Disclaimer I do not own the Teen Titans… why do I keep having to say that?
A Dish Best Served Cold… Epilogue
"Uhh… guys…. Are you sure this is the sort of thing you wear to a date?" asked Sub-Zero suspiciously, muffled by the bathroom door.
"Hey, you're the one that asked us to help you, right? Have a little faith." Beast Boy responded.
This was the night. The night that Sub-Zero and Jinx went on their first formal, official date.
Sub-Zero, having absolutely no idea of what sort of clothes people outside his island wore, didn't know what to wear. And he certainly wasn't going to tank around in full armor and gear tonight.
So, he had asked Beast Boy, Robin, and Cyborg to help him out. They had told him to wait at the Tower, and then they went out for an hour or so. When they came back, they were carrying a bunch of bags…
Right now, Sub-Zero was in the Titan's Tower Men's Room changing into the clothes they had brought back. He had been in their for about thirty minutes now…
"Man, what's takin' 'im so long?" Cy huffed, getting impatient. "Jinx'll have left him here by the time he gets dressed!"
"I heard that, Cy!" the knight barked from inside.
Finally, he stepped out. He was wearing a formal tux-suit; most of it was baby-blue, but the lapels, cuffs, and trim were shiny silver. A long, white handkerchief poked out of the suit's breast pocket. His hair had been taken out of it's usual ponytail and brushed out, making it flow long down his back. He wore fancy white gloves and heavily polished, white dress shoes. The one thing he had kept from his usual outfit was the metal, snowflake-shaped necklace he had always worn.
"Whoa… Zero, looking good!" Robin whistled, impressed by his friend's apparent transformation.
"… You really think so?" Zero asked doubtfully, tugging his lapels.
"We know so! Dude, you look like a new knight!" B.Boy encouraged. "Jinx is gonna flip when she sees you."
"Well… I have to admit… I DO look different, don't I?" he chuckled with a slight blush.
Zero began walking down the hall toward Jinx's room…
"Hey, wait a minute!" Cy halted him.
"Hm?" Zero stopped and turned to face him.
"I forgot something…" Cy said, getting a grin on his face from ear to ear.
Going back over to the clothes bags, he searched around and found one, last thing.
"Hold still…" he told Zero.
Zero stood still, and Cy walked over and placed a pair of narrow, rectangular shades on his face with crimson-red tinted lenses.
"Glasses? But I can see just fine!" Zero protested, slightly insulted.
"No, bro… these are shades, they aren't for vision problems… they're just there to look good…" Cy explained with a laugh.
"Oh…. I see." Zero said, embarrassed by his ignorance.
The young knight stepped into the bathroom and closed the door, to examine himself in the mirror one, last time.
And almost had a heart attack…
There, in the mirror before him, stood a man as plain as day. He was tall, with the same red eyes, white hair, and prominent facial features as Sub-Zero. His hair hung long and unkempt with a shaggy, curl-tipped goatee to match. He wore old-style navy clothes that were teal and silver, with a blue sash and white cape that hung casually over one shoulder. He had on a large, green pirate hat topped with numerous blue, white, teal, and silver feathers…
Somehow, Zero had no idea how, but somehow… he knew exactly who this image of a man was.
It was the spitting image of the long-dead dread pirate, Dark-Shard himself!
"… F-F-Father?" Zero stammered softly in disbelief.
Then, he almost had a heart attack again, because the spectral reflection actually spoke.
"Aye… I be a might proud o' yeh, m'boy… don't yeh ever fergit that." He stated in a gruff, heavily accented voice, smiling cockily and showing off a gold tooth. "An' don't yeh fergit yer ol' father now, savvy?"
And with that, the ghostly reflection just kind of faded away, leaving the reflection of a wide eyed, heavily breathing Zero in it's wake.
But after a moment, he felt strangely calm. He didn't know if that had actually been his father's spirit in that mirror, or if his nervousness over his date was making his imagination play tricks on him. But in the end, it didn't matter… because he knew the words the image of his father had spoke were true.
"Th… Thanks Father… I won't forget you…" he promised with a whisper to his own reflection… hoping his father, wherever he was, could hear him.
"Uh… hey, Zero? You okay? It got kinda quiet in there…" Beast Boy said worriedly.
He stepped out of the doorway, still slightly pale-faced… even more so than usual, mind you… and breathing heavily.
"Huh… Zero, you… you look like you've seen a ghost." Robin said, commenting on his unusual demeanor.
But Sub-Zero just shook his head and beamed. "Actually, I've never been better… and I saw no ghost… more like… a guardian angel." He said cryptically. His friends didn't really get that remark, but decided not to ask.
