Disclaimer:I do not own either 'Jackie Chan Adventures' or 'Teen Titans'.
Betaed by: Zim'smostloyalservant
A Shadow of the Titans:
Created by
Nocturne no Kitsune
Written by
Eduard Kassel
Chapter Nine
Super Jinx:
Or
Things Blow Up and Things Get Started
Jade suppressed a yawn while she tuned out Blood's speech. With her hood up, the only thing anyone could see of her face was her closed eyes, so she could relax while trying to pull the shadows of the other students to conceal herself as they stood in loose ranks. She still wasn't sure what the point of this pep talk/lecture was; it seemed Blood was disrupting the schedule for the heck of it.
She had been worried when she noted who was here. It was the top students of the HIVE, from heavy hitters like Gadjo to the tech and magic nerd crowd.
'And me,' she admitted. Not for the first time, she was that odd mix of proud and uncomfortable at her first laurels won in education being at a place like this.
Boredom aside, this was better than the impromptu death match she had been anticipating with this crowd.
Then her forehead pulsed in time to her heart as her back was doused with ice water and her legs tensed like a deer ready to leap. Jade's eyes snapped open, protected from a flood of light by the veil of shadows over her face. Torn between tearing the hood down to see better and pulling it tight to hide, she glanced around.
Predator, her instincts screamed. She was being stalked even in the herd. Singled out. Her feet had sunk into the collected shadows before she noticed and stopped. She rose back up her feet on solid floor again, and took a deep breath.
The moment had passed, the aching receding and her back no longer sending her into shivers.
Looking around, she saw the other students, including Jinx, looking bored and a bit distracted. And Gadjo was chuckling nearby, though she could not see him.
'What was that?! Who was that?!' Jade thought, her throat dry. She would need a little visit to the shadow realm after this. Creepy as that place was, taking in some shadows had proven to be the way to take an edge off, as Jinx went on about. And her edges felt sharp to the touch right now.
XXX
Blood smiled from his podium as the students filed out. The speech had not been one of his finest, but then, it had not been the purpose of this little gathering. He loved how his position let him make demands like this, with no need to justify them. He did offer reasons of course, but it no longer mattered if they could be seen through. While something to handle with care, such absolute power was truly the finest luxury to possess in this life.
"Quite an assembly," the client said behind him. Annoyed at being blindsided, Blood turned to greet the potential client. The armored man was leaning against the wall beneath the large HIVE crest. Save for the one eye peering out from the brass half of his mask, he was completely encased in dark armor. And seemed completely at ease, despite being deep in Blood's domain.
"As you can see, the quality of students has improved considerably under my administration," Brother Blood stated, stepping towards the armored man.
"…I suppose it has, though I note the number has dropped noticeably as well. Schools are rather redundant if you run out of students, in my experience," Slade observed.
"Well, had you allowed a battle royale as I suggested, they would have been able to better exhibit the great strides we have made at the HIVE," Blood countered, turning to look over the empty hall.
"I have seen them all fight over the feeds. I know what they can do. I needed to see them in person to gain a measure of what they can be. And as things now stand, only two meet my standards. And one is not fit to serve another, while the other lacks in one vital area.
"Like your predecessors, Blood, you have nothing to offer that I desire," Slade told him, sounding a bit bored.
"Which two do you…" Blood asked, turning around to find himself alone in the room. Blood allowed himself a sneer at the disappearing act, and turned his attention back to the empty hall.
"For all your theatrics, Slade, you are still just a man in a mask. One day you, like all the others, will fall before me. On yours knees, or simply vanquished," Brother Blood smiled.
"I think not," Slade's voice answered from the emptiness. Blood stepped back, assuming a stance as his eyes searched the empty room for the man.
Finding nothing, the gray-haired man scowled and made his way back to the podium. Seams appeared around him in a hexagon, and the lift carried him down out of sight, before the shaft resealed itself.
XXX
"Well done," Blood said as he walked into the medical bay. Zhu Chan was laying unconscious on the gurney that had been wheeled into this nook.
The nurse bowed; she had done her job well, drugging the young extra-dimensional under the guise of a routine exam. Blood had learned never to trust his own health to the medical staff here; the fact he was now in charge had not changed that policy.
The fact this mere nurse had rendered such a powerful student helpless with subtlety and no fuss worth noting was a ringing endorsement for the department's skill. And it made up for their failure with Gadjo somewhat.
A more than lethal dose of anesthetics and he was still faking just so he could dramatically wake up and stop them from trying to figure out what made him so… him. His "playing doctor" had cost the HIVE two doctors, two nurses, and a rather unfortunate – or fortunate, depending on your view – medical intern his left leg and respective kidney.
But now, Blood was poised to get to the bottom of this student, who seemed to effortlessly thwart his attempts to control her.
"I just want you to know, child. Since you made me exert such and resort to such direct methods. I will not be making this as smooth for you as possible," he said. Eyes aglow, he pressed his fingers on her temples, and dove into her mind.
XXX
"I am just saying, darkness within is an option to keep open. It is just quite useful in general. And you already are making such fine progress, even good marks in school.
"So why not just jump on the train and ride, instead of getting dragged along?" Tarakudo asked. Not that Jade was fully hearing him right now.
No, she was preoccupied with building a wall of sheep to keep out the flood of jelly threatening to destroy the apostrophe.
"I need more peanut butter here!" the Shadowkhan girl yelled at the sombrero-wearing flamingo assisting her.
"Or you can make a wall of livestock using peanut butter for mortar. Darkness, I had forgotten how strange and senseless mortal dreams are.
"Granted, I don't think they were ever this weird in the Dark Ages. I blame television," he commented, as Jade smeared peanut butter on the back of another sheep grazing on the grasslands this dream seemed to be set in.
"Okay Jade, let's try the subliminal messaging one more time, then I will leave you to… this," The Oni King sighed. Then a shiver went up his absent mind.
"Now that was a willy! And at this temperature, it can mean only one thing.
"Someone is messing with MY stuff!" he exclaimed, baring teeth.
"Jam breech in sector five!" Jade cried as sirens went off. Glad to ignore her, Big Red set off to the edge of Jade's mind.
XXX
Blood knocked his knuckles casually against the wall before him. Solid enough, but that was to be expected.
Stepping back, the armored schoolmaster assessed the defenses. His photographic memory let him reference it well enough, a combination of a classical Japanese fortress, but the shape reminiscent of a modern city skyline.
So, ancient knowledge and magic combined with a modern perspective. He would guess Zhu Chan was a city dweller. It was a valid possibility structures similar to this might exist in her home dimension.
Almost a shame to punch a hole in this so he could begin to take command of her mind. He actually took little pleasure in penetration. For all the ruffles and flourishes one could dress it up with, it was ultimately a crude, utilitarian act.
The elegance, the style, the art – that all came after. To subsume their will in an utter seizure, or touch it so lightly but so firmly they never realize they are your slave.
"I am sorry it had to come to something so cliché, my young student," Blood said, gathering red energy in his hands.
"But you have forced my hand," Blood said. He unleashed the twin blast before the wall. It may take some time to break in, but the ultimate outcome was inevitable. Then a wall of black metal fell from the sky between him and the stylized wall. His blast impacted and fizzled out, not even leaving a mark.
Looking up, he saw the wall extending up into the mental ether, out of sight.
"Punk, what do you think you are doing here?" a deep voice echoed. A crimson Oni head with a white mustache and matching prominent eyebrows faded into sight.
"And who are you?" Blood inquired.
"Someone above a petty mind witch who has to resort to mind controlling his own soldiers," the entity said.
"Heh, well, you seem to be interfering with my student, so it is good I am so direct about reaching young minds," Blood smirked.
"Your student? If you thought you could tag and claim, I am afraid there is already a stake planted. And by consent of the native, no less," the Oni head stated. He glanced up and so did Blood; the ether parted, revealing a stylized image of the face blazing on the sky.
"What?" Blood muttered.
"You are confused. I will explain. I marked her first, I saw her first, I got here first. So mess with what I have going on in here again, and I will eat your astral form.
"NOW SCRAM!" the command shook the world.
Blood opened his eyes with a slight jerk. He stood back in the medical bay, hands upon the unconscious girl's head. Frowning, he shifted his fingers, letting the tips run over the smooth blue brow. A fool who destroyed her own eyebrows seemingly for keeps, yet it seemed there was more at work here.
