Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans and I NEVER WILL! WHY CAN'T YOU GET THAT THROUGH YOUR SKULLS!
Please forgive me for that little outburst. o.0
Chapter Three: Findings
4:34pm
"Goal! Five to one with the JCA in the lead!" a booming voice yelled from the announcer's stand across the field.
Below on the soccer field Richard was gathering the team around him and giving the next play. His normally spiky hair was plastered to his forehead. His soccer jersey was wet from a water splashing and sweat. He clapped his hands together and the players all ran onto the field once more.
Above in the stands, Wally, Gar, Victor, Jennifer, Kori and Rachel were all watching the game. Well Rachel was reading a book but you get the point.
"Go dude!" Gar yelled from his seat in between Rachel and Victor who was sitting in the aisle since he's in a wheelchair.
Rachel sighed in annoyance and turned up the volume on her Mp3 player. Gar glanced over at her; he could almost hear the music coming from the earphones. He tapped her shoulder and she looked up "What?" she growled angrily her dark blue eyes threatening to burn a hole in his forehead.
Gar rubbed the back of his neck nervously "Uh… you wanna go grab some snacks?"
Rachel's brows furrowed for a moment "Why?"
The question took Gar back. It took him a moment to recover "I dunno, you just looked like you were bored."
The girl narrowed her eyes slightly then marked her place carefully in her book and placed it on her seat. "Alright."
Gar smiled "You guys want anything?" he asked the other four teens who all shook their heads too focused on the game to reply.
The fought their way down the stairs and went towards the short line in the concession stand. Suddenly a hand snagged Gar's arm and he was shoved up against a wall with Mike Adonis breathing leering at him angrily "Where do you think you're going punk?" the huge teenager demanded.
Gar's green eyes smoldered furiously at the bigger boy "I told you Mike I quit." he spat savagely.
Adonis laughed "You're pretty funny kid." his expression turned dark "Now I'm giving you a week before I come after you." he threw Gar to the floor and stalked off.
Gar rubbed his chest where the teenager had been pressing. He sighed and rubbed his neck. He caught Rachel's inquisitive gaze and turned away in shame. "Go ahead ask."
Rachel shook her head "What ever that was about it's your business not mine." she reached down to offer her hand.
Gar took it, noticing for a moment how soft her hands were, "Thanks." he murmured getting to his feet.
Rachel offered him a tiny smile "No problem. Come on let's go get the snacks." she said already walking away.
Gar smiled a little and ran after her.
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12:43am
"Look Raven you told me to check out the place." Jinx growled pressing her hand to the communicator in her ear "I plan on doing so."
There was a loud sigh on the other line "Jinx, you tend to be rather violent when you 'check out the place' quote, unquote." Raven replied.
Jinx scowled and gave herself a running start. She hit the edge of the roof and flipped herself through the air and landed on the other side of the alley "I'm going Raven."
"Jinx! Stop!-." the transmission ended abruptly as Jinx pulled her ear piece out and placed it in her belt.
She smiled and ran off into the night.
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12:55am
The door to the museum security desk opened and Jack looked up from the computers "Hey Dave," he called "Did you get my decaf latte?"
Suddenly a glowing pink fingertip touched his forehead and the man slid to the floor with a groan.
A pair of pink catlike eyes appeared out of the shadows. Jinx flipped her long braid over one shoulder and slid into the now vacant chair in front of the monitors. She quickly hacked into the system and programmed a loop into the cameras. With that done she exited the security room and moved into the actual museum.
"Paintings." she said distastefully "I hate paintings." she activated a tiny camera that was attached to the front of her dark purple dress. Her clunky boots echoed down the hallways.
Suddenly a huge gust of wind blew past her. Her dress flapped in the wind and her braid nearly came undone. She whirled around preparing to attack.
A boy was leaning against a display case. He had bright red hair and electric blue eyes hidden behind a yellow mask with two little red lightning bolts on the sides. His outfit was skintight. The top half was yellow with a lightning bolt inside a circle on the chest. His bottom half was red and his boots were yellow as well. A good-natured smile was on his face.
"Hello." he said standing upright now.
"Who are you?" Jinx demanded.
"Kid Flash." the boy replied. There was a slight gust again and he was behind Jinx then he was in front of her "Fastest Boy Alive."
Jinx's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You've got to be kidding me." she spat "You're Kid Flash?" she laughed behind one hand "Funny I imagined you'd be cuter."
The boy shrugged and disappeared for a brief second. Then he was back. He had on one of the French hats and a bag "Croissant?" he asked in a phony French accent.
Jinx's eyes glowed totally pink and the bag exploded and his hat was torn to shreds. "I'm afraid I'll have to pass." she whirled in a circle. At the end of her braid there was an ornamental amethyst ring. It was full of centripetal force as it headed towards Kid Flash's face. When it struck it would knock him out cold.
Jinx yelped in surprise as her spin was stopped by a rather painful jerk on her hair. Kid Flash was holding the end of the braid where the ring was.
