Chapter 4
4:27
Why did I have to do this every morning? Why couldn't I sleep till my alarm woke me up like a normal person? Oh well. I got up, and slipped into my usual clothes, pulling my black jeans on, followed by my black shirt, and finally my trench coat, the deep red contrasting with the black of the rest of my outfit. I strolled over to the wall mount where I kept my blades, and lifted them from their resting place. I flipped the blades over a few times, before putting them to rest in their sheathes at my sides. I pulled my coat around me, hiding the silver blades from sight, and walked out of my room.
I made my way up to the main room, and seeing it was empty, I continued my way up to the roof. I would do my exercises up there today, I had been practicing and meditating out on the field ever since I had arrived, and I figured that it was time for a change.
As I stepped out onto the roof, I noticed the dark girl was already up there, meditating in her own fashion. As the door closed behind me, one of her eyes shot open.
"Look who finally decided to get up," she droned.
I didn't even want to know what time she had gotten up there.
I winked, "Figured you may want some company up here."
Raven's eyes rolled, "Whatever," she muttered, "Just don't bother me."
I smiled inwardly, and began my morning routine
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Jinx sat staring at the stone in front of her. One piece of the puzzle had been found, but the rest were still hidden from her. The red stone shimmered slightly in the dim lighting, the color was almost the same as the coat of that strange person last night. How had he caught her blast? That should have been sufficient to all but incapacitate the entire group, and yet he grabbed it out of thin air, and turned it back around on her. She had never been hit by her own blast, and the chill of feeling her fate being altered by the blast sent shivers down her spine. She used to be able to predict what was going to happen, but somehow, that blast had changed things. New paths were opening in her mind, old ones closing themselves off. So this was the true power of her hexes, the power to alter fate itself. Maybe it was just something that was hung up in her own powers, maybe it altered the fate of all it touched, but whatever it was, it had altered her future, and she could feel it.
"C'mon Jinx, it's time to get a move on."
Gizmo was sneering over her shoulder. She wasn't so sure about this mission anymore, though. What had happened? She had been so sure about this one, even the future seemed to show itself clearly before, showing her assured success, and the demise of the Titans, it had all been so easy to see. But now, the future was blurred. She saw pain, and she felt the wrath of her headmaster, but more than anything else, she had a new feeling, one that she could not recognize, but that felt strangely reassuring. It was that one feeling alone that got her up off the side of the train car she was sitting on, that one feeling that told her that even with the pain she predicted, she would finish this mission.
Jinx flipped gracefully up from her perch, landed softly on her feet, and made her way over to where Gizmo and Mammoth were already sitting, discussing a map that lay in front of them.
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Raven's communicator went off, and she quickly snapped out of her trance, and answered the call. She motioned me over, and I jumped down from where I was balancing on top of one of the antenna, high above the roof of the tower. Robin was on the other end. We listened intently to his message, flipped the communicator closed, and rushed down to the main room, where we found him pacing back and forth in front of the monitor bank. The rest of the team was already there, and were waiting for us to arrive. Robin dove right in.
"I received a call early this morning from the bank," he started. "They got in touch with the owner of the lock box, and informed me of the contents."
A huge gemstone appeared behind him on the screens.
"This ruby was stolen last night from Mrs. Praisler's personal lock box. Cyborg is running tests on the design right now to try and determine exactly why they decided to steal this, but irregardless, this is a priceless gemstone. The fair market price for this," he motioned the stone behind him, "is well over 24 million dollars."
Cyborg's jaw dropped, Beast Boy's eyes bugged out, and Raven even let out a slight gasp.
Starfire looked confused.
"This will be one of the most high profile cases we have ever taken." Robin broke right back to his brief. "I know that saving the city a few times has been really hard, but this case has publicity already, and we are walking into it, knowing that the press and the population of this very city have their eyes on us, watching our every move all the way through. We can't boggle this one."
"Alright team," Robin finished, "let's get back to work, we have a lot to do still. Cyborg, see if you can find out why they wanted that rock. Star, you and B.B. do a fly over of the city, see if you can find anything suspicious going on out there, I'm going to call up a few things on the computer, and see if I can get a lead on what the H.I.V.E.'s up to. Raven, you and Ryk scour the streets, maybe Cy will let you take his car, if not, you're on foot. Keep your eyes and ears open, maybe you'll pick up on some local gossip."
I nodded, and looked at Raven, smiling.
Raven's eyes rolled again, and she got up from her seat, heading for the door.