Demonic possession? No, not that. This was something else, the other being was not indwelling her, he was certain of that. But he was accessing her. Another psychic then? Magic to similar ends.
Still, it was clear she needed to start proving herself worthy in light of her enigma status.
He had just the project in mind. He was gone as her eyes fluttered open, ignorant of what had transpired while she slept.
XXX
"You know, getting a second lab space should be awesome. Only it's not," Jade griped. She was sitting in a pre-setup arcane lab in what the students called "The Extra Increased Security Lab Wing".
Namely, the place where faculty did their stuff, and students worked on stuff the Headmaster considered important in a way beyond their GPA.
"Jinx may be jealous, but I for one do not appreciate Blood's attention," Jade muttered. She floated to the warded cabinet and opened it, pulling out a black leather scroll case with wards cut into it, and a bronze talisman with white gold inlay in arcane Asian characters.
She set the two items down on a table, nudging the talisman around with her Rooster powers. Scowling, she paraphrased her executive assignment.
"In light of recent events, namely being able to upgrade yourself to a higher threat class, I believe it is time you started handling more priority assignments.
"Chi magic – you alone practice it in this world. But artifacts remain. While you will of course benefit from the knowledge we will provide, the HIVE will have possession of any artifacts you unlock," she said, imitating Blood's voice, poorly.
She was certain Blood was setting her up for a fall. Not to kill her or anything, but probably to provide justification for some crap assignment to "redeem" herself.
What's more, getting these artifacts to work with this pathetic excuse for research? Most of these scrolls were just references! She was pretty sure at least two of these artifacts were broken as it was. And she could not hope to repair magic without knowing what it does in the first place.
The most research she had done so far was to give her some ideas for her own stuff. Yeah, no worries about chi sorcery becoming an elective at the HIVE anytime soon.
Still, this talisman… it seemed like it was only a question of power and catalyst. The enchantments were intact, and if she was correct, still active.
It was like in the movies, where people are so beat up they are assumed dead, and no one apparently knows how to check for a pulse or a faint breath. Only in this case, no one had the chi savvy to tell the difference between a lack of magic and very, very drained magic.
Opening the container, Jade pulled out and unrolled the scroll, a copy of a scroll written by the chi sorcerer who wrote it. Hwan the Bright, a Korean practitioner of the art; apparently that land had been the last bastion of chi magic. And this particular sorcerer had made this same pendant.
No spells here. But she suspected Hwan had left some clues in the words. He wrote as much his belief that his school of magic was soon to be lost. And felt vexed by this. He wrote at some length on that.
Apparently he blamed the Confucians. Well, from her experience, wizards seemed to develop a huge capacity for vindictiveness and foul tempers. Fortunately, she seemed to be avoiding that cliché.
Unfortunately, the paper was not talking.
"Meh, I'm hungry. Time for a visit to the hardware store room," she muttered, placing the scroll back in its case.
XXX
Jade was waiting by the BBQ place in the food court; she had turned in the ingredients to her custom breakfast, and now was just eating a bowl of century eggs while she waited.
She was idly watching the chaos of the lunchroom. Well-ordered chaos – there was a pecking order, and that limited the chaos somewhat. No one sat next to Gadjo, for instance.
Then people started staring at a new guy.
"Mmm, scrambled eggs! Just like the mad scientist who created me used to make!" The guy in the stupid little steel crown thing said.
'Oh, there was a time when that phrase would have been strange. Oh, for the days when it was just magic, and science was a rarely called on but generally helpful cousin of your uncle… thing.
'Man, that metaphor got away from me. I should sleep more. Heck, I almost got fooled by that terrible Cyborg disguise.'
'…'
"#$% ^&?!" Jade exclaimed, spitting out a partially chewed egg. The booth cook bot placed her order on the counter.
"Be advised, contents do not qualify as food," the robot droned. Jade ignored it, watching the thinly disguised Titan get bullied by her team.
Surely not? Really? No one was seeing that?
"Huh?" she asked.
"You curse like a one-handed carpenter who used to be a sea dog," Fish Boy said from his place in line to the booth she had cut to use.
"Quiet, fish boy," she muttered. She floated off, her sandwich-BBQ-burrito thing floating after her.
XXX
Jade watched the disguised Titan "transform" into a stone man form and display super strength. Hmm, two rings dramatically activated with a self-fist pound.
That was actually good. The dramatic flare and violent flamboyance of the transformation was par with super villains. Demonstrated with how his destruction of the highly durable table was met more with measuring assessment than any real outrage.
New guy had been challenged, challenge answered, and met well if not exceptionally. Good enough to not be seen as meat, but not so good he would be attracting attention.
All that smart, and he couldn't have at least had the holograph alter his face? Just a little tweak to the nose, maybe glowing white eyes or a scar to distract?
It was perhaps the most blatant example she had yet seen of how people in this world could be scarily effective and stunningly incompetent at the same time. Yet it seemed to be working on everyone else.
Was it something in the water? The atmosphere? Chewing on her custom meal, she thanked the powers that be she didn't seem to be succumbing to it. Much.
'Shut up self-assessment, you are not helping. Okay, focus Jade. What have we got here?
'What we have got is a Titan who is not in a position to shoot first and ask questions later.
'He is clearly undercover. Deep cover, even. Let's see, the textbook on infiltration says the thing to be most certain of before going in is an exit contingency. Everything else is secondary to your ability to cut and run when things go wrong.
'Granted, that was a villain textbook. The hero book on the matter may see success as trumping your own skin.
'Well surely he has some plan, to get out. And I'm going with him!' she decided, following after Stone as he left the lunchroom.
XXX
Cyborg let out a sigh in the hallway, glancing around. That had been a bit of a wrinkle. He had hoped to blend in, but he had been singled out pretty quick.
Not a surprise, really – Robin had gone over the dangers of supervillains seeing him as a rival, weak, or threat. But they had not followed it through; to the fact, a school like this would have bullies of the common school antics variety too.
All the jocks were probably jerks too, and… did this place have cheerleaders?
He imagined Jinx and some of the other villainesses doing a cheer. And promptly starting to attack one another until one was left standing, only to be blasted by Zhu Chan floating onto the scene to steal all their wallets.
Nah, he concluded. Cheerleading would not work here. It would be like taking a giant evil snake to visit an evil alligator.
"Hello there," a familiar deep feminine voice echoed behind him. He turned around and saw Zhu Chan floating behind him. In the darkness of her cowl, her eyes glowed red, watching him as she planted hands on her hips, spreading her cloak some.
"Ah, hi? I'm Stone," he said. Her teeth appeared in stark white against the black. She rotated in the air, checking the hallway. As she came back around to face him, she pulled back her hood.
Raven was right; apparently she had shaved her eyebrows off. Magic types, so much weird crap. At least science was supposed to make sense.
"I know it's you. And that metal is so much more durable than 'stone'. Clever to use a skill set you already possess, barely subtracting from your full potential. Most people here can't grasp the advantage of passing yourself off as less powerful for any meaningful length of time."
"Uhh, I-"
"Hush, the walls can have ears. Don't worry, red eye. Your secret is safe. I just want a favor, or two. Email in your room, and I will direct you to my lab. It's more secure," she said. As students began to file out of the lunchroom, she casually floated back to vanish into a shadow, giving him a thumb's up before disappearing.
XXX
Cyborg found what looked to be a private enough corridor, before facing himself toward a wall in a niche. His right forearm de-cloaked, revealing the communicator as he sent out the hailing frequency for urgency.
He was relieved when Robin, along with the other Titans, appeared on the screen.
"Cyborg, what's wrong?" Robin demanded.
"I've been made. Zhu Chan wasn't fooled," Cyborg reported.
"Oh crap! Though I should expect no less from my archenemy," Beast Boy remarked. Robin ignored him, while Raven gave him a small glare the green teen seemed to not notice.
"Friend Cyborg, do you need rescue?" Starfire asked.
"No, at least not yet. Magical ninja girl hasn't blown the whistle on me. She made a point of not saying my name out loud, either.
