Jump City High - 10 AM
Luke wrote down his assignment as he could feel most people stare at him, all of them were thinking the same thing. Jackson didn't show up today, and rumor was that Luke had left him in the hospital, a load of lies, but sadly, Luke didn't have anything to prove otherwise.
However they were not the ones bothering him, the thing bothering him was a certain voice in his head. Shadow was laughing his ass off as he stated "Oh boy! Gotta love being public enemy number 1!" Luke simply thought "Not funny, i can hear them... And trust me, this might get us in trouble, so can you please make yourself useful and tell me about... Witches.."
Shadow stopped laughing, Luke solved his problems and listened to shadow explain "The Shadow Man might be "Immortal" in a sense, but he also must remain hidden. He can only heal in Deadside, and subsequently, that leaves his host, you in this case, carrying the marks of his actions."
Luke flipped the page and thought "I know, but why not get doctors? Why witches?" Shadow chuckled and answered smugly "Magic is more reliable for a Shadow Man, faster, stronger, more versatility, the list goes on really-Duck!"
Luke quickly lowered his head as a wad of gum missed him then looked back, seeing the popular girl in class whistling innocently. Luke growled and thought "I need this period to end..." And as if by pure suggestion, the bell rang, making Luke sigh, grab his stuff and hurry out the classroom.
However as he was walking down the hall did he notice a large gap between him and the other students, and how they all watched him and whispered to themselves.
Luke hurried to his next class and was greeted by the door slamming into his face, causing him to scream and hold his bleeding nose. On the other side was Terra, cringing as she listened to Luke swear and groan, then peeked to find him wiping the blood off his face.
Terra chuckled awkwardly and in a low tone said "Heh, umm didn't see you there..?" Luke looked at her and informed her in a slightly irritated tone "You don't swing a door open when you know there are others walking on the other side." Luke then watched as she looked down in shame, like a puppy that had just gotten scolded.
He groaned and muttered "Hey, it's alright, just... Don't do that again." Terra nodded and hurried to her next class, but stopped midway and rushed back, holding out a piece of paper she told him "Here, it's my number, in case something pops up."
Luke looked at the piece of paper then back up at Terra, but found her already walking to her next class. He sighed, put the number in his pocket and entered the class room, where he was greeted by the same crap as before, everyone watching him and whispering.
Titans Tower - Living/Main Ops Room - Mid-Day
Robin stared out the window, watching the city as he remembered last night. He felt something was really wrong, like if this wasn't the last time he would see that strange guy. Yes, he saw him die, get run over by a subway, but he still had the feeling he was somewhere out there, the same feeling he had about Slade.
"Couldn't find anything on him.." Said Raven as she floated out of the shadows and continued "Whatever he was, he doesn't seem to use any magic I'm familiar with." Robin sighed and asked "But he is magical, right?"
Raven raised a brow and corrected "Spiritual, yes. Magical, probably. Whoever this guy was, he wasn't some low life demon or fanatic cultist... He was something else entirely..." Robin sighed and looked at the city, then asked in a serious tone "What kind of person could do such evil... What heartless, inconsiderate, and vile excuse of a living creature would do such things... And worst of all, it could be out there, plotting against us, as we speak.." Raven raised her brow higher.
Jump City High - 3 PM
Luke groaned as he muttered to himself as he left the school grounds on his skateboard "Another day, another migraine.."
All around him everything seemed to fuzzy, his head was pounding, and worst of all he was hearing everything, not just what was within earshot, literally everything. Reason for this was him searching for the Witch Jaunty mentioned, using his senses to their limit.
Everyone had a certain color to them, the majority of innocent people had a red silhouette, criminals had a grey one and the more supernatural, angels, demons, ext, had a black or white silhouette. He examined each one, passing dozens at a time as he grind over every ledge, slid between ever car and crossing every turn.
He soon took a quick turn into the back streets of Jump City, apartments and small shops here and there. But he eventually arrived at his first stop, a small shop with various items, Crystal balls, tarot cards, and so on.
Sadly he couldn't sense actual magic, everything here was nothing but smoke and mirrors, so Luke left to his next stop, and the one after that, and the one after that. All of them were alike, just using practical tricks, illusions or more "Medicinal" means to win a quick buck.
It was already 5 PM and Luke was now in the bad side of town, where most stores seemed shady, every block had a dealer or cheap hooker on every corner, and gun fire sounded off like a beat. He sighed as he entered the next dark alley, graffiti and garbage littering the walls as he skated silently into a small clearing.
The place looked surprisingly clean and well kept, the only shop, or open property, was a odd looking door that had a dark wood sign over it reading "Hex" in bright fuchsia letters. Luke got off his skateboard and stepped on the tail of it then caught it before wandering over to the door.
But before he opened it Shadow warned him "I sense something inside... Doesn't feel like an evil entity, but it does feel... Chaotic." Luke quickly looked at the door and spotted two beings inside, one was a normal red while the other was, oddly enough, pink.