I jumped up from my seat, and ran over to her.
"Shouldn't we ask Cy about his car?" I asked.
"I wouldn't even bother, I can tell you now that the answer will be no."
"Oh, ok. Well, let's get going then."
We rode down to the garage in silence, but a grin kept sneaking across my face.
"What?" the dark girl was looking at me.
"Nothing" I smiled back at her.
She shook her head, and looked back towards the door.
As if on cue, the elevator 'dinged' and the door slid open, revealing the dark interior of
the garage. I waited till we were about halfway across the garage before I stopped. I waited patiently for Raven to notice I was no longer with her, and as she turned around, I reached my hand into my pocket.
Chirp-Chirp
The noise came from a dark corner of the garage, and I motioned for Raven to follow me. She gave me a weird look, but followed my path over to the side of the garage.
A sleek, black car seemingly materialized out of the darkness, it's gloss black body shimmering even in the lack of light. My RX-8 was sitting there, in all her glory, waiting for us.
I opened Raven's door up for her, and motioned for her to climb in. She blushed ever so slightly as I took her hand and helped her into the car, performing my 'chauffeur' part to its fullest. I closed the door behind her, and walked around the to the other side, climbing into my own seat, and started the car. The engine rumbled to life, turbo hissing, exhaust roaring. I smiled at Raven again.
"Boys and their toys," she quipped.
I laughed at that one, and eased the car into first gear, gently rolling us out of the garage.
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Jinx vaulted over buildings, followed closely by Gizmo on his jetpack. She knew that Mammoth was below on the ground, and only one solitary black car graced the streets.
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Raven and I rode along in silence, keeping a vigilant watch out on the street.
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Starfire and Beast Boy flew side by side, up in the clouds, joking now and then, but never taking their eyes off of the city that stretched below them. A pink flash caught B.B's hawk eyes, and he immediately pointed it out to the Tamaranian flying next to him. Starfire reached to her side, and pulled out her communicator, flipping it open to the sound of it's typical little jingle. She quickly rang the rest of the team, and brought us up to speed on what was going on.
"We have spotted a pink movement that matches Jinx' description."
"Good job Star," Robin replied, "keep an eye on them, and try to lead Raven and Ryk towards them. Cyborg and I will be out there as soon as we can."
"I heard you, we'll find them," Raven said.
"Copy that," Starfire said, and swooped lower towards the flashing pink streak.
"And Star,"
"Yes Robin?"
"Don't let them see you just yet, I want to know what they are up to."
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I spun my car around, and raced towards the coordinates I was given. The engine screamed as I wound out each gear, racing madly through traffic. A cop pulled out behind me, lights flashing, but soon, even he had been left far behind.
"There." Raven was pointing towards a rooftop.
I looked up, and saw a pink streak fading from view. That had to be Jinx, no one else left that color behind. But her pattern was heading out of the city. Where was she headed? The city's backdrop fell away to a more suburban style, and I pressed on after my quarry.
"Robin, she's left the city," Raven droned into her communicator
"Keep on her, who knows what she might be up to." came his reply.
"Star, you and B.B. head on back," he continued. "Keep checking out the city, but be ready to head out at a moments notice to help out."
I followed our pink prey for almost another 5 hours, constantly heading south along the shore line. I watched as we passed the Virginia state line, still speeding southbound. Raven had been in constant contact with the tower, and even as far as we were from our home town, we were still told to keep up the chase.
The Norfolk city limits. The dashing pink figure suddenly deviated from her path, turning towards the seaboard.
"Crap!" I exclaimed, realizing where she was headed.
Raven looked at me, her face showed the confusion from my sudden outburst.
"The naval base," I practically growled, "she's headed for the naval base."
Raven's eyes opened wide in shock. She knew all to well what all could be kept there at a military base. Since when had H.I.V.E. ever been this bold, though. Sure, Jinx could probably sneak her way in, but the matter still stood as to why she wanted in, and what she could possibly want.
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The barbed wire fence flew at Jinx. Without so much as a hesitation, she jumped the fence, and blurred her way down one street and up another, rushing through the base, frantically searching for something.
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Raven reached for her communicator. It flipped open, playing it's jingle, but she couldn't raise anyone on it.
"Great, just great," she mumbled, "We're to far from the tower, and your car doesn't have a relay like Cyborg's does."
I produced a cell phone from my pocket, and punched a series of numbers in, hoping someone would be around the tower to answer the phone.