"Yes, Robin, I am sure she knows. It's how she said it as much as what she said. She wants to meet me in private. Some blackmail thing, I guess?" Cyborg speculated. Raven frowned at that and spoke up.
"Well, Zhu Chan clearly has some kind of honor. She may want you to owe her a favor in exchange for silence. And the HIVE students are often working against one another from what we have seen. Who knows what use you could be in their internal politics?" Raven speculated.
"Think I should play it out, Rae?" Cyborg asked. Robin took that moment to speak up.
"No. We abort the mission, now," Robin said.
"Robin, I know Zhu got the better of me. But this is our big chance to strike a real blow against the HIVE. If we throw that away-" Cyborg insisted.
"Then we go back to an irritating status quo. And the possibility that HIVE students like Zhu Chan left unchecked can grow in power. But if Zhu Chan spotted you, she may only be stringing you along into a trap. And that's not even touching the possibility that others may have also seen through your disguise, regardless of what she intends.
"It was a risk worth taking, but this has gone beyond risk to recklessness. I will not needlessly gamble your life against long odds. We pull out, this is not a discussion," Robin commanded. Cyborg hesitated a moment, then nodded.
"Okay, proceeding with Plan Parachute," Cyborg affirmed.
XXX
Cyborg had cut and run!
Of all the insufferable…! What kind of hero doesn't take a risk like that? Ohhh! Those Titans could make her so mad!
Jade fumed as she made a powder circle around the amulet and ignited the powder with a match. She jotted down the color and approximate heat of the flames, and the time to burn down.
Interesting…
The others were enigmas, but this one… Was its power only sleeping? If so, how to awaken it? The proper stimulus?
She cleaned up the workspace and was about to return to studying the maker. Then the world went all Wednesday and tasted purple for a second.
"What?" Jade asked the room.(1)
The HIVE, Emergency Return Entrance:
The steel double doors slid open, letting two villains walk into the corridor from the illuminated tunnel behind them. Both were somewhat charred, with tattered uniforms. Mammoth had slightly cooked eggs splattered across his face and chest, and looked tired and annoyed. Jinx was missing her left sleeve, sporting a black eye, and her hair was Afro shocked, again!
"Well, that was crap!" she shouted.
"Of all the shoddy, imbecilic…! What happened!? Out there!?" she shrieked, her good eye flashing pink for a second. She whirled to glare at her team, and found only Mammoth, picking at his ear.
"Where are the little people?!" she demanded.
"Well, I kind of lost track of Gizmo after the whole lizard thing went down. I think the Titan girls caught him, though. Or he might be dead.
"And I think the faculty is taking Zhu Chan to the tribunal," Mammoth recounted, ticking off his guess/recollections on his hand.
Elsewhere:
Jade stood under a spotlight, the room darkened save for her and the raised bench with the HIVE crest, at which Brother Blood and two other faculty members glared down at her.
"And that is how I learned my lesson!" she said with a forced smile. Blood rolled his eyes and drummed his fingers on the bench top.
"Surely you know you are not getting off that easily?" he asked.
"…Worth a shot?" Jade shrugged.
"Well, fairly open-shut matter. One week in the Pit," Blood declared, striking his gavel. One of his minions cleared their throat.
"Actually, sir, the Pit is currently broken," the Evil Economy teacher pointed out.
"What?" Blood demanded.
"Gadjo," the teacher answered.
"Fine, then put her in the Chamber of Torment," Blood waved his hand in annoyance.
"Uh, that is currently in Belgium."
"…"
"We have become concerned it was not 'tormenting' enough. So we shipped it to Belgium to be upgraded. It should be back in two months," the other Tribunal member said.
"What, do we have?" Blood demanded slowly.
One Week In the Chamber of Moderate Annoyance Later:
"Going after Cyborg to the point you blast Gizmo out of the way?!" Jinx ranted under her breath. The Physical Feats class was leaving the super plane and walking into the thick forest, led by Captain Hollywood.
The fact that Zhu Chan was using hovering and telekinesis to avoid the rough terrain the rest of them had to walk through was not helping. She watched as the ninja witch shoved a branch aside with her mind.
"So I got carried away? Cyborg made me angry, and I thought overreacting on grudges was a villain thing," Zhu grumbled.
"It's more a bad habit, from what I can see. Besides which, Cyborg isn't even your archenemy," Jinx shot back.
Titans Tower:
Cyborg sat on the lounge couch, clicking on the remote, surfing the channels. Then Beast Boy walked up and plopped down next to him.
"Cyborg," Beast Boy greeted.
"Beast Boy," Cyborg answered.
"Cyborg, listen, I know we are buddies. Best buddies even, but-"
"Beast Boy. First, Zhu Chan is not your archenemy. Second, you should not want an archenemy. And third, I do not want her as an archenemy.
"Oh, and I guess fourth, if you do this strange territorial bit again, I will rat you out to Raven," Cyborg said, never stopping in his flipping.
"Oh, come on! You'd play the Raven card? Shouldn't you start with Robin before that?" Beast Boy griped. Cyborg paused in his clicking to glance at Beast Boy, and gave a tired sigh.
"BB, do you remember the bubbles?" Cyborg asked. Soon enough, he was left alone to his channel surfing with a backdrop of sunny Jump City Weather. At least until Starfire came in, dragging Robin, to rope him into some Tamaranean festival of meat cutting.
Back with Jade:
Captain Hollywood was whispering, which for him meant talking like a normal person. The fat man in tights was standing before a thick bank of foliage, which Jade assumed meant he was about to pull it aide and reveal something dramatically.
"Alright, worthless students. Hunting, especially of rare and endangered species, is a cornerstone tradition of villainy in particular, and evil at large. But only chumps do it for evil only. You want a payday for tracking stuff down.
"And I am not talking ivory! Elephants are for chumps. No, today we hunt a creature whose near every part is redeemable for cash money with any decent magic broker and many intermediaries.
"Behold the walking, trotting retirement fund better known as, the unicorn!" He said, pulling the foliage aside.
Very scenic scenery was revealed, complete with willows, dust motes caught in sunbeams penetrating the canopy, and a brook fed by a small waterfall. And a beautiful white unicorn with purple specks on its flank eating clover as it watched them with mild disinterest.
A muffled "squee" brought Jade and the rest of the class' attention to Jinx, whose eyes were wide and her mouth clearly forced shut with her lips in a line. Hollywood smiled.
"Well, ain't that cute. A wannabe girly villain liking the money ticket! Ha! Well get ready for the waterworks, because I am about to demonstrate the proper way to strangle a unicorn!" Hollywood declared, tugging his yellow gloves tight.
"…Uh, strangle?" Jade asked. The rest of the class also seemed a bit confused. Jinx was just rooted to her spot.
"That's right, ya levitating freak. Like the buffalo to the natives of old, every part of the unicorn has value. Even shooting it in the head destroys much of the brain's ability to be used to make the finest shoe polish known to humanity.
"Strangling is the only surefire way to get it dead and not hurting your paycheck. It's no more difficult than strangling a horse," Hollywood declared. One of the students with a skull mask spoke up, raising his hand.
"Uh, sir, I tried to choke a horse once. It did not end well. Now I wear a mask. They are tougher than I thought, and I didn't think they were wimps to begin with," the student recounted.
"Oh, fear the pony, do you? Well, just sit back and enjoy the show while a real man strangles himself a unicorn!" Hollywood shouted. He broke the cover and marched toward the bored-looking enchanted equine.
Next Day, The HIVE:
Brother Blood was addressing the assembled student body, and seemingly reflected their own enthusiasm with his own.
"And so, it is with perhaps some regret, that we induct Captain Hollywood into the Wall of Memorable Faculty Fatalities. Gored Five Times by a Unicorn in the line of Failing in his Duty," he said, as a picture of the dead villain was hung on the wall behind him and a plaque affixed beneath it.
'There aren't as many as you might think. Though I suppose that could just mean more die unmemorably,' Jade thought, looking at the wall with its ten or so other pictures on it.
"We have already obtained the services of one Doctor Gunn as the new Physical Feats teacher. He will begin classes in three weeks. Until then, Physical Feats will be treated as a study period.
"Now, the ceremony is concluded. And may this be a lesson to you all – Hollywood was an idiot, and met an idiot's end. Study hard that you might not meet a similarly whimsical and painful end," Blood said. With that, his platform rose up and went back into the ceiling.
