attention was on the model or the dress was anyone's guess.
The brunette model strutted back to the beginning of the runway while a raven haired model in an amethyst design of the same dress, complete with a cerulean pendant walked in her place.
"This model has the variation of the Spring formal, complete with a Hakuryuu pendant."
"Ooh. Isn't it lovely? I simply must have it." The woman in the couple said.
"For who?" The man asked cluelessly.
The woman smacked the man on the head with her purse.
"What did I do?" He asked uncertainly.
The woman harrumphed.
"This little fall ensemble, modeled appropriate by Felicia, is part of the Contessa's Neo Gothic collection. This dress is limited to 2,500 as it comes with a necklace containing of a fragment of the infamous Klopman diamond. The Klopman diamond is notorious for its ability to jinx everyone around." The woman behind the podium explained. The blonde model had on a seamless black dress with short skirt length with plunging neckline showing the necklace.
"Then all the more fitting it should be in my hands." A young female voice was heard. Everyone stared at the entrance doors. The girl wore her hair in high pigtails of cotton candy pink hair. Her pale skin was hidden beneath a black dress and striped stockings.
"Who are you?" The woman behind the podium exclaimed.
"Just a black cat crossing your path old woman." Jinx smirked as she strut up to the runway with as much grace as any other model.
"Security!" The woman screamed. Two security officers ran to the scene unleashing their guns from their holsters and aimed at the goth witch as she jumped on the runway.
"Freeze!" They shouted.
"Careful, you may put someone's eye out!" Jinx smirked as she threw her hex bolts at the spotlights causing them to become loose and fall to the ground on the unsuspecting men.
When they were instead hovering in the air, having an indigo glow to them.
They were placed gently by the side as the superhero group the Teen Titans entered the scene.
Everyone saw the distraction and stampeded toward the main doors. The Titans saw the rampaging mob quickly approaching them.
"Titans, move!" The masked Titan known as Robin shouted.
Robin shot a grappling hook at the ceiling and pressed the retraction button, raising him to the ceiling. The alien princess called Starfire and the dark empath known as Raven simply levitated above them. The emerald changeling known as Beast Boy metamorphosed into a Pterondon and lifted the rather heavy synthetic teen known as Cyborg up above as the crowd ran beneath their feet.
"So, this is why you look six months out of fashion," Robin quipped. The teens landed on the floor in the now empty hall. Jinx narrowed her eyes, glaring menacingly at the Titans.
"You." Her voice held menace that just didn't get the Titans shivering in their boots like she had hoped. In fact, she could hear Beast Boy and Cyborg making quips.
"What kinda goth is she, anyway?" Beast Boy asked.
"You think she'll trade up to fishnets soon?" Cyborg asked, dumbly.
"Nah! She'll just get stuck in them."
"Quiet!" Jinx yelled, "Your casual indifference will not save you!" She leapt into the air with a flair, landing with a careful elegance that seemed highly ironic as hexes worked their magic on the various decorations about the stage.
The Titans dodged the onslaught of bad luck, finding themselves too far from Jinx to stop her escape. Her confident grin slowly returned to her face as each minute passed and not a one Titan had caught up with her. Her foot touched the floor and suddenly was swept into a mysterious hold.
Raven's eyes glowed as she used her telekinesis to hold Jinx's shoe in place. It was too much effort, too much concentration to focus on the foot, but the boot, made of some plastic she presumed, was much simpler. Jinx hit the floor with a flop and slid out of her held boot. It took a bit of effort, but she was again on her feet and running. "Drat," Raven muttered.
"Let me handle this," Robin said, running forward, bo thrusting towards his target. He hit the floor before her, and she soon felt her shins touch the cold metal staff. She stumbled, trying to right herself, but instead she fell right into Robin's waiting arms. He smirked.
"Overconfident, aren't you, bird boy?" Jinx mewed, bringing her knee up suddenly to strike the gut. Unable to prepare, Robin was stunned. "And I am the winner once again!" she crowed, running out the door.
"Robin!" Starfire cried, "Are you well? Your lungs appear to be short of the proper amount of oxygen that they can hold!"
"I'm just a little winded." He seemed listless. "Hurry, we can still catch her!" The Titans took to the chase again, leaving Robin standing around, a bit weakened by the attack. He punched a wall, "Why didn't I see that coming?"
The others had come outside only to find the little crook had vanished behind the crowds of people. "Well, that was pointless," Raven muttered.
