Alright! I have returned with more content. Let me start off saying how happy I am with all the feedback I'm getting on this story; it's been nothing but positivity so far.
Speaking of which: Imouto's mad house: Yeah, he is kind of a tool, isn't he, lol. Also, you needn't worry yourself, it's nothing to do with the readers; the only thing I can ask for is patience.
V
"I fail to see the appeal here." Raven cast a disappointed two-eyed glare about their surroundings. Jinx had suggested they spend their Saturday at Jump's central park to relax after their first mission.
Needless to say, Raven wasn't overly thrilled.
"The appeal is that some of us actually enjoy sunlight and being outdoors." Jinx explained. "I know it might be kinda hard to tell, what with, ya' know," she held up her hands, displaying her melanin-deprived complexion, "but I consider myself pretty well in tune with nature."
"That doesn't surprise me." Raven said. "You have a natural affinity for chaos; you practically embody it, and nature is nothing if not chaotic."
"Huh. Ya' know, I never thought of it like that before." Jinx leaned back on the bench she had selected after walking for a little while. Raven was watching Gizmo and Mammoth throwing a football back and forth, and something caught Jinx's eye in the other direction. A group of second graders were just now running onto the grass, having been just let out of school.
Normally, this wouldn't have been a noteworthy observation, but there was one child who stood well out of place. He looked about the same age as the rest, but he was the only one dressed all in black, with shoulder-length hair to match, and he was sitting under a large oak tree that still retained its foliage even as Summer was in the beginning stages of the transition to Autumn.
And even then, she could pass that off as just sort of odd, but he was staring at her with the angriest expression she'd ever seen on a seven-year-old. None of the other kids seemed to notice him, but he definitely noticed Jinx; he looked as if her were trying to stare into her soul.
"Hey Rae." Jinx turned to catch the demoness's attention. "What do you make of that kid over there?"
"…Which one?" Raven looked confused as she continued to gaze in the direction Jinx had indicated.
"The creepy one wearing all black." Jinx clarified. "He's right… oh, he's gone. Well, anyway, there was this kid sitting under that tree there lookin' like he wanted to kill me."
"That does sound concerning." Raven acknowledged. "But realistically, what damage can a child do?"
"He could be a meta." Jinx pointed out. "When I was his age, I collapsed a building without even trying."
"A building that didn't have me protecting it." Raven countered. "Unless he's some divine being in disguise, I doubt you have anything to worry about."
"I guess so." Jinx conceded. "Still, the way he was eyeballin' me was pretty unnerving. I think I'm gonna go for a walk; that whole thing kinda killed the mood for me here."
"Would you like me to accompany you?" Raven asked. "I wouldn't want you to get mugged by a gang of preschoolers."
"Hilarious." Jinx deadpanned. "I think I'll be fine on my own; I'll meet you back at the school."
Her journey took her to a fairly deserted area of Jump this time of day, and the sky had become overcast. Out of force of habit, Jinx tended to stick to alleys and lesser used pathways when traveling, especially on her own, and today was no exception.
Though Jinx held no fear for petty common criminals or juvenile delinquents of the non-meta variety, something here was making her anxious. She could feel eyes on her, watching from the shadows, but no matter where she looked, she only saw the same grungy atmosphere in every direction.
Her preferred path of conveyance suddenly felt much too oppressive and confined, and Jinx quickly ran out into the open air of the streets. She waited for her breathing to even out again, and decided it was time to head back to HIVE. She'd made it about a hundred feet when something else popped out of an alley that stopped her dead in her tracks.
The largest snake Jinx had ever seen slithered its way onto the street, looking easily big enough to swallow her whole should it get the opportunity, and releasing a hiss so loud and sharp she could feel it under her feet as it set her teeth on edge. She didn't even think, she simply blasted as much energy as she could gather at the monstrosity and high-tailed it in the other direction.
She'd been hoping, with how much power she'd actually employed, that it would either kill the thing or at least cave the road in under it, but that hope was utterly destroyed by the sound of the colossal reptile moving after her. Risking a glance back, Jinx saw the massive snake rapidly gaining on her, while her legs were screaming in protest at the excessive use of her muscles.
Even with the situation being as dire as it was, Jinx still had the presence of mind to notice just how empty everything was. Granted, it was after four on a Saturday in the industrial district, but still, she figured there would at least be someone around who could help her.