"Well, that was fun. Who's for Chinese?" Jade asked her team.
Later:
Jinx rapped her fist against the door. There was a doorbell for the lab, but she found she preferred knocking just now.
With Gizmo still in prison, she needed a guilty party to vent on. Besides, Zhu had been neglecting the team, which hurt Jinx's prospects, for the Headmaster's work.
The fact that the Headmaster was more threatening was not the issue. She had extended some considerable grace to the rookie, and expected that to be repaid.
And the fiasco from before indicated she was not getting it. So, time to lay down the law. Well, not quite law, she supposed, villain and all.
The door slid open and Zhu emerged, hood down, wearing goggles over her eyes.
"Yes? Change your mind about getting Chinese?" the extra-dimensional girl asked.
"No. We need to talk," Jinx declared, walking in.
"Okay?" Zhu said, closing the door.
"You know what I want, Blue?
"I want success. That sums it up nicely. Fame, fortune, respect, and power; the whole deal. The HIVE can help young villains get there. But that's dependent on getting the reputation to get your contract bought up after or before you graduate.
"Those retained by the school after graduating have to work off that debt we are all raking up. Typically as empowered mooks rented out," Jinx reiterated. The witch was pleased that the blue girl looked discomforted even as she swept about the smelly magic lab with its almost too low lighting.
"So, the key is being seen as a winner. Get the right attention from the right people.
"That fiasco with you and Gizmo. I don't care why. I really don't. I'm not stupid enough to think you two can do more than a ceasefire for mutual ventures.
"But when your failures end up tarnishing my image, I expect you to step up afterwards.
"Take this lab, all this stuff off the books. You have to do this; I get that. But neglecting more practical stuff that can help the team…"
"Actually, Jinx! I think I'm on the verge of a breakthrough that will get Blood off my back," the blue ninja witch said. She floated to a table set against a wall and motioned Jinx over.
There was a grey wood box on the table, which was otherwise clear, unlike the clutter in the rest of the space.
Zhu opened the box, revealing a talisman resting inside. It was made of bronze cut into a hexagon shape, about three inches in diameter, she guessed. There was a metal disc embedded in the ancient wood. Gold, and polished onyx? Metal and stone then?
It looked like a yin-yang symbol, but there was no dot on the opposing sides; each side was pure gold or pure black.
"The true form of the Talisman of Hwan the Bright. One of the last great chi wizards of this world," Zhu Chan explained.
"Chi magic?" Jinx asked. She reached out toward the talisman, stopping to glance at her teammate. No move was made to stop her, assumedly safe then.
Resting a fingertip on the talisman's wooden rim, she could feel power there. Dormant, and familiar.
"Your magic?" Jinx asked, surprised.
"Yeah, unlike the other junk in here, this wasn't broken so much as out of gas. The item itself does not require chi magic so much as contain a series of interlocked chi spells.
"Really, any magic user should have been able to use it. Hwan probably designed it with a flaw to drain without a chi magic user on hand to recharge it.
"Since chi magic was already super rare in his time, it basically meant that if it was stolen, it would be of limited use against him if he only filled it up a little.
"But to get the magic working again, well, I kind of needed to top things off," Zhu admitted, rubbing a thumb over her nonexistent right eyebrow.
"And this concerns me how?" Jinx asked.
"Well, thing is, Hwan's magic does not seem responsive to me. This is a specific type of magic we are talking, two layered. One is the chi magic supplying the power, and the causality magic as the actual effect. Hwan was not called the Bright for a lack of skill, it seems!
"Basically, I need you to turn the key, having filled up the tank," Zhu explained. Jinx frowned, picking it up.
"Is it safe?" Jinx asked.
"Well, it seems like there should be no problem. But if it makes you feel better I won't dive for cover?" Zhu chuckled weakly.
Jinx frowned at the artifact. Needless risks were just that. But was it needless? She wanted to be a big player, and the big players had a common vein, being willing to gamble big for the prize. They might try and minimize risk and hedge their bets as they could. But in the end they took risks.
She wanted to be seen as a power player? Then she needed to be ready to take risks like one.
She formed a hex bolt charge in her hand, and the talisman slipped her fingers to stick to her palm.
Jinx gasped, feeling the spell get torn from her. Instinctively, her free hand flew to the talisman and made to pry it from her skin.
Then the magic surged back into her, and she stopped prying. Pink tinged her vision, and the room got a lot brighter real quick.
"Or maybe this is what they called Hwan 'The Bright'?" Zhu speculated, pulling her hood up and raising a shadow over her face.
XXX
Jade watched Brother Blood sit there at his desk, eyes closed, seemingly absorbing her report. Coming to him had not been her first choice. But to be honest, she was uncertain how to deal with what had happened.
"So, Miss Jinx successfully activated the Talisman of Hwan, and now refuses to relinquish it?" Blood affirmed. Not a word congratulating her for getting the thing working, Jade noted. Him being a villain, the snub, she knew, shouldn't have bothered her so much.
"She said it was compensation for the lack of pulling my own weight," Jade reported.
"Well, that may be a valid point. Particularly as you claim the talisman is of no use to you personally.
"If Miss Jinx is able and willing to put that chi artifact to use for the HIVE, so be it. She can begin by liberating Gizmo from prison. You and Mammoth will accompany her as support and for observation," Blood declared.
Jade almost spoke up about her concerns for use of the talisman at this stage, the fact that she had not been able to thoroughly study it post activation. But Blood was a villain, through and through; she needed only remember his entrance exam. He would only nod and use Jinx as a guinea pig for the talisman.
In fact, judging by that smile on his face, he had already realized they were doing just that.
XXX
The HIVE Honor Roll were attacking the maximum-security prison. No doubt hoping to free their teammate Gizmo, who was being held there.
Jinx was apparently leading the charge. The HIVE had seemingly brought down surveillance.
As the T-Car pulled into the courtyard along with the bird-cycle, they couldn't help but note the knocked-in gates.
"Gadjo?" Cyborg asked as he and the others got out of the car.
"No, I'm sure the warden would have mentioned him first. And it's not like he does subtle," Robin said. The team followed the trail of destruction quickly, the girls taking flight and Beast Boy shifting into a tiger.
"First Zhu Chan sneaks in, now this. We should really write the governor on better funding for this place," Cyborg grumbled.
At last they reached the sealed entrance to the Super Criminal Wing. Where Mammoth stood guard over some battered guards, while Zhu Chan was drawing an array on the steel doors with an ink brush.
"Zhu," Mammoth said. The witch turned back to regard them with her red eyes, then returned to her working.
"Hey don't ignore your archenemy!" Beast Boy shouted, changing back.
"You're not my archenemy," Zhu stated. Mammoth grinned and cracked his knuckles.
"Been looking forward to this," the hulking villain said. Cyborg formed his sonic cannon and pointed it at the villain.
"Seriously, dancing man? You think you can stop us solo?" he asked. Raven and Robin looked around as a pink glow started to shine past them.
"Who said anything about him doing it alone?" Jinx asked. They turned around and saw the fey-blooded sorceress floating down from the ceiling behind them.
"Missed me? Lucky me," she grinned. Her eyes were glowing bright pink, her body outlined with just such an aura. Her hair, instead of being styled into horns, was floating as if she was underwater. And finally, something on her throat was glowing bright green and purple, the two colors turning in a slow cycle.
"Raven?" Robin asked his magic expert.
"Trouble. Azarath Metrio-" Raven snapped and started to chant.
"Make it double," Jinx laughed, unleashing a hex bolt from her right hand.
The Titans were surprised at the larger than normal hex bolt, but dodged it as it passed them. It struck the door, making whatever Zhu Chan had been drawing pop and fizzle loudly.
"AGHHH! My systems!" Cyborg cried out as his tech started sparking and whirring audibly.
"Cyborg!" Robin cried, rushing to his friend's aid. Cyborg fell to a hand and knee, holding out his free hand, stopping Robin. The blue faded on his frame ad the red eye went dim.
"Powering down to primary systems only. Energy disruption to higher systems. Her magic is bypassing my surge protectors!" Cyborg gasped out.
"Get him out of here, Starfire," Raven ordered, setting herself between Cyborg and the hovering villainess, who was grinning like the Cheshire cat.
