Dark Titans – Arc 5 - Pre Wedding Jitters
Chapter 3 - Part 2/3
Enjoy if you Will, Tolerate if you won't.
"Say, Red. What's this mutawhatsits we're stealin' supposed to do again?"
Pamela Isley, better known as Poison Ivy among her like minded peer group, looked away from the heavy wooden warehouse door to glance at her companion. The shorter woman would have been just as comfortable on the back of a playing card as hanging out next to this dingy old warehouse they were preparing to burgle.
"Well, Harley," she found herself dropping back into a lecturing stance, an old habit from an earlier life. "I've already tried giant plants, using plants to make people slaves, and mutating people into plants… and, frankly, none of those plans have worked out too well."
Harley nodded, the bells on her black and red hood jingling quietly. "Ah, so you're goin' for a new angle, right? Must be something real clever!"
"Of course! With this mutagen, I will be able to affect my greatest plan ever." Gesturing dramatically to the heavens above, she revealed her master plan. "I will use it to mutate people into giant plant slaves!"
In an instant, Harley's expression dropped into the flattest look she'd ever seen.
The red headed genius gave a loud snort. "Harlene Quinzelle! You are the last person that gets to look at someone like they just said something crazy."
She amended herself quickly. "Sorry, second to last."
The harlequin dressed Harley Quinn laughed out loud. "Thanks, Red. But, seriously, that's what yer goin' for?"
"Oh, I don't know. Sounds kinda cool to me."
Ivy nodded in agreement. "Thank you. Finally, someone… gets… it?"
Slowly, both villainesses turned to look down the darkened alley behind them. Harley nudged her, muttering out of the side of her mouth. "You don't suppose Bats has gone soprano on us?"
She could only shake her head absently as she peered into the inky blackness. Worryingly, she could see two points of light peering back at her.
What was that saying about the abyss again?
The faint 'clop' of hard soled shoes coming towards them echoed against the walls, until the shadows finally revealed the mystery interloper.
Poison Ivy took one look at the young woman, only for realization to strike. She snapped her fingers in recognition.
"Hey! You're that Chicky-Poo that punched Croc's ticket back to Arkham!" Harley gestured with excitement, obviously having reached the same conclusion.
The pink hair was unmistakable, and while the girl's wardrobe was much more modest now, the style was recognizable as well. The televised battle between this petite vixen and Killer Croc had been the talk of the underworld for days, after all.
"That's me, alright," the young woman confirmed. "The name is Jinx, in case you missed it."
Hmm, Jinx. The rumor mill had said she was a neophyte villain from the opposite side of the country, but no one had any idea why she had taken out the humanoid suitcase.
Ivy, experienced criminal that she was, was confused by more immediate concerns. First, why was this child here? Second, despite her flippant words, Ivy noted a worrying amount of tension in the young villainess' posture. The kind of tension that you usually saw in someone either anticipating or dreading a fight.
"Well," the plant loving eco terrorist began cautiously. "As I doubt your meeting the two of us, here and now, is a coincidence, I can only assume you know who we are, correct?"
Standing up straighter, but with pale hands held out to her sides, Jinx nodded. "Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. Pretty much the Queens of Gotham." The cat eyed girl gave a sheepish grin. "I gotta admit, you two are in my top Five of female villains I always looked up to."
"Aw, that's sweet, kid! I always got time for a fan." Harley immediately began to check her form fitting body suit for something to autograph… as if that red and black piece of fabric left anything to the imagination.
...Not that Pamela could say much in that regard.
"I see," she reasoned, "Is that what brought you to Gotham? Looking to find some seasoned professionals to take you under their wings?" She tapped a finger to her chin. "I've never considered doing villain mentorships before, but it might not be a bad plan."
Suddenly, she found Harley clamped on her arm, clinging on possessively.
"Hey, no way! Sorry, Jesse-"
"Jinx!"