"Sorry about that." he said with an apologetic smile. "But I couldn't let you knock me out."
"Let me go!" Jinx demanded angrily.
"That sounds like a rather bad idea considering you just tried to whack me in the head with your hair." the boy replied calmly "Now why are you in here? Visiting hours are over."
Jinx glared hotly "Are you really that stupid or are you just trying to be funny. If it's the second one you're not succeeding."
Flash's blue eyes met hers and Jinx felt a wall come down. He spoke quietly "Why do you steal?" he asked softly.
Jinx had no answer. Why was she a thief? It had always seemed like the only option. Her parents never cared about her. They'd abandoned her at age five in L.A. She'd become a thief to survive. Then she'd met Starfire. They'd befriended each other and helped each other. Then three years ago Raven had joined them and taught them how to be real thieves.
"I…" Jinx scrambled for an answer. Those blue eyes disarmed her. She looked away "I don't know, I guess I just thought it was the only way."
Kid Flash let her go "I never asked you your name."
"Jinx."
He smiled "You know Jinx, there's always another way. I can help."
"I… I don't know. Where would I go?" Jinx asked hesitantly.
The boy smiled a little wider and held out a gloved hand towards her "Just trust me." he said kindly.
Jinx held her hand above his hesitantly. "On second thought, na." she said pointing her outstretched fingers at him. Pink energy flew at him knocking him clear across the room. Jinx sauntered over to him and smirked "For someone so fast, you're a little slow." she said putting one hand on her hip.
Kid Flash sat up in a blur. He stared at her then in an instant he was up on his feet and pulling a device out of his glove. He pressed a button then vanished from sight.
Seconds later the alarms started whining. Jinx cursed and ran through the doors into a squadron of policemen. A bullet whizzed past her head.
"Ha!" she yelled pointing a hex at the ground. The force of impact lifted her up into the air. She grabbed a flag pole and flipped herself onto the museum roof. The she took off.
In the shadows by the access door Kid Flash watched her run before taking off himself.
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9:02pm
"This stuff isn't coincidence guys," Richard said pacing the length of the stable aisle. He pointed at the blonde boy "You meet a girl with powers and Wally catches a thief in the museum."
Wally was sitting cross-legged on the top of a tack trunk looking bored "There's no evidence that the two are connected Rich. You're filling in the blanks yourself. Not a good idea."
Gar pored a bucket of grain into a bin and wiped sweat off his forehead "Wally's right Rich," he paused for a moment to scratch a horse's forehead "Maybe I can talk to that girl again."
Richard frowned and stopped his pacing for a moment "Vic could probably look up some stuff on her. What'd you say her name was Wally?"
"Jinx." Wally replied unfolding his legs and picking up a grey kitten.
"Just Jinx? No last name?"
The red head nodded then his brows furrowed for a moment "I asked her why she stole stuff and she said she didn't know. Maybe she just needs someone to talk to."
Richard sighed and looked out the barn door out into the sunset. "Amy said she the report for the break in. I'll go by and pick it up. Either of you guys gonna patrol?"
"My parents are going out for the night and my sister's going to be home so I can't leave." Wally said dejectedly.
Richard looked at Gar who shrugged "I guess I can come. Jane and Danny are getting kinda nervous about the whole staying out all night thing though. Something about my grades."
"Alright. I'll meet you at the police department at midnight."
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12:00am
Beast Boy dived down and landed beside Robin who was perched on the roof of the JCPD (Jump City Police Department) The two jumped from the roof and landed on a familiar windowsill.
A woman of about thirty five opened the window and allowed the two boys inside. "Where's the other kid?" she asked moving over to a file cabinet.
"Kid Flash has another engagement." Robin explained "What do you have for us?" he said quickly steering the conversation in another direction.
Amy pulled out a file and handed it to the masked teenager. He opened it carefully and began rifling through the photos with Beast Boy looking over his shoulder.
One showed a girl with pink hair and catlike pink eyes leaping into the air with a leg extended for a violent roundhouse kick. It looked like Jinx from Wally's description.
Another picture showed a girl in a dark blue bodysuit with the emblem Beast Boy had described. A hood covered her face in shadow. Her cloak was billowed out behind her and a black mist was surrounding three boxes around her head. Where her eyes should have been there was only two slits that glowed a brilliant white color. This must be Raven.
The third photo showed a girl with waist length auburn hair and glowing green eyes. Her hands were surrounding by circles of green light. She wore a purple mini skirt, purple boots that almost reached the bottom on the skirt, a crop, tank top, again purple. And on her wrists there were silver gauntlets that came up to her elbows. There was also similar armor around her neck and shoulders. She looked as if she were throwing the circles of light.
"Where are these from?" Robin asked handing the pictures to Beast Boy who rifled through them quickly.
"The first one was taken in L.A. about two and a half years ago. The second one was in Seattle a year ago. And the third was in Jet City four months ago." Amy replied.