"Marvelous, and it didn't even connect! Magic beats science this time!" Jinx laughed as Starfire helped Cyborg to his feet.
"That trick won't help with me. Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven cried, swooping toward Jinx, darkness enveloping her fists.
"Catch," Jinx said, hurling dual hex bolts at the Titan. Raven waved one hand, trailing darkness as a shield, deflecting the bolts into the ceiling. Using the momentum, she touched down and leapt up into the air before the witch.
Jinx idly batted aside the kick with her forearm. And with stunning ease, caught the enscrolled fist, dispelling the magic. Raven was blasted back; twisting in the air, she landed on her feet, skidding back.
As Beast Boy began to move forward, a chunk of concrete and piping fell from the ceiling on top of Raven. Jinx laughed, putting the back of her hand to her mouth, as Beast Boy stopped in his tracks to stare at the debris.
"Confused, boy beast? Damage from the hexes she deflected, how unlucky for her," Jinx laughed.
Robin discarded his belt, with all its gadgets, extending his staff.
"Beast Boy, we take her together, Raven's been through worse," he told his teammate.
"Right," Beast Boy said. At an unseen signal, the Titans charged.
Beast Boy leapt into the air, shifting into a raptor as he did so. The green dinosaur arced through the air at the supercharged witch, who lazily moved to the side. Beast Boy flew past her, hitting the ground in such a way that one foot caught the floor at a bad angle. His body twisted poorly from the momentum, and he went tumbling head over tail across the hall, shifting back to normal as he smacked the opposite wall.
Getting up, he saw Robin stumble back, his staff clattering to the ground. And Robin fell to the ground after it.
"Wonderful job hitting yourself, Boy Wonder," Jinx laughed.
Starfire streaked in, and with a battle cry, loosed a volley of starbolts at Jinx, who moved even before they were fired, letting them strike Raven as she phased out of the ceiling.
"No way! This isn't just Jinx, it's Super Jinx!" Beast Boy said, as the angry Starfire attacked Jinx, every punch just seeming to miss the glowing witch.
"Super Jinx? Seriously, that's the best you could come up with for my triumph?" Zhu Chan griped. Beast Boy turned and saw the other two HIVE villains leaning back against the door. Mammoth was even holding up some oversized camcorder with the HIVE crest, recording the fight.
"Your triumph? You aren't even doing anything," Beast Boy pointed out angrily.
"Oh, and the probability-altering Talisman of Hwan just got working and into Jinx's hands on its own?
"High level magic is at work, and the most you can do is tack 'super' on it? I'd expect better in an archenemy. Why, you even let yourself get distracted from helping your team," Zhu Chan pointed out.
Beast Boy felt his heart skip a beat. Turning, he saw Jinx looming over him, grinning far too wide.
He turned into a humming bird, but his attempt at evasion only guided him into the path of the second blast, slamming him against the door, the magic dispersing into the metal as he returned to normal and hit the floor. With a clank, the door slid some, unlocking.
With one hand, Mammoth opened the way for the girls, who followed him inside.
Raven watched them go, before putting her hands on Starfire and Robin's still forms.
"Time to go," she stated.
One Week Later:
Robin stood in his crime lab, the dark atmosphere reflecting his mood. The fresh papers proclaimed the crisis. The mass breakout of super criminals by Jinx. The resulting chaos.
The Teen Titans had been focusing on bringing the villains down one by one, or in pairs for those who teamed up. But the core problem, they had stayed away from.
Super Jinx, Beast Boy had labeled her. A new name seemed in order – Jinx was a formidable foe, but she had never been in this class. Fortunately, she seemed only concerned with grand theft and showing off. More reckless, perhaps, but still a vain villain more than a monster like Slade or some of her fellow students.
The door opened, admitting Raven.
"Any progress?" he asked his second-in-command.
"Cyborg claims the holes in his systems are plugged. But if Beast Boy was told the truth, Jinx is invoking Murphy's Law against us. She's forcing luck to be on her side," Raven reminded him.
"I believe skill trumps luck," he told her.
"Normally I would agree. But in this case, chi magic seems to have made being lucky into a skill.
"The League wanting to step in again?" she asked.
"Yes, though they seem to be waiting for now for us to either ask or proof Jinx won't resolve herself like Zhu Chan did," Robin admitted.
"It's possible. We may not know the details, but magic comes with a price. Clearly, Zhu Chan felt the price for her power-up was far too high. But then, I would not lump Jinx in with Zhu Chan," Raven commented.
"Beast Boy?" he asked.
"Still throwing himself into training. Being tricked into not helping Starfire, it seems to have struck a nerve. It may be for the best, lesson learned with no consequences we couldn't walk away from," Raven said.
"You should talk to him," Robin said.
"I have, you should too. And Starfire. I have reason to hide in my room, Robin. Magic problems getting solved is one reason I am here. Your biggest reason is being able to keep this team moving.
"So get to that, and leave the brooding with reading material to the professionals," she said. He looked at her in some surprise. Then grinned.
"Are you going to tell me to take out the trash next?" he asked. She went back to the doorway and looked over her shoulder.
"Talk to Beast Boy about something else," she muttered, before closing the door.
Two Weeks After the Breakout:
It bothered Jade a bit how no one seemed to care about how quickly things had changed at the HIVE. Villains, young and old it seemed, were adept at adapting.
Or hiding.
Jinx was ruling the school. Not challenging the teachers, though with some she acted like she could if she wanted. But it was too troublesome for the powered up villainess.
It was a bit like those high school movies with the Queen Bee. Only in this case, the power was much easier to understand. Get in Jinx's way, and the glowing witch with the mermaid sea hair messed you up. Get on her good side, and you got her help getting what you wanted.
Jinx had even ambushed Gadjo in the arena men's room.
That the witch had only come out of it a little injured, and Gadjo had seemed quite happy when he emerged from the rubble made many upperclassmen downright panic.
Sitting at their usual table, Jade watched the hovering witch cut every line, even if only to get a cup of sauce from some of the vending booths.
Jade had not seen Jinx without the talisman on since that day in the lab. And she doubted Jinx took it off to sleep.
"Blue, lovely day, isn't it?" Jinx said, lowering herself to sit. The tray was laden with food, and Jinx dug in with the gusto she had shown since this started.
And, as Jade had noted, manners steadily deteriorated after the halfway point in the meal.
And while the magical aura required her to squint, Jade was pretty sure Jinx was getting skinnier despite this.
"Hey, stop looking at me like that. Do you want to lose your table privileges?" Jinx snapped. They were the only two to sit at this table. The boys, while still teammates, apparently did not make the cut.
Jade did not miss them, but the attitude behind the action was… troubling.
"Jinx, I'm worried," Jade said.
"Who's bugging you?" Jinx asked, around a roll she was eating.
"It's not that. I want to talk about the talisman," Jade waved off the question. Jinx narrowed her glowing eyes at that.
"I told you, aside from a bit of colorblindness, I'm fine," Jinx snapped. They had danced this before, and Jade wasn't about to ask if Jinx really was losing weight.
"Jinx, you are not a chi sorceress. You and everyone else here don't get it.
"Chi magic is not the same as magical super powers, or bending reality through spells and what not. It deals with the energy of the world, the light and the dark of it. And light or dark, the matter of balance can't be ignored. Shifting the balance is the goal of some, but it's understood such efforts are perilous whichever way you try and push things.
"And while most magic is pretty much beneath notice, big world and all, reach high enough and you get balance in the face.
"Kill a very big bad, probability will conspire to produce a replacement. Balance.
"Make some major moves, set the world up for a tilt. There is no sneakiness; you will have to face a comparable force in opposition to you. Balance, period.
"Dark chi wizard unleashing curse magic sealed ages past? He needs a good chi wizard on hand otherwise the spell just won't work. Balance!
"And while you aren't casting chi spells, you are using chi magic. And your actions are not only dark, they are self-centered. That's not balanced at all, twice.
"And Hwan, from what I read, only used the talisman in hairy situations. Heat of battle or other important stuff, I think. But you've been running the gas nearly twenty-four/seven.
"Do you understand, Jinx? You keep invoking Murphy's Law like this, and you're going to be hit with some kind of backlash.