"Whatevah! This here crime family is a duo!" The clown princess of crime gave Jinx a closer look. "Besides, you look like a better fit for Catwoman. You can go and be all morally ambiguous with her!"
The pale girl drew a hand down her face in annoyance. "I do not have a cat theme! My whole thing is - you know what, never mind."
Taking a moment to recover her cool, Jinx offered them a wide grin… though the anxiety dancing at the back of her eyes could not be hidden from Ivy's trained eyes.
"You're not wrong, anyway," Jinx continued enigmatically. She carelessly rolled one of her wrists. "I did come here on a training trip. And, lucky me, I actually did find a 'wing' to take me in."
Jinx's grin grew wider, almost manic. Had she been up against anyone besides two of Gotham's worst, Ivy might have almost called it intimidating. To her, it was just adorable.
"Unfortunately, the new boss was pretty firm on me stopping you guys from stealin' anything, so that puts us in a bit of a situation."
Poison Ivy began to study the newcomer with cold, calculating eyes. She remembered the video. This slip of a girl had gone toe to toe with Croc… but had nearly died in the doing.
Harley's loud, boisterous laugh distracted her. Hefting her oversized mallet over her shoulder, the harlequin villainess gestured to Jinx dismissively.
"Look at this, Pammy! This crazy kitten gets lucky against Croc, and suddenly thinks she can take us on?" Another derisive bark of laughter. "Sorry, Twiggy, but who do you think you are, the Goddamn Batman?"
Ivy slowly began to ease a pair of large seeds from inside her gloves as she watched Jinx bristle at the outright dismissal. The young girl crouched down slightly, her fingers curling into claws.
"You might be right. Batman would have taken down Croc way easier than I did, but at least that crazy cannibal taught me one thing about hanging in Gotham."
Gently rolling the seeds between her fingers, Ivy began to coax them from dormancy. Explosive growth had always been her hallmark, she just needed a few more seconds to prepare.
"And what is that, dear girl?"
Jinx's cat-like eyes narrowed dangerously.
"That I can't afford to hold back!"
Aha! Ivy began to swing her hands forward, to send the activated seeds flying…
When the slight girl vanished!
A cacophony of shattering wood wrenched her attention back to her side. Eyes widened in shock as she tried to process what she was seeing. Harley was no longer standing at her side. Now Jinx was next to her, half turned away and her leg still fully extended and vibrating as it hung in the air.
Poison Ivy's gaze slipped back for an instant, to the shattered remains of the warehouse door. Harley's red clad leg hung awkwardly out of the roughly hewn hole her body had blasted through it. With glacial speed, her gaze was drawn back to the pink haired terror, just now lowering her leg. A look of confusion was etched on the young fighter's face.
"Huh, that - that was easy…" Jinx then looked at something clenched tightly in her fist. "And… honestly, who is daring enough to wear these colors?"
The non-sequitur inquiry distracted Ivy enough to make her lean in closer to look at what the girl was now dangling between pinched fingers.
Her eyes widened even further at the scarlet and ebony checkered undergarments now in Jinx's clutches.
She - what - how?
Rage welled up in the red headed villainess. There could be no mercy for such an affront! She wound up again and let fly her weapons of choice. In seconds, the girl would be crushed to death by constricting vines-
Rage burned away, revealing uncertainty as the seeds burst into pink flame only halfway to their target, seemingly at the behest of a lazy gesture from the witch girl.
"O-oh my Goddess!" Jinx could barely talk from laughing. "Shampoo would have torn you guys to pieces. Literal pieces! And just thank your lucky stars that Happi already skipped town."
Ivy took a step back, not certain how to respond to the deranged girl's talk about deadly haircare products and fleeting happiness. Her apprehension only increased as Jinx tucked Harley's panties into a small sack on her belt, while clenching her other hand into a fist.
"Speaking of, I did promise the Old Man some limited-edition items for his collection, so… well, you might want to close your eyes for this."