With renewed confidence, Sub-Zero set off down the hall toward Jinx's room, his compadres cheering him on the whole way.
"You can do it, Zero!" Beast Boy shouted… and then added under his breath: "All night long…"
(A/N: Sorry… Little Nicky reference… couldn't help myself…)
"Knock 'er dead, bro!" Cy said, shaking his fist.
"Don't even look back!" Robin said.
After Sub-Zero was well down the hallway and even farther out of earshot, Beast Boy turned to Cyborg.
"Hmm… ya think he remembered to take some 'protection' with him?" B. Boy asked thoughtfully.
Cy snorted. "You really think he'll get that lucky on a first date?"
"Not really… but you never know…." B.B. shrugged.
The Boy Wonder could only give the two a bemused stare, sweat-dropping anime style.
"You guys are awful, you know that?" he groaned, looking ill.
Beast Boy and Cyborg just shrugged and grinned.
Meanwhile, just outside of Jinx's room…
"…(Sigh)… is she almost done in there?" Raven muttered inquiringly, tired of waiting.
"I do not know… but it should not require much farther time. She has been getting ready for over one hour, now." Star chirped with a shrug.
Jinx had dragged Star and Raven to her room and told them to wait outside while she got ready. Apparently, she wanted their opinion on her outfit when she was finished.
That had been one hour ago, as the young Tamaranean had said.
Finally, the door to Jinx's room opened up and there stood the witch herself.
Like Sub-Zero, her appearance had undergone a massive overhaul.
She was wearing a sleeveless, neon pink top that stopped just below the bellow button, exposing just a small bit of midriff, and also left her shoulders exposed. Also, she had on a jet-black skirt that reached to just above her kneecaps and purple, high-heeled shoes, along with her usual, striped leg stockings. She was wearing lipstick for once, and also had on just a small amount of eye shadow and mascara. Last, but not least, her pink hair was no longer in those long, unruly, bullhorn-looking pigtails, but was let out and flowed down her neck straight.
Starfire was the first to speak.
"Ooooooohhh….. Friend Jinx, you look beautiful!" She cooed, looking starry-eyed… no pun intended.
Jinx just stood there staring at the floor, her facing blushing heavily.
Raven spoke after a moment.
"Er… you look… nice, I guess." She said dryly. She really meant it; she just wasn't quite as…enthusiastic… about her response as Star.
Jinx looked up.
"Do you think the lipstick is too much?" she asked hesitantly. "Be honest…"
"Oh, no! You look perfect!" Star chirped whole-heartedly, while Raven just shrugged.
All of the sudden, the trio of girls heard footsteps echoing down the hallway and coming closer.
"Oh, marvelous! That must be Friend Sub-Zero coming now!" Star yelped. "Raven, we should go and allow Jinx and Zero some privacy!"
She floated off hastily and Raven just sighed and levitated after her. Jinx, too nervous to see him just yet, ran back into her room and closed the door, waiting for him to knock.
Sure enough, our man Zero came walking around the bend of the hallway soon after.
Most of his aforementioned 'renewed confidence'… was now on holiday…
"…Oh, man… how the heck am I supposed to go about this?" he moaned. "I wasn't THIS nervous when I was fighting that dragon!"
He stopped in the hallway and sighed, trying out a few different possible lines.
"Oh, uh…. Hey Jinx, ready for the date? No…..wait….ahem…..Hey baby. How's about you and me go…. no, that's just a good way to get slapped…ugh, I JUST DON'T KNOW!" He groaned.
Finally, he just decided to suck it up and say whatever came to his head first.
Walking up to the door labeled, 'JINX' he held out a shaking hand and knocked hesitantly, shutting his eyes tight.
He heard the door open and gulped.
"Uh…hey Jinx…. Are you, um… ready to—" he opened his eyes at that moment, but the poor schmuck picked the wrong second to do it.
There stood Jinx in all her glory, smiling with one hand on her hip and leaning against the doorframe with the other hand, and winking at him.
"Sweet fires of Pompeii…" he whispered hoarsely in awe, before remembering where he was and mentally tossing hot water on himself (For most people, it would be cold water, but for Zero, it'd be hot.)
"Ahem! Er, I mean… Are you ready to…uh…go?" he said, forcing himself to remain calm.
"As ready as I'll ever be!" she purred devilishly, putting her slender arms around his neck.
This, combined with her new wardrobe, almost made Sub-Zero lose consciousness then and there, but he kept his cool.
"Er…. Well, shall we get going?" he said, now having recovered most of his former composure.
An hour later…
Sub-Zero and Jinx had just walked through the door of a fancy downtown nightclub/restaurant-in-one called, The Moonbeam Café. He'd heard about the place from an Ad he'd seen on T.V. after they'd arrived back home from Norblitz.