At the rate this chase was currently going, Jinx knew it wouldn't be long before it ended in a bad way for her. Figuring it was worth the risk, she bolted down an alley, intending to lose her pursuer amongst the labyrinthine architecture of the city. This too, however, yielded no result, as the snake managed to keep her in its sights the entire time.
In a last-ditch effort, Jinx ran down a dead-end, planning to vault over the back wall as she had done in several previous escapes. As it was wont to, though, she knew her luck had run out when she felt what could only be the snake's tongue wrap around her ankle and yank her back down, slamming her into the pavement. Jinx quickly sat up despite the dull thumping in her skull, and readied her power once again. The snake lifted its head higher, and she saw an opportunity.
When the beast had its head reared back and ready to strike, Jinx struck first. She knew her power wouldn't work in a direct attack, so she went for indirect instead, channeling her hex magic into the surrounding buildings.
The result was immediate; glass and concrete started coming down bit by bit at first, then all at once, distracting the snake from its hunt. As bigger chunks of stone began to pelt its body, it made to turn around in order to escape being crushed, but a wall of solid black obstructed its egress. It was the same solidified darkness currently holding up the wreckage Jinx had caused, and one that she knew very well.
"Took you long enough." Jinx said playfully, though her voice didn't betray just how relieved she was to see Raven.
"I apologize." Raven said. "I was investigating the boy from the park."
"So, did you find him?"
"I did." She slowly floated over to the snake that had shrunken considerably since her arrival and was now attempting to escape through any means it could find. Just when it had found a crevice to squeeze through, Raven grabbed it by the back of its neck, holding it still while it tried to squirm its way to freedom. "Are you quite finished?"
The snake's movements ceased at her question, and it began growing again, this time stopping at a much smaller size than before. It changed shape as well, becoming more humanoid with each passing second as a green glow surrounded it. When it was finished, Raven held a young boy about seven years old, with red skin and four glowing green eyes.
"What are you doing here Eli?" Raven questioned him.
"I could ask you the same thing, Pride." He replied smoothly.
Raven tightened her grip just a bit, just enough for him to feel. "It's Raven while we're up here. Which brings us back to my question: What are you doing here? And while I'm at it, how did you even get here?"
"It might be hard to sneak out when you're Father's favorite, but the rest of us aren't watched as closely as you are." He crossed his arms as he hung there helpless. "Even Simon could get out easier than you."
"That still doesn't explain why you're here." Raven reminded him, not denying his claims of paternal favoritism.
He didn't answer her, instead choosing to glare openly at Jinx, who sat in stunned silence.
"I see." Raven sighed. "Listen, I know you don't like it when I'm not around, but you can't do things like this, and you certainly are not allowed to hurt her." She pointed a finger at Jinx.
"Why not?" Eli asked, genuinely confused. "Why do you care what happens to some pathetic mortal?"
"Watch your tongue when you speak about her." Raven hissed, narrowing her eyes. "Why I'm protecting her is none of your business. The only thing you need to know is that if you try anything like this again, or if you mention my whereabouts to anyone, not only will I force you to rearrange your own internal organs, I will also tell Mother you've been sneaking off to the ninth circle by yourself."
"Alright, fine!" Eli pleaded. "Just promise you'll come back home soon."
"I'll see what I can do." Raven offered. "Now, you owe an apology to my friend here." She set him down, grabbing Jinx's outstretched hand to pull her to her feet.
"I'm sorry for trying to eat you." Eli said, still crossing his arms while avoiding looking at Jinx.
"Don't sweat it, kid; I've been through worse." Jinx said casually. "So, Rae, who exactly is this?"
"Right. Jinx, this is my younger brother, Eli. He has some… jealousy issues."
"No kidding." Jinx said. "So, siblings, huh. You got any more?"
"Several." Raven sighed. "Though none of them are quite so clingy."
"I think it's kinda cute." Jinx said, eliciting a blush and a pout from Eli. "Little man's just lookin' out for big sis; I can respect that."
"More like trying to keep me to himself." Raven corrected.
"Yeah, well, I wouldn't really know; closest thing I ever had to siblings were Mike and Baran."
"They certainly do behave as if they were brothers." Raven noted. "Now, go home, Eli."
"Fine." He conceded as he wrapped her in a hug. "But if you don't come back to visit soon, I'm coming back up here."
