"Swipe" by Ed Alger aka "SecondLevelWriter"
For disclaimer information, see Chapter 1. I'm getting kinda tired of writing it, and I'm sure everyone gets the point by now.

Chapter 6
Nothing More Than Feelings

That evening, Jinx and Swipe returned to the hideout to sort out what was purchased at the mall. While the sorceress burst through the front door, her friend staggered in behind her with a mountain of bags and boxes in his gradually weakening arms.

"Ahhh, I feel like all the pressure on my shoulders has been washed away!" Jinx sighed, just as a loud crash erupted behind her. When she turned, all she could see was the large pile of bags and spilled clothing with Swipe's twitching left arm sticking out from underneath.

"... and placed on yours..." she added a bit sheepishly as she pulled her friend from his 100-percent cotton tomb, "Are you alright?"

"Oh yes, me feeling okie-dokie tonight..." Swipe replied with dizzied swirls in his eyes.

A bead of sweat rolled from Jinx's forehead, "Yeah, you're fine."

The rogue shook the stars from his vision, "Oh, I picked up something for ya when you were shopping."

"When did you do that? I thought you stayed with me the whole time... ah, right. You're fast," Jinx elbowed her friend playfully.

"Fast enough to getcha this..." Swipe reached into his pocket and produced a long, rectangular box, which he then handed to the sorceress. Jinx eyed him suspiciously as she slowly opened her present, but suspicion would turn to astonishment when she saw a gold bracelet inside. Hanging at its center was a gold charm in the shape of a broken heart, matching the new shirt she wore.

Jinx took in a long gasp, "Swipe..! You.. You got this for me?"

"Bought it with what was left of my earnings, yeah. Imagine that, I didn't steal it."

"That must have been quite an inner struggle," she said sarcastically before giving him a great big hug around the neck. "Thank you so much. I love it!"

Swipe was caught a bit off-guard by the hug, and found himself unable to return it until well after she had let go. Jinx excitedly put the bracelet on her right wrist and held it up to admire it. After another half-minute of being dazed, Swipe stumbled into the living room to turn on the evening news and see if anything good was happening. He sat in his beanbag chair, watching Jinx as she looked at her new present from every possible angle. The rogue smiled to himself. It was good to see her in such high spirits now.

"In other news, Senator Goodson has approved a plan to renovate downtown Jump City. The plan will include the demolition of part of the residential area, shown here."

A map was displayed, with the area to be demolished shown in red. Swipe sat upright in his chair just as Jinx took a seat on thecouch.

"Wait a sec! There are still people living there! What's supposed to happen to them!" the rogue shouted at the television.

The news reporter continued, "The renovation plans also include the construction of an upscale shopping mall, with many of the top names in clothing and electronics already competing for shop space."

"And those top names probably paid that chump senator off to approve the proposal.. It's time to pay him another visit," Swipe snarled while Jinx lookedoverto him with a bit of concern. The rogue noticed her gaze and met it, adding with a smile, "Well, maybe in a couple of nights. It occurs to me that I've never seen you in action, Jinx."

The hex-caster grinned back, "I was hoping you'd notice. Do you have a place to train?"

Swipe took Jinx by the hand, "Of course! Follow me. It's out back by the pool."

She followed along, through the kitchen and into what she could figure to be the bedroom. From there, he led her out a back door that was carved out of the wall. There she saw a pool, filled with water and also well-kept. To its right was a large expanse of grass and asphalt with a collection of machinery that would've impressed even Gizmo.

"You certainly have a lot of free time on your hands," Jinx remarked with a giggle.

"Being ultra-fast does that to a person. I should enter Robo-Wars 'r something. Care to try it?"

Jinx smiled confidently as she ran to the middle of the makeshift arena, "Gimme your worst."

Swipe picked up the remote controller and set the difficulty setting to "easy" so the sorceress could get used to the routine. Within a minute, a short, thick cylinder noisily rattled and opened, releasing three flying pods. The pods themselves looked like nothing more than revamped remote-controlled helicopters with some aluminum siding as armor. Equipped to each pod's underbelly was a stungun-type weapon, possibly recovered from a home security store's box of damaged goods.

The rogue raised his hand, "READY!" Jinx nodded an affirmative.