"We could not save the articles of fashion!" Starfire bemoaned.
"At least something good came of this," Raven retorted. She could hear Beast Boy giggling at the joke.
"Dude," Cyborg said, "It wasn't that funny."
Robin had by this time caught up with them and he could tell from their discouraged expressions that they had lost her. "I'm sorry," he said, quietly. It was barely above a whisper. "I screwed that up really good."
"Nah, man, she just fights dirty," Cyborg said, trying to cheer him up.
"I know how she fights," Robin said. "If I hadn't forgotten that she would be here now in custody of the proper authorities instead of running around who-knows-where!" His fists clenched again.
Raven frowned, "We stopped her from getting away with anything. Or did you forget that too?" Robin glared at her. She was almost taken aback with the intensity of the look. But she didn't back down. "There will be other times," she reminded him. "You won't make the same mistakes twice." A wry grin appeared beneath the shadows of her cloak, "We hope."
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The sounds were deafening. The mechanical sounds of gears. Turning, clanking, always moving. The owner simply stared at them through his one good eye. Slade Wilson always admired gears. Separately they were useless but together...they are the lifeblood of machines. But machines are useless without a brain to guide them. Such as the three computer disks he had been seeking. With the knowledge on the disks he could hack in any time and any where and through that, have access to even more lovely machines
Lexcorp? Like taking candy from a baby.
Wayne Enterprises? As easy as twisting an infant's neck.
But no. The lovely plan was dashed...by Robin playing dressup. When he was dressed as Red X in an attempt to lure Slade out into the open. But Slade knew better. Slade always knows better. Is it any wonder that he wanted Robin? All that treachery, all that fighting spirit, all that wonderful darkness?
He was perfect. The ultimate minion.
And Slade had him. With his plans of blackmail and deception, he would spare the Titans from a horrible fate of being killed from the inside out in exchange for Robin being his apprentice.
He thought he would have his cake and eat it too. But no, the little children pressed on.
And in the end, Robin went with them. Slade was furious. All that effort, all the gifts he would bestow to Robin, all the glorious future plans...
Were gone in an instant by a mishmash of flesh and machine, a naïve alien child bride and two genetic accidents.
Slade watched the gears again. No, the gears had to move on. And so did he.
But he wouldn't give up. One way or another, he will make Batman's beloved protégé his.
But until that day comes, he had to move on for now. The disks would be perfect in his machinations but how would he get them? His androids tried and failed.
His musclebound mutant Cinderblock was in jail. Besides which...he lacked the proper brainpower to handle the delicate disks. No, he needed more advanced help.
He recalled the three students for the H.I.V.E. Academy. Perhaps they can serve a use. They did so once. When they alerted Robin of Slade's presence. Perhaps the three fools can be useful again.
Slade watched the gears for another minute and then walked his massive video monitor and began to make a call.
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That could have gone infinitely better, she thought. Jinx pulled up a new pair of stockings and went to fix her hair. The idiot boy blunder had managed to almost catch her. And he touched her! The indignity of it all was that she didn't even get anything for her troubles. She had her eyes set on that diamond necklace and there they were, waiting to stop her.
What choice did she have but run? She silently dared anyone to answer that.
Brushing her hair, she replayed the scene in her head. Strong arms around her, the scent of his sweat, the rasp of his voice, the sense of adrenaline. It was like she was remembering something else entirely and she was keeping those thoughts well out of her head.
She fixed her pigtails and admired herself in the mirror. "Perfect." The comlink in her room suddenly sparked to life. She looked expectantly at it.
"Miss Jinx, please report to my office," the Headmistress said, "Immediately."
"What crawled up her panties," Jinx muttered, straightening her dress and giving herself one more look in the multitudes of mirrors she set up around her room, and satisfied with that she strutted down the hallways, confidently, towards the Headmistress's office.
"Ah, Jinx," said Slade, his face appearing on the video screen, once more disguised in shadows. "So good of you to join us." The Two Stooges, Mammoth and Gizmo, were also there. The way Slade's eye seemed to follow her as she walked up to the screen sent a chill down her spine. "I have a very special mission for the three of you."
"This isn't going to be like last time is it?" Gizmo asked. He continued to mutter in a sotto voice, "Snot munchin' wannabes, why are we always the wind-up soldiers anyway?"
"Oh, nothing at all like that. This time I'll be candid. I need certain equipment and certain parties have so far prevented that. I trust you can succeed where others have failed."