"That dark wizard I mentioned? He ultimately failed in his gambit, cursing people with blindness, deafness and muteness. And his penalty was getting all three curses on his head. I hate that guy, but still I had to wince, before laughing at his pathetic state. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
Jinx closed her eyes partway through Jade's rambling explanation. Admittedly, some was guesswork on her part, as Uncle had never formally taught her. But it felt right.
"Yes, I understand," Jinx sighed. She raised a hand, and blasted Jade in the face.
Vision screaming, Jade was hurled back fast. Before she could even try to catch herself with the Rooster, large hands caught her.
She felt Jinx advance, hearing the crackling of the part fey's enhanced magic.
"I understand that you never intended for me to possess this power. You thought I would activate it and ignorantly return it to you. You thought you deserved another crack at a quick rise in the power charts!
"You upstart rookie. I have endured too much to be upstaged and bested by someone who has paid a smaller price.
"You think you can trick me? I am going straight to the top. And soon enough I will leave the HIVE and my life will really begin as I take my rightful place among the true elites. While you remain here, fighting B-list heroes and bemoaning the chances you squandered. Like just now, I might have taken you with me as a lackey. But you blew that, you tricky little ninja.
"And by the way, people! It's no longer Jinx. I'm much more than a jinx; I am Curse. And I am unstoppable," Jinx laughed, before swooping out of the mess hall.
Gadjo let Jade go to resume her hovering, blinking the last motes from her vision.
"Well, that escalated quickly! Zehahahaha!" Gadjo laughed, slapping a knee.
XXX
Jade stood in the void. Squinting out at the horizon, she pulled up her hoodie's hood. While filled with shadows just the same, it felt different from the hood of her witch cloak.
"My, aren't we splitting hairs?" the Queen laughed. Jade turned to glare at her shadow. Only to find it absent.
"Where are you? How are we talking like this?" Jade demanded.
"Because, I am as close as peril, Jade.
"All that talk of struggling against me, and how empty a pledge it is. Even now you hide yourself in shadow as best you can," The Queen pointed out. Jade pulled the hood back and blew a strand of hair out of her face.
"Hahaha. Real mature, the picture of dignified protest. You're a fish that is trying to swim against the brisk current, even knowing that the better waters are downstream.
"But enough, our inevitable reunion is not why I have reached through the crack that the Master of Games left open in the door," the Queen said.
"So that stupid monkey messed with my head?" Jade asked, scowling.
"I think it's more he helped hasten the breakdown of an artificial barrier, hastening the return of the natural order.
"But that is past tense. You have tension in the present, and the future too, at this rate.
"The matter of Jinx. You are a little backstabber, aren't you?" the Queen commented.
"What? If you know my thoughts, you know Jinx was talking crazy," Jade protested.
"Not that. First you let her take the dangerous object so it could be put to use getting Blood off your back. He has let you shelf all the other stuff and now you are back to work in your own lab. And the risk is something you have passed to Jinx. It will blow up in her face, if it blows. And you also dropped enough information to Beast Boy to aid the Titans, something you can point to as proof of 'goodwill' if you actually defect.
"Jade, I am dark, not evil. Playing both sides does not sit well with me, and therefore not you."
"I'm not- that isn't how…!" Jade sputtered angrily. This darkness was twisting things up, trying to confuse her!
"Confuse you? You're the one who insists on complicating things.
"Fact time, Jade. Jinx is powerful now, and so are the Titans. Too powerful for holding back to be an option when they collide.
"My prediction, straight from the mayonnaise jar. It's going to fall to you. Either you betray the closest thing you have to a friend, or you betray your so-called commitment to justice by aiding that same friend against the heroes.
"I suppose inaction would be an option. But we both know we are utterly unsuited for not meddling," the Queen said, seeming to shrug out of sight.
"…Forget you! I'm the one in control here. This is my mind; you are just a squatter I can't evict. I make my own choices, and they don't include your multiple choice tests!" Jade shouted.
"Heh. Your mind is not exactly the paragon of security you make it out to be, Jade. And just now, I'm the only other one looking after us. And I am us.
"So, here is fair warning. Try to have your cake and eat it too, and you will find yourself on the sharp end of the stick.
"Ta ta," the Queen said, as the dream of the void disintegrated.
Jump City, Diamond District:
Jade stood watch outside a very swanky looking store as Fish Boy and Evil Dick carried out cases full of jewelry.
With Brother Blood's permission, Jinx had drawn further hands from the student body for this. A daring lunchtime robbery of the Diamond District. The entire Diamond district.
Jade sighed, glancing down the street at the explosion as Jinx destroyed another squad car.
Evil Dick grinned at the sight; she watched him pocket a diamond and emerald necklace. Fish Boy looked nervous, as if he expected the Titans to swoop in and beat him up while his hands were full.
A valid possibility. While it had never been stated, what Jinx wanted was clear enough.
Another round with the Teen Titans, to curbstomp them before the public and pull off an audacious robbery in one haul. Jade guessed this heist, even with the additional resources, would clear Jinx's debt with the HIVE and then some.
Even if no one bought her contract, she could actually try being a free agent. Very bad idea for even a talented rookie, classes indicated. It wasn't the old days, where you could get a power, pull on some tights, and expect heroes to just be in your weight class.
"Drat! I'm really letting them influence me!" Jade cursed, whacking her head.
"She's talking to herself again," Fish Boy whispered to Dick as they loaded the loot into the getaway car.
"Who cares?" Evil Dick shrugged.
"We should have brought Gadjo. Yes, he's insane and scary, but we have some idea about him. But Jinx is shooting her own bolt. Who knows what will happen?" Fish Boy whispered.
"Shooting her…? Why are you using grandpa slang?" Evil Dick demanded, smacking him over the head.
"Perhaps he guesses I can hear you idiots just fine? And Dick, stealing the take is one thing, but not even trying to bribe me to overlook it? I'm getting a C in Evil Economics, what's your excuse?" Jade asked, bored.
Before he could answer, a birdarang whistled through the air, slashing the front tires of the HIVE truck.
"Ahh," Fish Boy sighed, before a starbolt struck him in the chest. Jade was already ducking back into the shadows, letting Starfire subdue Evil Dick.
"Where did the small Zhu Chan go?" Starfire asked as the Titans assembled.
"Right here," Jade said, letting her eyes show. The Titans turned their attention to the shadow of the canopy.
"I'm just here as a spectator, Titans. I would be happy to chat though if you deal with-"
"CURSE!" Jinx yelled, bursting into the scene, with a flashing pink light show revealing the magicked-up villain.
"Don't you mean, curses?" Beast Boy asked. Jade skipped out of the shadow, Robin still keeping an eye on her as she moved further to the sidelines.
"It's Curse now. I'm done with the little league, as of today. You lot are my final hurdle," Jinx smiled.
Robin had already drawn his staff, but his posture stiffened. Raven was right – Jinx, for all the power, was looking and sounding worse for wear.
She had explained as much to the other Titans:
"Magic is not a toy. You can get boosts to aid you just like with weapons, armor, or tricks like Cyborg's upgrades. But there is the risk of taking power that overreaches control.
"A sword you don't know how to wield can kill you, and so on.
"Jinx is essentially running on steroids. This power isn't something she built up to. And she hasn't really been using it well. It's more like a sledgehammer or a cheat code. She relies on it to protect her and win for her, over strategy or restraint. Zhu Chan realized that with her own power surge; and chose to sacrifice power for control. Jinx is either too foolish or too addicted to do the same."
"So take that away and she's nothing. We nab the talisman," Cyborg said.
"Easier said than done. My point is that she is not invincible in the slightest; she is using one good trick.
"I think this spell can take it away. But I will need time, and for her to not be able to dodge. Its one shot."
"My new surge protectors should avoid a repeat fiasco, but still, I won't be able to use anything fancier than auxiliary power for my sonic cannon. Three shots, or one big shot," Cyborg supplied, forming the cannon.
"Exploding birdarangs seem a liability too," Robin admitted. Beast Boy sat up.
"I'll hold her. I don't have magic or tech to get messed up by Jinx or Raven."
"But you are still subject to the bad luck. Perhaps I?" Starfire suggested. Beast Boy shook his head nd crossed his arms over his chest.