Swallowing loudly, Pamela felt, all the way to her toes, that this bizarre youth was offering her what she considered the easy way out. Maybe if she'd had more time to prepare, hadn't been equipped for a break and enter rather than a full out brawl, or at least had a few of her babies out and already grown beforehand… then things would no doubt be very different at this moment. As things stood, though, with her empty handed and Harley down for the count?
Slowly, she slid her eyes closed.
Emerging from the shadows, the Batman entered onto the scene just in time to catch his new ward quickly tucking something into her belt, just a bit too fast for him to make out anything but a flash of green.
The detective examined the aftermath of the surprisingly short battle. Poison Ivy was unconscious on the street, the beginning of a painful looking black eye already forming. Harley Quinn had not fared nearly as well, embedded in, or more accurately to say through a door. At least he could see her foot was still twitching.
Finally, he turned his attention to the wild child he had taken in. Jinx smiled broadly, a veritable canary fed cat, awaiting praise for her good works.
"Tell me, Jinx, how you won this fight."
Her Cheshire grin faltered at the demand, but she tilted her head to the side, apparently trying to think over his request.
"Well, I was stronger and faster than Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy relies more on indirect fighting… Kinda like Mousse, and fighting those kind of people is my specialty."
Batman nodded, though he was a bit puzzled. He knew, from a slip up in the interview process, that one of their new members, Weapon Master, was named Mousse -he was still trying to wrap his head around the name, but even his information network hadn't turned up anything else. It was like the pair of warriors didn't exist in any databases on the planet - but he had seemed like the straightforward type during combat practice, using whatever weapons he could carry on his back. He would also need to do some investigating into the connection between Jinx and Weapon Master now as well, as what little information he had didn't indicate any link between them.
"Also," Jinx continued, tapping her finger to her chin. "The battlefield really favored me. I know that Ivy can be a nightmare out in the woods, but in the city, with no plants to work with, and no time to prep, since she was getting ready for a break in, I was able to catch her with her defenses down." The pink haired girl gave a snort as she looked over at Harley. "Clown girl is basically just a gymnastic fighter like me… you know, minus the superpowers, the training under a martial arts genius, and the youthful vitality. So, barring any really nasty tricks, I don't think I have to worry about her."
The Dark Knight gave a shallow nod. "A good analysis. It sounds like you put some thought into the battle beforehand, and made sure that you had the advantage going in."
His temporary ward nodded eagerly. "A mutual friend of ours gave me a lesson on the costs of underestimating your enemies. Especially in Gotham." She nudged her toe into the asphalt. "I have to admit, I was pretty nervous there. Despite all my training, these two are still kinda legends in the underworld. I honestly wasn't sure how that was going to go down."
He nodded, appreciating her honesty in her analysis. It would make his next steps that much easier to plan out.
"It's good that Killer Croc taught you to take our opponents seriously," the young woman beamed at his appraisal, "And you've shown that you understand the strategy and tactics of combat," He paused dramatically. "However, I think it's time to start training you in something I don't think… any of your former instructors have bothered to teach you."
Jinx's head tilted as she regarded him quizzically. "Whazzat? I thought that went pretty well."
"Restraint." He gestured to Harley's unconscious… foot. "I can understand being intimidated by their reputation, but not every villain you fight is going to be as tough as Killer Croc. Against more baseline human opponents, you need to use more appropriate force."
"Aww! Holding back?" The young sorceress pouted mightily. "But my whole cool speech thing was about not holding back!"
The caped crusader suppressed a grin in favor of his standard grim expression.
"A true martial artist knows when it is best to fight, and when it is best not to fight." Even as he pulled a compact first aid kit from his belt and moved to examine Harley, he glanced over his shoulder. "Besides, you might want to avoid making too many enemies so early in your career."
The sorceress in training scoffed loudly at his suggestion, waving her hand dismissively.