And with that Slade overviewed his operation to the three stooges.
"Oh, and one more thing. This time, failure is not an option." Slade threatened after he finished.
Slade inwardly smirked. As he turned off the monitor he wondered if the trio would succeed.
'For their sakes, they best not fail this time.'
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After the robbery Robin went straight to the training room and made acquaintance to a punching bag.
'How could I be so stupid?' The force of his punch was so strong he punched the bag out. He growled at that and went outside to the new training course he and Cyborg built.
As he dodged the artificial obstacles he not only thought of the gothic witch, he thought about the gothic empath, Raven.
'Raven was actually nice to me. Why?' For as long as he knew the dark empath, she hardly spoke two words to him.
'No. She just spoke to everyone else.' Robin growled as he threw his Birdarang at the automated target.
Robin remembered when Raven interacted with Cyborg and Beast Boy not too long ago. In her precious secretive room no less. Then there was the time when Starfire and Raven had swapped bodies during the Puppet Master's reign. He remembered when Starfire proclaimed to him how happy she was that the dark empath wanted "to do the art of hanging it out." Robin was quite happy that Raven actually did that and was starting to come out of her shell but he felt something else when she told him that.
What was it? Infatuation? Impossible. His eyes were only on Starfire. But what else could there possibly be?
Wait...there was something else. Something he didn't think possible.
He felt...envy. Envy at the other Titans who actually got to interact with her while he didn't. Was his company so unpleasant?
Granted, they work well together on the field but that was more...Leader to Subordinate.
'That's not the same as being friends.' Robin thought as he ran to the finish line.
But how was he going to change that? How was he going to get past Raven's barriers?
'There's always talking to her.' His conscience chimed.
'Talking to her? That's not an easy thing to do.' Robin countered as the ground before the finish line began to tremor and separate.
'Do you want to be her friend?' His conscience asked.
Robin took out his bo and used it to polevault himself over the fissure.
'Yes. I do.' He thought as he landed.
'No time like the present then, Grayson.' His conscience smirked.
Robin smirked. He's handled psychotic criminals, oozing monsters, and robot commandos. He can easily handle talking to a girl.
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'What am I going to say to her?' Robin panicked as he entered the Titans' living room.
He looked at his surroundings. Beast Boy and Cyborg were yet another video game. Starfire was in the kitchen cooking.
From the smell, it seems to be the Pudding of Sadness. She made that when Cyborg distanced himself from the team. No doubt making it because of the failure with Jinx.
He suddenly felt a chill up his spine. 'Don't know if that's Raven or tasting the pudding.' He shuddered and looked for Raven.
She was on the edge of the couch reading another book of hers. Robin wondered how he should make his move. He wished he could do it alone so he wouldn't have to listen to the sniggering of his male comrades.
'Now or never Grayson.' He inwardly sighed and walked towards Raven.
"You look like you just swallowed some of Starfire's cuisine," Raven muttered. Caught off guard, Robin could only sputter out something barely recognizable as a 'no'. "Cute. What's the matter?"
"Nothing –"
"And that's why they call me the Cyborg!"
"That wasn't fair! Cheater!"
"—can they get any louder?" Robin asked. Raven answered by looking at him incredulously. "Stupid question. I just wanted to, er, thank you for earlier."
"For what?" Raven asked.
"I sort of lost my cool," Robin answered. "And you kinda found it. I know everyone's still mad at me for the stunts I pulled with Slade."
"No, they're not angry with you –"
"That's a three pointer for me!" Beast Boy declared.
"Shut up!" Cyborg's voice angrily protested, "That was a foul! I'm contesting!"
"You can't contest a negative blerns!"
"—I'm angry with you," Raven finished after the outburst. "You did some stupid stuff then, and you haven't seemed to learn your lesson. I don't think you're fit to be called leader."
"Oh," Robin said. His tone was heartbreaking.
"However," she said, pausing, "However, you've shown yourself to be a quick learner before. I have faith in you, even if I don't agree with you."
"I think this is the longest we've ever talked," Robin said. Raven smiled faintly.
"You noticed. Don't worry. That's another thing," she told him, "You never try and pry into my business. I like that," she hesitated again. "But don't think that's an invite to ask."
"I won't," Robin said, "I'm used to keeping things up inside."
"Thanks, Robin." She looked to her book. "I recommend you read this book sometime."
"I don't know if I'll ever have the time."