"I'm a lucky guy. I figure with four leaf clovers and some salt tossed over the shoulder, I'll break even. Besides, when it comes to sneaking or being able to adapt to take a lot of punishment, a shapeshifter seems like just what the doctor ordered."
"Tell you what Titans, since we know how this ends. Just walk away, and all it will cost you is Robin's belt. A small token of your admission of my superiority."
"You are going to descend!" Starfire declared.
"Titans, go!" Robin said.
When he tripped over the piece of debris he missed, he turned it into a pivot and roll, using the staff to catch himself.
Starfire was hit. But she held onto the starbolt she had been charging. Jinx looked away from the falling Titan, and was blindsided by the projectile.
That aura did not seem to offer any protection.
"What?" Jinx cursed. She swept to the left as Cyborg charged, firing his sonic cannon. With a shriek, she fired her super hex bolt, striking Cyborg and riddling his body with energy.
He faltered, then his foot crashed down and he resumed his charge, as the charging cannon sparked and lights began to flash.
"Ha! Misfire, Tin Man," Jinx cackled. Grabbing the cannon with his free hand, Cyborg pulled it free from his arm and threw it with a spin.
"Catch!" Cyborg spat. Reflexively, Jinx caught it. Her eyes widened as her magic flowed into it even more.
The explosion sent her flying into a car, which then exploded, sending her hurtling forward to slide on her side along the ground. She rolled instinctively, dodging the staff that cracked into the pavement.
Her lifted hand caught the staff. Even as she felt something break in the hand, she did not let go.
"Bad luck, Boy Wonder!" She shouted, raising a glowing hand toward him at point blank range.
The barrage of starbolts impacted across her torso. She lost her grip and fell to the ground limp with a gasp.
Robin struck out with his free hand, grabbing the talisman adhered to her skin. He tugged at it, and the witch herself lifted off the ground.
A green turtle dropped from beneath his cape to the ground.
Jinx's eyes focused and narrowed at Robin as Starfire touched down.
"NO! THIS IS MY TIME!" she shrieked. Pink energy exploded from her, sending the two Titans flying.
Panting, Jinx hovered to her feet, looking around at the Titans, her eyes settling on Raven, who was levitating in a lotus position. She was chanting something and holding a scroll.
'What?' her expression said.
Then a green gorilla grabbed her from behind, planting its feet like a sumo wrestler.
Jinx shrieked wordlessly in rage and began to shock the ape.
Raven chanted, eyes focused only on the target and Beast Boy, the words on the scroll starting to glow white like her eyes.
Evil Dick dashed down the street, his trademark E.D. monogrammed black metal baseball bat held at ready. Leaping into the air toward Raven, he prepared to swing.
"Forget about me, Titans!?" he asked. Cyborg clotheslined the villain with one arm before he could strike Raven.
"What's your name again?" Cyborg asked, as the villain groaned and crumpled.
"$ $$%!" Raven uttered the final arcane word. Light leapt from Raven's eyes, igniting the scroll. The Titan's levitation collapsed, Starfire catching her before she hit the ground.
Robin turned his attention from Zhu Chan as white fire formed an orb, which rushed toward the struggling Jinx. Beast Boy reverted back to normal, but kept a hold on the struggling witch.
"Your luck just ran out," Beast Boy said.
Then, something rushed past Robin. He watched Zhu Chan throw herself into the path of the orb.
And watched the white orb tear through her as it hurtled toward Jinx.
XXX
Jade felt a stabbing, numb sensation envelope her. Her whited-out vision blinked away, and she felt a tugging in her chest.
She was standing in the void again. But this time, the horizon was not simply the white plain. There was something on the horizons, she saw, a blue hand clutching her orange hoodie in dread.
White masses?
"Waves, tsunamis may be a menacing enough word," the Queen spoke. Jade turned and saw her, the shadow creature painted in black and red, rising like a genie. Her tail was Jade's own shadow; Jade glared at the line connecting them.
"What's going on?" Jade demanded.
"Ah, a smart question, good.
"We face destruction, Jade. Raven's spell is not in our knowledge, but I can understand what it is meant to do. It purges, Jade, it strips away that which does not belong.
"Jinx, she will likely only have that talisman shatter, at worst. But Jade, we have been in transition. The somewhat human mind out of place in what we are as an elemental of shadow.
"This magic will destroy our mind. Leave us nothing but shadow essence, less than an animal, and more fitting to be classified as alchemic ingredients than a being," the Queen stated.
The waves were closer now. Jade could see the white moving against the sky clearly now.
"Why would Raven use such a spell on me?" Jade demanded, disbelieving.
"Uh, because she did not aim for you. And you took the bullet, like an idiot," the queen snapped.
"…No, like a good guy. And that's the deal, isn't it? You may be my darkness, but you are sill dark," Jade declared.
"Uh, yes, and your point? Quickly, as we are running out of time!" the Queen said looking back to the approaching horizon.
"Well, I don't believe you," Jade said.
"What?" the queen blinked.
"I think you are trying to trick me. Make a deal with you willingly, while you take advantage of the situation, making it out as worse than it is."
"What? What?! Jade, this is no time to be paranoid, and it is certainly not the time to be stubborn. If we do nothing, we are essentially going to die!"
"Maybe, or you're bluffing."
"…You're willing to risk your life on that?" the Queen demaded.
"Look where not being willing to take risks on the good guys has gotten me. I think listening to my shoulder devil is not exactly a good idea," Jade said. Still, she licked her lips as the white started to fill the skies.
"JADE! I need you to take my hand now! This is no joke! This is preservation of self!" the Queen shouted. She twisted in front of Jade, holding out a shadow hand, toward Jade.
"I'm sorry, but I can't trust you, knowing how tricky I can be," Jade admitted. The sky was all but gone. They could both feel the rumble before the crash.
"ARGH! This is why you need me! You forget when to be afraid. Fine, I'll give you a third option! I'll do what I can on my own!" The Queen sprang at her; Jade raised a hand, only for the Queen to splatter on it.
Like a comic book symbiote, the living shadow coated Jade as the sky vanished and the deluge of white began.
"Crushed instead of shredded. Just remember, you rejected saving yourself, not me. It's on others now," The Queen said to Jade.
Then the blazing weight fell.
Jade screamed. Even after she was sure there was no mouth left to scream with. Even after she forgot why she was screaming. And it was long after she forgot the sound of her own voice before the screaming stopped and the white of the void settled. Leaving a long puddle of lumpy shadow to crawl through the wreckage of the mindscape.
"I am I. I am I. I am I," the Queen whispered the chant amidst the ruin.
XXX
"How unfortunate," the masked man commented, watching the scene play out on the screen suspended in the darkness. His electronic eyes were everywhere, and he had been keen to see how the Titans would respond to the new threat.
He would be more impressed with the brutality of their counterstrike had it not been so clearly an unexpected consequence. Looking at their partially concealed faces, he wondered whether Robin or Raven would be more disturbed by this.
Logic would dictate Raven, as the spellcaster, and he had information that the female Titan owed a debt of sorts to Zhu Chan. But Robin was a commander; Slade had no doubt he had approved this course of action. And he would try and shift the blame to himself as the one who ordered the trigger pulled.
In truth, the fault lay entirely with the young extra-dimensional. Slade had considered her as an alternative to the geomancer; she had promise. But after the Robin debacle, he had revised his criteria.
Even if she survived, so long as she possessed that "heroic impulse", she would inevitably become a liability.
If she lived, an eye would be kept on her. But as of now, the Terra plan was reaffirmed. The screen went blank, the bloody image of the blue girl vanishing into darkness.
The H.I.V.E.:
Jinx stood in the darkened med-bay; the half-light seemed to help. Or at least not hurt.
She had sensed even when Mammoth bailed them both out. The talisman had crumbled, and she had felt like she had been running a marathon. Sore arms as well as legs, and every other muscle, it seemed. And of course, the broken bones in her hand.
Even now, she stood because it was less sore than sitting. She doubted right now she could do more than hex a plastic bottle from recycling bin to trashcan.
And watching, looking over the beeping instruments and the mystic diagnostic array, she had to admit something. She had messed up, and what she was feeling was likely just the charge for using that thing too much. And even then, she had hardly had to pay the bill.