"I would expect no less." Raven said, watching him disappear into a neon green portal.
"Interesting family so far…" Jinx commented. "When do I get to meet the rest of 'em?"
"Well, if my father finds out what I've done, you'll get to meet him up close and personal."
"Something tells me he's not the type to wear flannel and tell dad jokes." Jinx quipped.
"Hardly." Raven said. "He's more the type to gut a man while forcefully keeping his body alive to endure it."
"Sounds cheery." Jinx grimaced. "Speaking of 'cheery', are you sure you weren't a little harsh on your brother? With the whole 'rearranging his organs' thing?"
"He tried to eat you." Raven looked incredulous.
"Yeah, I know." Jinx said. "But I've been hanging around you for a while now, and it's not hard to pick up on the fact that Hell doesn't exactly subscribe to human notions of societal norms and social etiquette."
"I can't believe you're not upset that my brother wanted to kill you and ingest your corpse."
"Rae, you've threatened to eat at least three people since we started at HIVE." Jinx pointed out.
"Yes, and those people not only would have deserved it, they were also rightly upset about the idea of it." Raven argued.
"Alright, look." Jinx said. "I'm obviously not 'okay' with the fact that your younger brother wanted to eat me because he was jealous that you were spending all your time with me, but I wasn't lying when I said I'd dealt with worse. Clearly, demons are raised with a different idea of what's acceptable, and I get that; I didn't exactly have a 'normal' upbringing myself."
"I… suppose you may have a point." Raven conceded. "But I wish you'd take nearly dying a bit more seriously."
"The day I take anything seriously is the day they surgically remove the part of my brain that makes up my amazing personality." Jinx insisted.
"Such as it were." Raven said sarcastically. "Well, now that the family reunion is over, would you like to head back to the school, or were you planning to anger some kind of Eldritch beast today as well?"
"Yeah, going back to school is probably a good idea."
"Oh, hello Raven. I wouldn't have expected to see you here today."
"One could make a similar assumption for a teacher." Raven said. "I was wondering if you could take a look at something for me."
"I suppose I have some time." Mr. Jacobs assented. "What have you got?"
"I found this," she fished the necklace from the impossibly deep recesses of her cloak, "on our mission to retrieve the company vehicles. One of the thugs we incapacitated was wearing it; he claimed it could shield an individual from magical detection. It certainly accomplished as much, but given the several suspicious factors involved in the assignment, I was hoping you could tell me what else, if anything, this item is capable of."
"Hmm…" He held it out before him by the chain. "It doesn't surprise me that you don't recognize it; it's a tool commonly used by demon hunters. Normally, yes, this sort of thing is used as magical camouflage, but this particular talisman has been altered to serve a dual-purpose."
"…Which is?" Raven prompted.
"I haven't the slightest idea." Mr. Jacobs dropped the necklace in her open palm. "As far as I can see, its second purpose was either never implemented, or disguised so cleverly that neither a hunter of my caliber nor a high-class demon are able to detect it. And considering just how unlikely the latter scenario is, I think it's pretty safe to assume that there are no 'surprises' hiding in there. And who knows, it might come in handy for you later on."
"I'll keep that in mind." Raven said, once again pocketing the artifact. "There was one other thing I wanted to ask you, as well."
"What's that?"
"What can you tell me about a student named James Sherwood?"
"Nothing I'm sure your technologically inclined teammate couldn't dig up." Mr. Jacobs said. "Is he causing problems for you?"
"No." Raven shook her head. "At least, not yet, as far as I know. But he has developed a personal interest in me, and I'd like to be sure he doesn't become a problem in the future."
"That's understandable." Mr. Jacobs rubbed his chin. "Normally, I wouldn't try to tell someone about their own culture, as it makes me feel like a jackass. But, you being who and what you are, well, powerful demons tend to draw those who desire power closer to them, usually through their aura. I would imagine your aura is likely extremely potent, thanks to your father."
"You know my lineage?" Raven asked dubiously.
"It's not exactly particularly difficult to spot the spawn of the most dangerous demon in existence." Mr. Jacobs said. "I've met Trigon in person before, and the resemblance is uncanny."
"You've met him? I'm amazed you survived the encounter." Raven said.