The place was surprisingly uncrowded, only a few tables had people at them. Zero and Jinx were able to get seated and place their orders in a matter of minutes.
"Hmmm… I'll have the…. Caesar Salad with… a side of grilled salmon… and some sweet tea, please." Jinx told the waiter, who immediately jotted this down on his notepad.
"Yes ma'am. And what about you, Sir?" the waiter asked Zero, who was still staring intently at his menu and scratching his head.
"Uh, well… I think… the T-bone steak, well done… and a side of French Fries… and I guess I'll have a large Ice water with that."
The waiter wrote this down, nodded, and left.
Zero turned to Jinx.
"Well, what do you think?" Sub-Zero asked his date after a minute.
"It's wonderful…" the sorceress said smiling. "How'd you find a place like this downtown, anyway?"
"Well, I had some help…" Zero said quickly.
"Aw, I bet you're just being modest again." She giggled. "You do that a lot, you know…"
He just grinned, blushed, and sat quietly until their food arrived.
"Wow… this looks really good!" Zero said, licking his lips hungrily while staring at his steak.
"Well, don't eat too fast… I don't want you to choke." Jinx warned.
He waved his hands dismissively and dug in like he hadn't eaten in days.
As if Jinx was psychic, it was only a minute and forty five seconds before he started choking and finally swallowed with some difficulty.
"Told you." Jinx said playfully.
He gasped for breath and took a swig of his ice water. "Guess you were right…" he said, eating his food a lot slower afterwards.
"The female in the relationship usually is." She joked, giggling impishly.
He almost choked again, not from eating too fast, and not from insult… but from the fact she'd just referred to them as a relationship.
'YES!' He yelled mentally, trying not to look too pleased about it.
Jinx ate her salad and salmon in silence for several minutes, and Zero ate the same way… neither of them quite knew what to say. Then, Jinx perked up a little.
"Hey! You wanna dance after we finish eating?" she asked excitedly, pointing over to the nightclub section of the place where there was a large dimly lit dance floor.
Zero almost spat out his ice water.
"Wha…? Dance?" he peeped, sounding like she'd just suggested they go sky diving.
His first instinct was no, but when he saw those, pink puppy dog eyes… or, in Jinx's case, kitty cat eyes… he buckled and couldn't' help but agree.
"Uh… sure, why not?" he said with a grin.
"Great! I love dancing!" she purred.
"Really?" he asked. He'd never actually seen her dance before…
"Mm-Hmm. They used to have school dances a few times every year at the H.I.V.E. Academy…" she said.
Zero stared. The H.I.V.E. School holding dances? It didn't make good sense to him, but oh well….
They finished eating and Zero gulped as Jinx grinned widely as she pulled him up and dragged him to the dance floor.
"Uhhhh… Jinx… I fell I should warn you…. I've never actually…danced before."
"REALLY? Oh, Zero, you're missing out! Come on, I'll show you…"
Zero gulped. That wasn't quite the reaction he'd expected…
She led him out to the middle of the dance floor and took both of his hands.
"Here… just follow my lead…" She purred smiling.
The next song, believe it or not, happened to be Hotel California by the Eagles…
There weren't many people on the dance floor which, much to Zero's chagrin, left him and Jinx completely visible to both their fellow dancers and the people still eating.
After the Spanish-esque acoustic guitar intro, the singer started…
'On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night
Jinx and Zero started slowdancing gracefully as the song began; Zero kept pace with her surprisingly well. Maybe it was the coordination he had developed from sword fighting, but… it was almost as if he could predict her next move every time.
There she stood in the doorway;
I heard the mission bell
And I was thinking to myself,
'This could be Heaven or this could be Hell'
Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor,
I thought I heard them say...
Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year, you can find it here
As the chorus started, Zero pulled a fast one on Jinx… he dipped her low, keeping his arm behind her back to support her weight, and looked her dead in the eyes. She gasped softly with surprise, and Zero just chuckled huskily.
Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes bends
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget
As the singer sang the words, 'sweet summer sweat', Zero gently spun Jinx around once and then caught her. She smiled up at him and whispered: " I thought you said you'd never danced before…" He grinned. "Well… I guess I'm just a natural." The crowd was beginning to go quiet and pay attention to the young couple…
So I called up the Captain,
'Please bring me my wine'
He said, 'We haven't had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine'
And still those voices are calling from far away,
Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say...
Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
They livin' it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise, bring your alibis
Zero and Jinx were really garnering most of the place's attention by this point. Usually, this would have made Zero VERY uncomfortable… but he was too lost in a pair of feline eyes to even notice…
Mirrors on the ceiling,
The pink champagne on ice
And she said 'We are all just prisoners here, of our own device'
And in the master's chambers,
They gathered for the feast
They stab it with their steely knives,
But they just can't kill the beast
Jinx was now beginning to become unnaturally warm in the face, and her cheeks flushed. She didn't care, though… her attention was on the young man she had been leading around the dance floor… by this time, HE was almost leading HER…
Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
'Relax,' said the night man,
We are programmed to receive.
You can checkout any time you like,
but you can never leave!'
As the acoustic guitar finished it's ending solo, the music stopped with a rhythmic 'ba-da-da-dah!' and Zero and Jinx embraced each other and kissed with perfect timing.
The two dancers were suddenly interrupted by a round of sudden, thundering applause.
"Huh?" Zero was the first to react, looking up from Jinx's face to see the entire place clapping for their performance. After a second, he realized that they had been watching them the whole time.
He could have fainted.
"Oh… my…. Goodness….." he moaned, looking ill.
"Hm? What's wrong? I thought you were enjoying yourself!" Jinx asked, alarmed.
"Well… I WAS…." He said.
And then, he ran off to the Men's room holding his stomach.
(A/N: This is NOT turning into a lemon, don't worry… however, there IS a bit of suggestiveness and innuendo coming up… no details, just implications. But if you don't want to read, skip the next few paragraphs and go straight to the ending.)
A Couple Hours Later, Back At Titan's Tower…
Zero was back in his normal clothes, walking the hallways.
After settling his stomach, they had left the restaurant/club, trying to attract as little attention as possible… which wasn't saying much; they were the talk of the place long after they left.
"Great… things were going terrific! Then, I have to ruin it…." He sighed, lamenting his reaction to the crowd.
About that time, he passed by Jinx's room… and the door slid open. Jinx was standing there, still in her date clothes. He took the opportunity to apologize.
"Jinx, listen… I… I'm really sorry about that back at…"
She cut him off. "Oh, don't worry about that…. We had fun, that's all that mattered." She was grinning unnaturally.
Then, she looked at him… strangely. It was a look that Sub-Zero wasn't sure what to make of…
"Zero… could you…. Come in here, please?" she whispered in a strangely sultry voice.
"Uhh… of course." He followed her into her room, and she immediately closed the doors behind him.
He realized too late that all her lights were off, and it was almost pitch black.
"U-U-Uhhhh…. Jinx…. Why are the lights off?….Jinx?"
There was no response at first… then, something grabbed his arm and pulled him over onto something soft…. wait…. the bed?
'Uh-oh…. Oh my lord….' Zero gulped mentally as he realized what was going on…
"…Tee-hee…. now… just hold still for a few minutes, my li'l Knighty-Whighty……" Jinx giggled devilishly, with an almost feral sort of purr…
Three Hours And Forty Seven Minutes Later…
Zero walked into the living room where the other Titans were hanging out… and almost scared the mess out of them; they almost didn't recognize him.
His hair was disheveled and messy, he wasn't wearing his armor, boots, gloves, or belt, his cape hung sloppily over one shoulder, his shirt was on backwards and his pants were heavily wrinkled… he had an expression on his face like he'd just won a triathlon: Exhausted, yet satisfied and ecstatic
To cap it all off, he had a number of ruby-red "Lip-Prints" all over his face, as if someone wearing a large amount of lipstick had gotten a bit… friendly… with him.
"What the--? Dude, what happened to you?" B.B. asked, looking horrified and amused at the same time.
"Friend Sub-Zero? Are you all right? You look… pale and tired…" Star said confusedly, noticing the haphazard condition of his clothes.
"Yeah… and you got lipstick all over your face!" Cy observed… once again, pointing out the incredibly obvious first.
"Wait a minute… don't tell me… Jinx…" Robin began, starting to put two and two together…
"Where IS Jinx, anyway?" Raven asked suspiciously.
He gave them a lopsided grin. "She's… asleep."
While everybody assaulted Zero with more questions, B.B. turned to Cyborg and whispered triumphantly: "See? I told you! You owe me ten bucks!"
Muttering darkly under his breath, Cyborg opened a storage tray built into his mechanical chest and pulled out his wallet to comply.
"Wait a minute… you guys got home, like… four hours ago, almost! We haven't seen you 'till now…. What have you guys been doing exactly?" Robin demanded, though he knew already.
Zero looked at them with the same grin and said…
"Guys…. You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
THE END
Well, that's it…. That's the end of this story. I will soon begin work on a sequel, in which I plan to introduce another OC.
In the meantime, Reviews would be groovy.
The Mad Phantom…