"GO!" Swipe pressed the green button. The pods sprang to life and flew straight for Jinx while firing stun bolts everywhere.

The sorceress deftly flipped backwards, pushing off with one hand and landing a couple of yards away from the attacks. Her eyes glowed pink as she chanted something under her breath, and a curved bolt of energy shot from her fingertips. The targeted drone attempted to stop the attack by shooting at it, but the bolt barrelled through the assault and struck true. Without warning, the motor for the helicopter blade overheated and exploded, taking the drone with it.

The remaining two drones tried to flank Jinx and sprayed more stun bolts on either side of her. She quickly leapt high into the air and just out of range, all the while chanting another one of her hexes. This time, one of the drones suddenly jerked and contorted before spinning wildly out of control. The hex-caster used the floundering automaton as a springboard to leap back to the ground, just as it careened into the asphalt ahead of her.

Smirking, Jinx turned to the last target and raised her hands over her head. Between her palms, a large orb of fluorescent pink energy began to pulsate before it was thrown with all of the girl's force. The blast engulfed the final drone, disintegrating it completely. As the smoke cleared, Jinx turned a few cartwheels and handsprings on her way back to where Swipe was waiting. For just a moment, she felt like she was back at the academy, showing Slade what she and her friends could do. Only now, she was performing for a more private audience, a fact that did not diminish her smile in the least.

"That felt great!" she said brightly, with only a trace of perspiration on her forehead.

"Impressive! You weren't kidding about being a great gymnast!" Swipe remarked as he approached her and gave her a pat on the shoulder.

"Wanna play Two Players this time?" she invited with a glint of excitement in her feline eyes.

Swipe was sporting a mile-wide grin of his own as he picked up the remote.

Meanwhile, a lone figure sat on the rooftop of Titans Tower, staring into the night sky as she usually did when she had to think about things. Despite Beast Boy's reassurance, Starfire still felt horrible about being almost responsible for someone taking their own life. She wanted so badly to make it up to Jinx, but wasn't sure how. After a long time of fruitless pondering, the Titan let out a dejected sigh.

Out of nowhere, Robin took a seat next to the Tamaranean. She looked away from the sky to greet her dearest friend.

"Hello, Robin."

"Hey, Star. Beast Boy told me about who you saw at the mall today."

Starfire nodded once, "Jinx. Only.. in a way.. it was not Jinx."

"Howso?"

"At one time, she was evil. She tried to bring harm to all of us, and even steal from innocent people. Today, she was cheerful... smiling! She did not even attempt to attack Beast Boy or myself."

This even made Robin a bit confused. Jinx was cheerful?

Starfire lowered her gaze from the stars to the ocean, "Beast Boy also mentioned the possibility of Jinx attempting... s-- s--" She squeezed her eyes shut as she forced the word out, "su-icide."

The former Boy Wonder put his hand on his friend's shoulder for reassurance, "So I heard. Star, it's not your fault.. None of us had any idea that she'd try to do that to herself. Besides, we needed to stop her and her friends from accomplishing whatever they were told to do. We didn't have much of a choice."

"I understand... but I still feel like a blorthug."

Robin sighed, but then thought of something, "I know a place that might cheer you up. It's an 80s dance club called 'The Retro Zone'. Would you like to check it out tomorrow night?"

Starfire smiled with mild embarrassment, "You are asking me out on a date, are you not?"

"I promise I won't destroy half of Jump City if you decline," Robin quipped, referring to their encounter with Killer Moth and his supremely spoiled daughter, Kitten.

"Then I shall promise not to drag you onto the dance floor and swing you around at high velocities," Starfire shot back, recalling the moment when that little brat practically flung poor Robin around like a rag doll. Robin snorted his response, also remembering that excruciatingly long dance.

"So about this time tomorrow?" the Titans' leader asked as he got to his feet.

"Certainly! I look forward to the checking out of this new dance club already!" the Tamaranean answered with a bright smile as she also stood up. They both went back inside, where an apparent fight was about to break out over who gets control of the remote.

"Tech TV!"
"Animal Planet!"
"TECH TV!"
"ANIMAL PLANET!"
"Guys..."

End of Chapter 6

In Chapter 7: Swipe makes another trip to improve the living conditions for his friend. However, as usual, the forces of fate have other ideas...