"It's a book about a criminal and a policeman. The policeman's obsession to capture the criminal blinds him from the greater concerns of the city and leaves him a lesser person than the criminal," she said, "At least, part of it is."
"The Miserable," he said, looking over the cover. "Fitting title."
"I'll lend it to you sometime."
"Raven," Robin asked, "You don't have to tell me, but is this how you focus your emotions?" She scoffed.
"By reading about people who can use them to their fullness, that can be hurt and healed by their feelings? That's how I focus my powers?" She looked indignant, rising, "No, Robin. This is how I live."
Robin was merely spellbound. Never before had she ever risen to such an attitude. "Excuse me," she continued. "I have to study the teachings of Azar. I foresee a need for it."
"Dude, I was doing the motions!"
"The move didn't come off so it didn't come off," Cyborg countered. "You cannot deny the power of the rising punch!"
Robin eyed them angrily, "What are you even playing?"
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It was contained within a shaft of bright light. Whatever alarms there were they were easily circumvented thanks to Gizmo's technology, and Jinx was now within a breath of the object of their desire. This chip, and whatever it contained, would gain Slade's favor and assure them more work in the future.
Plus there was the thrill as she saw her hand breach the light and reach for the simple artifact. Her hands were almost there, almost touching when she heard the alarms. "What happened?" she demanded, yelling into the Hive communicator.
"I don't know. Some snot-bucket overrode my tech! If I don't see him it'll be too soon, stupid crud-sniffer, Wait a minute – who's there?" Gizmo muttered. Jinx just shut off the communicator and prepared for the guards. They found themselves running into some bad luck as the doors fell apart around them.
"I am the greatest," she said, with a flourish. "Now I'll take what I came for and be on my way, okay my darlings?" she said, winking at one of the guards. She snatched the chip and turned to exit, strutting about with her diabolical confidence.
"Not so fast, Jinx." Her eyes darted to the voice. It was Cyborg and three other Titans, standing there ready to deal with him. "We won't let you get away twice." Jinx sighed.
"You always have to rile me up. First the fashion show, now this? Don't you think this is just a bit repetitive?" She acrobatically flipped towards the Titans, her eyes glowing pink and a hex field being pushed outwards. The floor's integrity began to give way and a shockwave was sent rippling forward at the Titans.
Forced to dodge, they didn't notice that the witch had spun around and sent more fields flying towards the Titans. They hit the floor which then began to shake. "Move!" Cyborg ordered, and the Titans were lifted off the floor. Livewires waved through the air.
"Having fun now?" Jinx said, her eyes still glowing brightly. "Well, let's get this party started!" She laughed and flipped backwards, then jumping into a backwards somersault. The hexes were aimed at the livewires, but Beast Boy ran in the way of one of them, causing his powers to falter for a moment. He rolled on the floor, dizzy and dazed. Jinx cursed, but moved into a sprint, spinning about to throw another hex field at the Titans as she did.
The entire room seemed to short out, every light, every cord emitting sparks from all sides. The Titans could barely see the retreating form of Jinx. "You know," Beast Boy remarked, "We should really remember that she can cause bad things to happen. Maybe then we won't screw up like this."
"Shut up little buddy," Cyborg said. "Just, shut up."
"If only we were able to capture her," Starfire said.
"What was the saying?" Raven said, "Two out of three ain't bad?"
"Robin would disagree," Starfire warned.
"Robin isn't here," Raven said, "He agreed that this looked too much like Slade. He's not ready to deal with that again, remember?"
"I still do not think it wise to allow her to escape." She took to following Jinx, but the door-frame's integrity had given way and the door slammed shut before she could reach. "We will find another way."
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Jinx was too busy patting her own back to notice the dark figure slip through the hallway towards her. When she finally noticed someone else was trailing her, the chip had already vanished from her hands. "What? Who--?" She saw the thief, wearing a black, white, and red ensemble. A dangerous look in the cold, skull mask was all Jinx needed to know that this man was no friend.
"They call me – Red X." There was some sort of smirk beneath that mask, Jinx knew it. But instead of getting angry, Jinx reasoned, get even.
"Red X?" she said, with mock naiveté, "Why, that sounds positively mysterious! Care to take off that ugly mask?" she moved close to him. Her hands moved from quite low and much to the other thief's discomfort to his mask.
"Let go," Red X instructed. His hand moved to bind her, but something inside him made him hesitate.