"I'm sure he was, too." Mr. Jacobs chuckled. "He is, naturally, not fond of hunters, and now me more so than others for having escaped with my life. I'll admit, I did try to kill him, but I've since learned that he is one being who is well beyond my capabilities."
"Well, you're not the first person to learn that lesson." Raven laughed once. "Though you may be the first human to survive the experience. Thank you for your help; I suppose I'll have to ask Gizmo to look at James' file again."
"Hold on." Mr. Jacobs stopped her. "I'm not supposed to divulge information about one student to another, but in my opinion, that boy isn't entirely stable. I believe in this case, it may be justified if it helps you feel safe." He held up a hand to stop her from interrupting him. "I know you can handle yourself in a fight if necessary, but so can he, going by his combat performance history, as well as his one-hundred percent success rate on missions. If you want to know more about him, his father is Head of Engineering at Jump's Wayne Enterprises."
Raven nodded once before turning around and making her exit, heading in the direction she could sense would lead her to Jinx.
"You know there are easier ways of doing this, right?" Jinx asked rhetorically. She had, on Raven's request, agreed to help gather more information on Cryo, which apparently involved breaking into one of the wealthiest and most powerful companies on Earth. Or at least, their Jump City branch, as the front door seemed proud of advertising.
"I'm open to suggestions." Raven said. "I've already asked Gizmo, and he told me that as good as he is, Wayne Enterprises' cyber-security was too much for him to handle."
"So naturally, we do this the old-fashioned way." Jinx said. "Does this place also have wards stopping you from just teleporting in?"
Rave shook her head. "No, but I do need a clear visual destination when traveling that way. Once I can see where I'm going, it's a simple matter, but I have no idea what part of the building this man works in."
"So, what do you need me for, then?" Jinx asked in confusion. "It's not like you're actually doing the breaking part of the breaking and entering; all we're doin' is walkin' through a few walls to find a computer that'll likely have the info, and plugging Gizzy's device in so he can hack it remotely. After that, you could have just had him guide you to this guy's office."
"I could have done that." Raven admitted. "But then I would have been stuck listening to his voice all night, which would have meant I'd be hearing his ridiculous version of swearing on top of his constant complaining. Whereas if you're with me, he can simply send us a map because there will be someone here who would actually be able to read it."
"Yeah, I guess I can understand that." Jinx said as they phased into what must have been the fifth room that didn't have what they were looking for. "His voice can be pretty grating in long doses with how nasally it is. … So, is that the… only, reason?" She wasn't sure what made her ask, or why it was at all important, but now that the question was out there, she was a little worried the answer might be yes.
"Well, I have to admit," Raven said, "your presence is decidedly more… amiable, than other humans I'd become accustomed to meeting, and these sort of activities can be a bit tedious when one is alone." Jinx fought down a blush at her words, still confused as to why she was so affected by them in the first place. Trying to regain her composure, she decided to change the subject.
"So, um, speaking of reading…" Jinx cleared her throat a couple of times. "How long until you're slated to be done with English class?"
"According to my instructor, based on the current rate at which I'm advancing, I should be at a passable level of fluency before the end of December."
"That's good news." Jinx said. "I always hated English class when I first got to this country."
"You're not from here originally?" Raven looked sidelong at her.
"Nope, but that's a story for another time, because I'm pretty sure this is the room we're looking for." Raven had no doubt she was right; the room they'd come in to must have been some sort of hub. Rows upon rows of large, electrically powered boxes the likes of which Raven had never seen filled the room to capacity.
"What is all this?" She turned to her teammate.
"If I had to guess, I'd say this is their server farm." Jinx said, continuing when she saw the confused look on Raven's face. "All the information that runs through this place goes here at some point."
"It must be a lot to have this many of these things." Raven said.
"Nah." Jinx waved off her comment. "This is like the size of a garage; you should see some'a the ones they got down in Silicon Valley. Those things are like the size of airplane hangars, and they're fuckin' freezing from all the cold air they gotta push through there in order to keep the hardware from fryin'."
"Interesting." Raven commented. "Which one of these is the one we're after?"
"Uhh… good question." Jinx said. "Let's call Giz and see if he knows." She took out her communicator, which brought a prideful smile to her face every time she saw it due to how much more professional the design was than the one from Junior HIVE, and made her feel much more mature whenever she made a call. Shaking her head to get her focus back, she dialed Gizmo's comm number.
