Unsuspected Heroes

An alternate look at the Prophecies Universe

Prelim AN: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls…we now have SWORDS. If you don't get what I mean now, you will soon.

Jinx bared her teeth at Ker's curled-up form, the beginnings of a livid bruise standing out on her temple, contrasting nicely with her pale skin. "Cheap shot, you idiot. HAAA!"

Another burst of hex energy streaked out, hitting the ground under Ker. A pipe burst, and the ensuing fountain sent him straight through the plate glass of the store's window. Raven's eyes started glowing dully and her nails started to dig into her palms. If nothing changed soon, Rage was going to have a field day.

Ker groaned and swiped blood out of his eyes. This wasn't going so well, despite his first two attacks, which were both quite successful. But now the two female mercenaries knew that he was a threat, and were ready for him with ranged attacks. Wincing with pain, he sat up against a counter, then suddenly realized what kind of a store he had just flown into. His pained expression turned into a wolfish smile and he started picking out what he would need.

"That idiot!" growled Faris in Arabic as he watched Ker get knocked through the shop's window. "What the hell is that fool doing, trying to take on a couple of metahumans? Bare hands too, no less, and against people with training. Sure…try and impress your new playtoy. Dammit Ker…I can't help you…not with so many people watching…especially her."

Bumble Bee groaned as she examined her wound. It was going to be a long time healing, even with the best medical technology. "Jinx, let's get out of here. We're going to get caught if we push our luck any further."

"To hell with that," sneered Jinx. "That bastard kicked me in the head. I'm not leaving till I get some payback." The probability-changer started walking across the mall's floor.

Bumble Bee let out an exasperated sigh. "You hit him full on with a hex blast, then sent him through a plate-glass window. I think you've gotten revenge enough. Besides, if there's anyone here who should want revenge, it's ME! He shattered my elbow!"

"Then I'll get your revenge too. Beside, he owes me interest." Jinx turned back to her black compatriot. "Don't worry so much. This won't take…AUGH!"

Her scream was accompanied by a loud meaty 'THOCK' that partially covered a sickening crack. Jinx fell to her knees, clutching at the sai that was now embedded in her shoulder blade. Blood quickly coated her hand and soaked her top. In shock, she looked back at the doorway to the store she had blasted Ker into. Sure enough, Ker was standing there, and preparing to throw another sai.

Bumble Bee watched in horror as the second sai flew from Ker's hand, arrowing in on Jinx's hunched form. Time seemed to slow as Jinx's good arm whipped out and fired a hex blast that sent all of the blood on her hand flying in a crimson mist, then sped up as the pink blast hammered into the sai, sending it flying high and wide.

Now Jinx was worried. This boy was not unlike Robin, outside of the fact that this guy wasn't afraid to inflict serious, crippling harm. She really wouldn't put killing past him, considering what he had already done. The sorceress did her best to struggle to her feet and collect herself, but she simply didn't have the time.

Jinx yelped as she barely stepped out of the arc of a cut that would have split her skull, providing the blade Ker was swinging was fine enough. "You lunatic!" she screamed in disbelief at the martial artist in front of her, whose blade was down low. "Go away!" She tried to bring her one good arm up for a hex blast at Ker's unguarded torso.

She wasn't fast enough, the teen's katana coming up in a rising thrust that skewered her hand, the blade's bloody tip coming to a rest not six inches from her face as the sword's guard smacked into her palm. Ker's war cry and Jinx's cry of agony mixed as the two of them tried to force the sword either to Jinx's face or away from her face.

After a few seconds, it was clear that Jinx was not going to win this clash, as the blade's razor edge tasted the flesh of her cheek, a red tear of blood welling up from the puncture. It was soon joined by her eyes' own tears, weeping that the end would come so soon.

Luckily for her, Bumble Bee chose that moment to intervene, firing her zapper over Jinx's shoulder at Ker's face. Jinx screeched in agony as a boot blasted into her stomach and Ker ripped the sword up and out of her hand and into a guard that would have adroitly blocked the electric blast…had metal not been such a good conductor.