Luke saw the red silhouette coming to the door and quickly hurried to hide behind a dumpster. He watched a red head teen around his age with a yellow shirt and blue jeans step out and yell "What's your problem Jen?! I'm trying to help!"
Luke watched as a girl came out the doorway, her hair was a bright Fuchsia, bordering on pink, and had the shape of horns. She wore a baggy black shirt along with a matching pair of black and Fuchsia striped tights and shoes. However her unique sense of style was contrasted by her scowl as she answered Wally in a aggressive tone"I don't need your help! This is something you can't help in!"
Wally growled and yelled "Fine! Have it your way, just don't say i didn't try to help!" With those words Wally ran out the alley at an inhuman speed, all Luke saw was a blur and then nothing, the girl was entering her shop and slammed the door behind her.
Luke blinked and thought "Was that.. Kid flash?" Shadow simply replied with "Mhmm, and that is definitely the Witch we are looking for. Why don't we go and see if we can.. "Help" her out..? I sense she has a lot of dark secrets and regrets.."
Luke growled at Shadow and walked up to the door, took a deep breath, and entered as casually as possible. However once inside did he notice a lot of objects on various counters.
Some were basic rings and amulets that he could feel had a light hint of magic, while others were dolls, mirrors, cards, and bones that were 100% cursed or hexed, how fitting. Luke however found himself interested in a human skeleton arm holding a strange stone ball.
The object in question was just an old human Radius, ulna and hand held together by strange binds that had odd symbols. Luke however felt a burning energy coming from it, but quickly looked away and searched for the girl.
He eventually arrived to the counter and could hear her muttering to herself in the backroom "Why does my head hurt so much. Two damn years, and it's always after those murders occur-"
She stopped when she saw Luke standing there in front of the counter. She walked up to him and asked the stranger in front of her in a dull tone "Welcome to Hex, where you can find a little of everything. But if anything happens to you, we won't assume any responsibility."
Luke kept his flat stare for a second before chuckling and asking in genuine curiosity "First, your name? Second, that arm over in the counter on sale or not?"
She smirked and replied "Jen, and yes, 600 bucks." Luke smirked and pulled his wallet out, making Jen go wide eyed then stammer "H..Hey! I was joking! That thing is known for burning houses down." Luke chuckled and asked "How about this, if i can impress you with a magic trick, you sell it to me, if not, I'll give you those 600 dollars, deal?"
Jen smirked and replied "You are on, but don't cry when you give me that money." Luke smirked and pulled up a full body mirror and placed it so only half his body was reflection on the mirror, letting the reflection of himself look perfectly symmetrical.
Jen smirked and walked up to him saying triumphantly "Sorry, but that's child's play." Luke kept smirking and watched as the side that was the mirror outstretched it's hand and asked "Are you sure about that?" making Jen go wide eyed.
She quickly pulled the mirror away and looked at it, then asked "Alright, how the hell did you do that?!" Luke sighed and asked "Let me answer with a question: Do you really wanan know?" Jen nodded and watched him pull a piece of paper out and write down a address on it.
Luke handed it to her and told her "Meet me there tonight at eight, and just to give you an idea of how.." Luke closed his eyes for a moment, focusing briefly, then opened them again as they glowed turquoise. Jen went quiet as she felt the atmosphere in the shop get colder.
Luke watched her eyes widen and asked "Can i trust you to meet me there? Alone.." Jen nodded and watched him leave 600 dollars on the counter, grab the bone arm then leave her store, all the while smiling like nothing happened.
Salazar Residence - Luke's Room - 7 PM
Luke came out of the shower with nothing but a towel covering him from his waist down, and Shadow asking "So What's your plan? Scare her into helping us? I didn't think you had it in you.." Luke grabbed an old white, short sleeved button up shirt, a pair of dark blue tight jeans and a pair of socks then explained "No, i don't have a plan. If she doesn't want to help, i won't force her into it man." Shadow groaned in exasperation as Luke got dressed and grabbed his duffel bag.
He quickly put his gun and the arm he bought today in it before hurrying out the front door and skated down the streets of Jump City, all the while doing kick flips, a few ollies, and even pulling off afew hippie jumps over cars with his board going under them.
However instead of heading into the city, he was exiting it, heading into the forest instead. After his encounter with the Titans last night he needed to be cautious, last thing Luke wanted was to have to kill them because the got in his way. But now he was in the forest, half an hour early and waiting as he watched the sun set into the horizon.
A/N:And another chapter done, and introduced our little Witch. Sorry this one took longer, but got busy all week and didn't get much tome to write, hopefully I can get a schedule going, but for now, i can't make promises on chapters coming out one after the other.
LoserStuckInMemoryLane: Thanks for your kind words, and consider this: Longer chapter = Waiting More time for the reader. (And i think alot of us are exactly what your name implies, but for good reason, things are just not made the same as before.) And also, just getting started, so give it time, m'kay?
As always, i hope you guys have a good day, Review, share, and all that technical stuff.