That dubious honor went to the occupant of the hospital bed.
Blue had looked bad, but not so bad when she collapsed.
But before that… Something had been forced out of her, Jinx was certain of it. Something dark and swift. And she was positive no one else had noticed. Not when Blue's stone implants had exploded out of her!
First the belly, then the shoulder and back, the force sending blood flying and knocking the girl around as her outfit got shredded yet again by mystic forces bursting. Jix idly wondered if the Titans had retrieved them, or if the stones had been destroyed?
The Titans had failed to capture them, she thought, because of genuine surprise at the violent defeat of the chi witch. Gizmo provided the smoke and gas cover along with laser fire to escape. Mammoth had scoped the two of them up.
There was no question whether Blue needed med-bay or not. But to see she had changed by the time they reached the HIVE had been shocking.
Instead of the blue humanoid, resting on the bed was a lump of semi-solid darkness, shadow she supposed. It was sculpted into a Barbie doll kind of small humanoid shape. Even the face was hardly recognizable, the features seeming to have smoothed out mostly.
With the lights up, it had seemed to start to melt at the edges. Darkness solidified it, and made it start to crack. This stable state achieved with the partial lighting was the best they could do.
Brother Blood himself had come to take stock. Laying hands on the apparent brow, Jinx had actually hoped for the Headmaster's skills to surpass expectation. Instead, he had, with some irritation, declared Zhu Chan's mind was undetectable.
Not untouchable, or guarded. A master of the mental crafts could not confirm it still existed.
"I'm sorry," Jinx said to the strange figure.
Blue had taken the hit for her. And there was a decent chance the chi witch had understood the consequences of that act. And if not, Zhu had still taken a hit for a teammate who had been a jerk to her.
There were different kinds of allies. Jinx pegged Zhu for the better kind. The kind who might take a risk to aid you, do a favor on the chance they can call one in later. Not the type to screw others over because it's not in their nature.
But this was beyond that. Particularly after Jinx had all but terminated the odd partnership thing they had going on in addition to the team.
'Did I have a friend?' Jinx wondered. Part of her wanted to dismiss the notion immediately. Surely there were hidden agendas at work. Or just an error in judgment on the blue girl's part.
But that just did not sit right with her. It was a forced view, and letting up that pressure, her mind kept reaching the same conclusion. Zhu Chan had risked and possibly lost everything for her.
"Ah, the death bell keels, and it is also one of celebration," a man snickered. Jinx turned, glaring as Susano entered. His teammate Yurei floated in behind him, smiling as she often did since Gadjo had removed the sutra covering her mouth. Her eyes were still concealed, but there was always a feeling she was seeing you through the mass of needle teeth that filled her mouth.
"What do you want?" Jinx demanded.
"Only to witness the downfall of a nuisance. And do not threaten when you stand impotent," Susano said. Coming up to Jinx, he elbowed her aside. Jinx stumbled, managing to keep on her feet. Yurei got in her face, smiling wide as Susano advanced on the bed.
"Ah, so it is true. No need for me to add anything. Back to what she is supposed to be. Nothing more than a rambunctious piece of her element.
"Destroying this would be merciful, perhaps, to her torn soul. But I think seeing her off is more appropriate.
"Begone!" He intoned. Jinx tried to shove Yurei aside, but stumbled partly through the ghost before it solidified around her, leaving her head free and the rest feeling like it was locked in ice.
Susano held a hand over the bed, glowing with green magic. And the mass of shadow responded, sliding and plopping off the bed, and vanishing, into its shadow.
"Stop!" Jinx cried.
"No, it is already done," Susano smirked, turning back to face her. As she watched, the remnants of Zhu Chan vanished from sight.
"I sent her back to the Shadow Realm. A simple invocation when no will remains to resist it. With no mind or will, what was once Zhu Chan will simply dissolve back into the shadow ether of that realm.
"You could say I ushered her into a nirvana of sorts.
"Come on Yurei, I feel it time to open a bottle of sake," Susano said. The ghost released Jinx to fall to the floor. The two villains exited, leaving Jinx alone in the room.
Staring numbly at the spot her newest teammate, and possibly first friend, had vanished from.
XXX
"Well, that escalated quickly," Tarakudo remarked. This development had upset his plans to push Jade toward reconciling with her darkness in the hopes it would make her amenable to an alliance.
And what potential in such an alliance! A world where chi sorcery had withered and died. True, it seemed to hold quite a host of mighty beings. But that was a game he had played before.
Yes, far better to tangle with mighty foes in battle than wily chi sorcerers with their traps and infernal sealing spells. And while he was already learning much of them through Jade, this world would have little knowledge to equip it against the Shadowkhan.
The Red Mask was a great prison, but imperfect. All the tools needed to unleash the Shadowkhan once more were within reach.
He had feared his plans were ruined, but now he felt joy instead. She was in the Shadow Realm. She was within his reach, and while there was some peril in approaching her like this, the opportunity was too great.
For now, he bided his time. Time to prepare himself for what needed to be done. Time for what was Jade Chan to gain strength in the place of their kinds greatest power. That arrogant godling was wrong – Jade's will had survived. And it refused to let go of the mortal coil with a tenacity that thrilled the Oni king.
1). See BONUS for why everything just went all purple.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Greetings, been awhile. Seriously, ouch; more than a year. Anyway I am going to actually explain why this happened since most of you patiently waited, and those who inquired where nearly all polite and respectful in their inquiries.
Basically, I tried to change plans. Rather than this chapter I thought to add more to the story. Specifically a chapter featuring a Shadow Child and other Haunts. This incident would have had Slade observing Zhu Chan and included his introduction that was kept for this chapter.
I wrote a few scenes, which I got good feedback on. But in the end even calling on my brother, who is far more versed in action-horror, both in reading and writing, it refused to come together on screen or truly in my head.
So I went on to other projects, hoping that if left to ferment the ideas could come closer to fruition. Its worked for me in the past.
This time, it did not.
So around I think it was late November, I decided I was holding up the Fellowship for a Tom Bombadil. The story did not need this and it simply added nothing worth derailing the project over. So I cut out what Shadow Children referencing scenes and such there were and went back to the old plan, + the odd's and ends ideas that accumulated around that chapter in the intervening time.
There are other factors that contributed to slowing fanfic work in general. Such as school, and then family issues, hampering that state of mind. And now working on what I hope will one day be my own published novel; which I got off my keister for I admit largely because of the shocking news that a friend and guiding light in art and religion in my life is likely to be leaving this coil in two years at most.
That original story's rough copy is coming nicely. Everyone I show it too, including my wise friend finds it engaging. I have done a lot of original writing but it fails typically due to being too ambitious. Trying to write a 'trilogy' or with a sequel in mind instead of just doing it right with a single novel narrative. Good stuff I still think, but you don't run the marathon before you run the quarter.
"Fencer's Tale", the working title, is a stand alone; and the concept is easily explained and seemingly approachable by people from a wide set of backgrounds from my testing the waters. And even if its not the one, I feel in my bones this story will be one that takes me a a great leap closer to published authorship.
And now as a reward for those who read this, BONUS!:
Meanwhile:
Gizmo looked at the vacant lot in the exhibition lab, and back to where Spencer was trembling in his lab coat, sweat already forming as the other science-oriented villains converged on him. Gizmo spoke up on everyone's behalf.
"Well Spencer, thanks to you, Gadjo of all people is loose in the timestream. And according to the instruments, reality has already shifted once. So in case I get wiped from existence by whatever he's up to… I kill you first!" Gizmo said. With that, he produced the biggest gun his tech pack had to offer.
Only for the time machine to flash back into existence. Its door swung open, and Gadjo squeezed out, and then ripped out a lot of its circuitry before pulling his hand clear.
As the time machine collapsed in on itself, the Romani villain dusted his hands off.
"Say, for curiosity's sake, anyone ever see Pinky, Elmyra, and the Brain?" Gadjo asked.
"…From Tiny Toons? I don't think they ever crossed that over," one of the nerds spoke up. Gadjo smiled, breathed a deep sigh, and walked off smiling, humming the cartoon's theme song.
"…You know, a good evil scientist realizes there are things you do not want to know or understand," Gizmo remarked.
Please Review, and long days and pleasant nights to you all.