The blast staggered him, sending him stumbling a few steps backwards, and letting Jinx beat a whimpering retreat back to the broken-armed Bumble Bee. The combatants stared at each other across the broken tile of the mall floor, Ker holding the katana to his side and back as Bumble Bee leveled her zapper at him while doing her best to support the savaged Jinx. "You ready to leave NOW?" whispered the black girl harshly to the other mercenary, getting a nod in reply. "Good. We're out of here!"

Bee beat her wings and rose slowly, not bothering to provoke more violent action from the remarkably deadly teen. It would be a slow getaway…but they could manage it.

Or at least they would have if the Titans hadn't chosen that moment to arrive. A whirling birdarang found Bee flinching and going small…dropping Jinx to the floor of the mall's upper level. Recognizing that there was no way to rescue Jinx, Bee flew off, abandoning the pink-haired mercenary to the law.

On the mall's ground floor, Ker flicked the blood off the sword, sheathed it…then collapsed.

Raven, in full hero costume, stood over Ker's prone form, doing her best to heal the worst of his wounds, mostly caused by shards of glass that had dug into him during his flight through the Asian store's window. It hadn't been easy. Ker had been severely lacerated, to an extent she was having trouble equating his performance in that fight to the injuries she had seen when she first flipped him over.

But thankfully, it hadn't been beyond her healing powers to get them to a state in which bandages were really unnecessary, but still recommended. Now she had the teenager flipped over and was healing the slight internal damage he had taken from the hex to the chest. She hurt, and badly. Still, she couldn't just leave him like that, especially after what he had done for the Titans…and more specifically, her.

"R…Rachel?" Ker's eyes fluttered open, but Raven could tell that they were awfully bleary.

"No," she said in a flat voice, the one that most people associated with her. "Lie still. I'm not done healing you."

"Oh…Raven, right? Sorry…sight's a bit fuzzy and you kind of look like…"

"I don't really care," snapped Raven, quickly, not wanting to go down that line of conversation.

Ker's eyes closed. "Sorry…guess I was babbling."

"You were," affirmed Raven, running a pair of blue aura encased hands over his chest. "But you just took a lot of damage. I suppose it's only to be expected."

Ker's eyes peered out from under half-raised lids. "Mmmph…I've had worse. You don't really need to bother with my chest…it's alright."

Raven didn't stop, even though she wasn't feeling any damage there. "Internal damage is not always apparent. You should just stay quiet and let me finish tending to your wounds."

He rolled his eyes. "Have it your way. Um, Miss Raven…could I ask you something?"

"You just did. But go on."

Ker's ensuing wince had nothing to do with physical damage. "I realize you probably have no clue about this…but did the girl that was with me make it out okay? Her name is Rachel…Rachel Roth."

Raven nodded, feeling a stab of pain in her chest from Ker's internal damage at last. "Yes. She should be just fine. And I'm sure she'll be glad to hear that you are okay as well." Raven removed her hands from his chest. "You can sit up now."

Ker did so. "That's…well, that's good to hear. What about Jinx? I didn't end up doing lethal damage to her, did I?"

Raven's expression tightened. "No…but she's going to need a lot of time with the nanobots before she's intact again. You really did some serious damage to her. Why?"

He was nodding. "I knew it was serious…as to why, she engaged me in combat. When sparring, I hold back…but when fighting, there isn't anything but defeating the enemy as quickly and efficiently as possible. Tending to one's opponent comes afterwards. That being said, I would have preferred to use a practice weapon, but I knew that I needed as much of an advantage as I could get, going up against two metas."

Raven blinked. "You aren't a metahuman?"

He shook his head. "I didn't say that. I just don't have a power with any use. I'm not affected by heat or cold. All I've got to work with is some pretty incomplete training."

Raven frowned. "Incomplete or not, it served well enough to take on two HIVE operatives. I must admit, I'm surprised you're not in the vigilante business."

He gave a pained laugh. "Oh no…hardly that. Your job is for heroes…not bushi. There isn't much call for my kind in this day and age." With a wince, he stood up and walked out of the tent that had been set up around them. "Thanks for the healing."

Raven sat down on the bed that he had vacated. "Bushi?" she asked of no one. "What in Azar's name does that mean?"

AN: Well, there we are. And, I know this is a shameless plug, but if you like my writing and ever enjoyed the movie Top Gun or its ilk, you might want to check out my latest fic: On The Job Training, in the Ace Combat section.