"What are you talking about?" She bounced on her toes and winked coquettishly. "After all, I'm the one true heir of the Anything Goes Style! Making enemies is kind of the job description from what I'm told."
She gestured to the fallen villains. "Besides. If these are the worst that Gotham has to offer…"
"Then who would be crazy enough to come after me?"
"That's what you get, Punks! My name is Jinx, the One True Heir of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts! And don't you forget it!"
The image froze on a far too close-up of the pale girl's leering face, lines of static rolling up and down the still picture.
A shrill scream split the air a second before a midnight black razor-edged hoop split the screen in half as well.
Kodachi Kuno seethed as she had never seethed before. She was tempted to throw something else, but she didn't want to lower herself to the pink witch's level. Difficult as it was, she limited herself to simply glaring hatefully at the smoking monitor. It wasn't the target that deserved her wrath, after all, just the messenger of this… Jinx.
Despite herself, her breathing came in shallow gasps. How dare that harlot falsely claim her darling Ranma's title? Such an insult to her future husband was - it was unforgivable!
Her erstwhile partner, just now gingerly peeking over the couch he'd dove behind when she'd made her displeasure know, cleared his throat.
"Uhh… is something bothering you, Kodachi-sama?"
Withdrawing her ribbon from her leotard, the heiress began to snap it furiously taut between her clenched fists. She ignored the rhetorical question, utterly irrelevant in the face of her growing ire. This commoner wench, this pink haired trollop had not just slandered her beloved, she had also interrupted Kodachi's well earned sabbatical.
Not even pleasant thoughts of the anguish her Ranma must be suffering over her mysterious absence, cooled her temper. How could they, knowing that the cat eyed miscreant had stolen her thunder! Everyone knew how dearly the stunningly handsome martial artist held his pride. To be challenged so openly, and on the global stage, besides? Even the elegant Black Rose had to admit that her love's rather… one track mind would not entertain any other thought until he had answered this provocation.
Whoever this Jinx was… she had pushed Kodachi further from Ranma's mind, and thus his heart!
"I swear upon my family name, excluding my idiot brother and father, that I will hunt down this - this Jinx, to the very gates of Kokujou Jigoku itself!"
She glared imperiously at the shorn monitor, watching as sparks jumped out randomly from the grievous wound inflicted.
"It is time for Jinx to learn the cost of vexing one of noble blood."
"That's what you get, Punks! My name is Jinx, the One True Heir of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts! And don't you forget it!"
He leaned back into the elegant curves of his scaled throne, letting out a most amused chuckle as he regarded the monitor. Shimmering scales glinted in the light as he laced his fingers together before his mouth.
"Mint."
In an instant, faster than most could even see - excluding himself, of course - a young man nearly seemed to materialize before the throne, already bending the knee on the cool dark stone.
"Yes, Lord Herb?"
The Prince of the Musk smirked wickedly.
"I think I might have just found a convenient pretense to force that insufferable Saotome into a rematch without the disgrace of having to lower myself to actually challenging the coward."
He gestured to the frozen picture of the unique looking female captured on the monitor. Whoever this Jinx was, with those pink, cat slit eyes, he half wondered if she was one of his men's attempt to make a bride that managed to escape. But he'd never seen any animals transformed by the Nyannichuan to ever exhibit such mastery of chi techniques… if that was what the pink energy the girl wielded even was.
"Mint, take some of the more experienced trackers and find this girl for me." He would have to remember to have someone thank the informant that had sent them this video. The girl herself was of interest, but no exotic foreign face could hope to match the beauty of the declaration she had so brazenly made. "I want you to have them track her movements for me."
He leaned forward, allowing himself an evil chuckle. "I think that I would like to arrange an… audience with the One True Heir of the Anything Goes School."
The wolf blooded boy winced at his tone, only to look up at the screen in confusion.
"Wait a second! Are you sure that's a girl?"
Mint took a step forward, his eyes examining the image of the female intently.
"I mean, she doesn't even have any breasts!"