"Whaddya want? Did you find it yet?" Gizmo shouted through their line.
"First of all, keep your damn voice down; and second, you never told us which server we're looking for."
"Uh, right, my bad." Gizmo said, a bit embarrassed. He brought up some files on the computer in the background, scanning with his eyes for just a few seconds. "Okay, most of 'em are gonna have a bunch'a orange lights blinkin' all over; you're lookin' for the one with one blue light."
Their search lasted all of thirty seconds before Jinx declared she'd found it, plugging the hacking device into the proper port through Gizmo's direction.
"Alright, we got you in. What do you see?" Jinx asked.
"I got… emails and passwords, worthless to us; company profit records, again, useless… Hey! Top secret weapons blueprints!"
"Not what we're here for." Jinx shut him down. His scowl deepened, and he went back to searching.
"Fine, here's the address." He clicked a few keys, and a line of text appeared on screen.
"Thanks, Mike!" Jinx quickly pulled the device out of the server and pocketed it before closing her comm, and had raven teleport them out.
"So, why are we going to this much trouble over this guy?" Jinx asked as they walked along the darkened streets of the upper-class Jump residential district. "Couldn't you just crush his skull if he gets too out of line?"
"Punishment is a tool." Raven explained. "You need to choose the right one for every task. If he does become a problem, which at this point looks to be fairly inevitable, I'm almost certain it will be to the point at which simple death is an improper response. We're here to find the path of least resistance to his demise."
"Then, what are you gonna do to him?"
"I'm not sure yet." Raven admitted. "Perhaps I'll assault his mind to the point of driving him mad; I may simply eat his soul. Truthfully, it will depend on the situation at hand."
"Well, I'm sure it will be fun to watch." Jinx said. "Oh look, we're here." The Sherwood family residence looked much the same as pretty much every other house on this side of town: multistoried, a pastel paint job, and opulent architecture that served no function other than to show off the owner's wealth.
'These people must feel real safe behind their white picket fences.' Jinx thought as she and Raven crossed the front yard; there were no alarms of any kind, they didn't even have a dog.
They likewise met no resistance on phasing through the front door and into the foyer. More reminders of the family's affluence spotted the inside of the abode in the form of expensive decorations, but Jinx wasn't focused on the material possessions around them.
"Let's look upstairs." She whispered. "Rich people always sleep on the second floor for some reason."
"…If you say so."
Just as Jinx had predicted, they found the master bedroom at the end of the hall leading directly off from the top of the staircase. Inside were, as expected, a middle-aged man and woman resting peacefully in the bed.
The two home invaders quietly strode over to their still forms, the well-maintained floors not making a hint of a creak or a groan in the silence, even under Jinx's heavy boots. Raven split her gaze, focusing three eyes each on either of the sleeping pair, while the light emanating from them grew noticeably in intensity. Other than an odd twitch of facial muscle, Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood stayed fast asleep as Raven searched their minds.
"Anything?" Jinx asked as soon as everything had gone back to normal.
"Maybe." Raven answered cryptically. "He still keeps a room in this house."
At first glance, nothing seemed out of the ordinary with James' bedroom, aside from being much tidier than one would expect from a teenage boy. Even as they searched his belongings, the mundanity of the results was starting to the whole endeavor feel fruitless.
They were both on the verge of giving up when Jinx's keen eyes spotted a faint outline in the back wall of the closet.
"Hey Rae, looks like we got a closet cultist." Jinx's pun and her accompanying grin was enough to make Raven facepalm and sigh audibly.
"That was terrible." Raven whispered. "What did you find?"
Jinx held up a pendant for her to see; a circle of eight connected arrows pointing inward hung at the end of a thin red cord. "I have no idea. If the arrows were facing the other way, I'd say it was a chaos star, but I've never seen this symbol before. What about you?"
Raven shook her head. "I can't say that I have either, but the energy coming off of it is familiar in a way. At least now we have something to go off of." She looked around the room again. "We're not going to find anything else here; we should go." She used her powers to make certain everything was back in its original position, and, after Jinx took a picture of the pendant, teleported them both back to HIVE.
So, on an unrelated note, does anyone know of any polyshipping fics with Raven? It doesn't have to be a harem, I'm just looking for any stories where she ends up with more than one person, preferably yuri. Just please, no BBxRae.