"Your voice says no, but your eyes say yes," Jinx said. Internally she blanched at the thought of such a cliché line, but there's sometimes reasons for clichés to become clichés, and that was because they worked, and worked well. Red X almost relaxed his grip. Her hands were at his mask, and moved to remove it when he grabbed her hands and forced her back. Perfect.
"No."
"No?" Jinx said. "I think – yes!" Her hands grabbed the chip and she began to hightail when something sticky wrapped around her legs. She fell with a thud to the ground.
"Going somewhere?" Red X asked. He walked over to her, kneeling beside her to taunt her. "I don't think so. No one stops Red X. No one."
"Aren't you just cute?" she answered. She broke free of the X and leapt to her feet with gymnastic grace. "Thanks for the chip."
"Not so fast," Red X said, holding the chip out for her perusal. "Are you talking about this chip?" She glanced to her hand. It was gone!
"You're really starting to get annoying." She reared back and tackled him to the ground, only to find herself on bottom and Red X lying dominantly on top of her. "You're an eager puppy aren't you. I don't go this far on the first date."
"This isn't a date."
"I thought it was a bit too romantic," Jinx returned. A small hex wave flew from her little finger. "Well, I had fun. Let's do this again sometime, 'kay?" She blew him a kiss as his gauntlet exploded. Red X didn't know how to respond. The chances of a cartridge exploding before it was used were pretty small. He made sure Jinx couldn't wave her hands around, either, so when did she...?
Jinx had made good her escape, but there was someone approaching the hallway. They must have heard the explosion and were looking for him. So, that's why she left the chip behind. "Next time." He left the chip on the floor and activated his cloaking unit.
The Titans arrived a moment later. Mammoth and Gizmo were in handcuffs, following them around. "Did you hear something?" Beast Boy asked.
"Merely the low piercing tenor of the indigenous crickets, and their lonely opera," Cyborg responded.
"Er, what?"
"Never mind. Look," Raven said, pointing at the chip, left discarded on the ground. There were signs of a short struggle, but Raven couldn't figure out why. "It looks like someone stopped her."
"Oh, serendipity!" Starfire sang.
"Serendipity nothing," Cyborg said. "I think it was a rival, and I have a hunch who." He analyzed the remains of a red goo that had been left behind in the struggle. "Now where have I seen this before?"
"Yo' mama!" Beast Boy said.
"I'm being serious," Cyborg said. "Y'all think this looks a bit familiar?"
"Indeed," Raven murmured. Suspicion was evident in her eyes.
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"Red X?" Robin asked, "What do you mean, Red X was there?" He looked shocked at the idea.
"Yeah," Raven said, "That's what we thought. Do you still have the costume?"
"No, of course not!" Robin said. "After what happened – after that, I threw it out. There weren't even any cartridges left in there for it to work."
"But my scanners say that it was pretty close to that gunk you used to take us down," Cyborg said. "So is there anyone who knew how to make that?"
"Or maybe you had some left over materials?" Raven asked. Her tone was suspicious.
"I swear." Robin gave a Boy Scout symbol. "Scout's honor."
"All right then. We got Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dumber, but Jinx still got away," Cyborg said. "But that's all right, she didn't get the chip."
"And we'll know where she'll strike next!" Robin said. He seemed eager about it. "I know you guys think I'll lose it, but I'm ready. I can't hide from Slade forever – or my mistakes."
"Fine," Raven said. "We'll be there, ready, next time."
With a smirk, Robin answered, "Next time."
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"Next time," Jinx whispered to herself. "That big jerk nearly got me caught this time. What's he going to do next time? Bring me chocolates?"
She had returned to her quarters in the Hive and sat waiting for Slade to respond. She had reported to the Headmistress, who seemed none too pleased, and she feared Slade's reactions. However, next time they met, she was certain Red X wouldn't be the one to get the upper hand.
Still, it had been a while since she had been on the bottom. It was a bit exhilarating to finally meet a guy who could actually face her without getting beat. A challenge.
His movements with limber and perfectly executed, his manners suave, his talent undeniable – he definitely didn't go to this school – but there's something more. There was a sense that he was holding back, and if she just opened up the floodgates a little she would be overwhelmed by that thief in black.
A shower would do her good. She felt all sweaty from that work-out.
And perhaps it was time to hone her skills up. She'd need to go elsewhere. Perhaps a jailbreak would provide the right amount of thrills.
And maybe she'd see that thief in black again.
Next time.