"Any idea of who they are?" Beast Boy asked. There was a strange edge of anger to his normally joking voice.
"No." Amy replied bluntly "They've never bragged to the media or demanded a ransom. They've never even held hostages. Actually," she grabbed the file and ruffled through it. She held out the picture of Raven huddled over a woman lying on the floor of what looked like a bank "This woman was shot and this girl healed her even though it hindered their escape."
Robin frowned thoughtfully "So they're not out to kill anyone. That's slightly comforting. We don't have to worry about them hurting civilians."
"The big question now," Amy said "Is who they are and why are they in Jump City? Our museums have nothing major on display."
Beast Boy piped up now "What did they steal before? Maybe we can figure out what they'll be targeting."
Amy nodded in approval "In L.A. they stole fifty million dollars from a Mafia gang. Ten million later turned up in the bank account of an orphanage. In Seattle… they took out some kind of cult operation and destroyed their entire church. They took several gold artifacts and other items from the church. In Jet City it was a bank heist gone wrong. From what we could gather a group of normal thieves had taken one of the workers hostage on the same night these three decided to rob the place. Five of the men were knocked out. The sixth was so out of his mind with fear he had to be sedated. One of his buddies said that the girl in the cloak… pulled him into her cloak. He said her eyes turned red and she would've killed him if her friends hadn't pulled her away."
Robin's frown deepened. "Thank you." he said moving towards the window "Come on Beast Boy let's go."
The two slipped through the window and disappeared into the night. Any shook her head and gathered up her papers.
Three miles later the two heroes stopped on an apartment rooftop. Robin crouched on the edge surveying the streets for any action while Beast Boy lay on his back lost in thought.
Finally he spoke just loud enough to be heard "Adonis came after me today. When Rachel and I were going for snacks."
Robin lowered his binoculars and stared at the green changeling "What'd he say?" he asked quietly.
"He said he was going to give me a week before he came after me." Beast Boy sighed and sat up to look at Robin "I don't want to go back there Rob."
The young man nodded "I know Beast Boy… Can't you tell a teacher or the principal?" he asked knowing what the answer would be.
"No. I can't. Now without drawing attention to me." he sighed and fell backwards on the concrete "What am I going to do?"
Robin turned his attention back to the streets. "I don't know Beast Boy." he whispered "Maybe Vic or Wally has an idea."
Beast Boy sat up and moved next to him "I have an idea but it would involve being seen."
"No."
"It would stop him from pushing to anyone. Besides it's not like anyone would actually believe him."
Robin sighed and lowered his binoculars again "If we can't figure something else out then we'll do it." he consented.
Beast Boy smiled a little and pointed down at the street "I spy with my little eye." he sang out happily.
Robin followed the gesture and spotted what his friend was pointing at. A group of gangers were surrounding a girl who was looking around guiltily.
"Come on sweetie," one of the gangers said "It's simple. Hand us the money and we hand you the stuff. Nothing to be scared off."
The girl started to pull a wad of bills from her pocket when suddenly a figure appeared in front of her. A hand touched her shoulder "Go home." a voice ordered. The girl took off.
Beast Boy morphed into a turtle as a bullet headed for him. It bounced of his shell harmlessly. He turned into a raptor and roared angrily as he charged three of the guys.
Robin grabbed two of the men's heads and slammed them together "I'll say this once." he said pulling out a couple birdarangs. He threw them and knocked the guns out of the men's hands "This is our city." he rammed his elbow into the man behind him. He grabbed his collar so they were eye to eye "And we don't stand for any drugs in our city. Got it?"
The men all scrambled to their feet and ran away as fast as their legs could carry them. None of them even dared look back.
"You know," Beast Boy commented turning back into a human "It's moments like these that make it all worth it." he started laughing.
Robin rolled his eyes. "Come on let's go see if Vic can find anything about our thieves."
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Two years ago Victor's legs had been crushed in a car accident. Or at least that's what he told everyone. In reality he'd taken a bullet to the spine from a gang lord that paralyzed him from the waist down. You might ask how this had happened to a high-schooler who lives in a gated community.
Until the accident Victor Stone had been part of the Teen Titans. He'd called himself Cyborg and invented all sorts of gadgets to help him fight. After the accident he refused to sit around useless in a wheelchair so he'd built himself a computer network and, still calling himself Cyborg, worked directly for the Titans.
"I don't know guys." he said scratching his nearly bald head "I've tried every trick I know. I can't find anything on these girls."
Robin was pacing (again) while Beast Boy lounged on a bean bag chair. "There has to be something." Robin hissed.
Victor turned his wheelchair around and stared at the younger teenager. He sighed "Richard," he said sternly "I'm doing my best. It takes time."
Robin stopped his pacing and leaned against a wall. "I'm sorry Vic. I don't know why I'm so worked up about this."
Victor smiled "You get worked up about everything. Go home guys. I'll see you at school."