"Titans' house of pancakes, how would like your flapjacks flipped today?"
That could only have been Beast Boy. I laughed under my breath at his answer, but told him I needed to talk to Robin immediatly.
"Just a sec," came his reply.
"Robin," the boy wonder had picked up the phone.
"Robin, it's Ryk, I need you to call the Norfolk naval base, and clear me an entrance in there, Jinx just jumped the fence, and is inside, but none of us have a clearance."
"How much time do I have."
"I'm sitting in the line to get in the gate right now, so I would say about 1 minute."
"Try to stall them at the gate, I'll get you in."
"Thanks, man."
I hung up the phone, and stole a glance over at my passenger.
"Now tell me why we are given communicators instead of just getting a phone?" she smirked.
I smile broke across my face.
"That's why I always carry mine," I winked. "Never know when you might need it."
One more car between us and the gates. Hopefully Robin had kept his end of the deal, and gotten us on base. I watched as the gate guard checked the driver ahead of us for some sticker on the windshield, and his ID. The guard let him through, and I rolled up to and took the previous car's spot in front of the guard shack.
"ID please, sir?" the guard was a tall, attractive woman, which surprised me for someone who was in the armed services. Then again, I worked with 2 beautiful superheroes on a daily basis.
I flipped open my wallet, showing her my drivers license.
"Are you here for someone, or is does your girlfriend there have a military ID?"
A series of bulbs in streetlamps around us unexplainably exploded, as if cued to do so. Raven turned her red cheeks away from the guard, staring furiously out the window on her side.
"We're with the Teen Titans, this is Raven, and I'm her driver for now. Did your chain of command not call you and let you know we were on our way?"
"I haven't heard anything come down through the chain," the guard politely replied, "and as you know, without clearance we can't let you through."
A phone rang in the background.
The guard continued with her speech, "if you just want to see the base, you're welcome to book a tour at the end of the driveway there." A gloved hand reached out and pointed to a small building behind us.
I didn't have time for this.
Then, our luck changed for the better.
"MAM! Let them through! They've been chasing someone since the state line, and now, whoever it is, they got inside the base!"
Who ever said that you can have too many friends in high places…
We were given immediate access to any and all locations in the base, all we had to do was flash Raven's communicator. The rest of the base was notified of our presence, giving us free roam to follow Jinx wherever she may be headed.
We pulled away from the gates, and watched them being locked behind us. They were locking down the base, and going to high alert. Anything that came or left through that base would be sighted and destroyed. Military vehicles were everywhere. Jeeps and Humvees patrolled the street, the thwop of helicopter blades echoed as they swooped low, searching the streets and building tops. Fighter jets screamed across the sky, each headed to their respective places, ships, and following escape routes to prevent tampering by the intruder.
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Jinx sat huddled underneath the roof of an old warehouse on base. For the first time in her life, she was scared. Not nervous, not jumpy, but truly scared for her life. The future had hidden itself from her ever since that damned boy had thrown her own hex back at her. Who was he anyways? He acted to be a fan boy of the Titans, but when the dice were thrown, he had proven himself to be a powerful enemy. Especially since she knew now that she could not use her hex against him.
A chopper thumped its way overhead, and she pulled her knees up, hugging them against her chest. They were going to kill her. The military did not play around, and she knew that. The hive had already lost 2 of their best students to this base. They obviously were no strangers to fighting enemies that, in standard cases, would destroy any of the worlds finest police forces without the bat of an eye. These same people, at this same base, had killed Ronnie, who could create and manipulate fire, bending it to his will, and his partner Steve, who had the ability to turn himself into stone. That was only a two weeks ago, and these military boys were still angry about the other 2 getting in. And here she was, sitting here on her own, hiding from the most deadly adversary that she had ever gone up against.
At least fighting the Titans, even though they were superheroes, they never killed. These warriors would not hesitate to pull the trigger and end her life. As a matter of fact, there were times she wondered if they enjoyed it.
A black car slowly rolled by.
Jinx' eyes widened when she read the license plate on the black car, it was from the very same city she had just run all the way here from. She also saw two figures sitting inside, but was unable to make them out through the tinted window.
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I felt her. She was very close. I reached out with my mind, searching for her, and was not disappointed. My mind adapted to her wavelengths, and I searched through the memory that I could access. I found her short term memory, and fired through to where her optical data was being processed and stored.
I knew it. She was looking right at my car, finally realizing that it had followed her all the way here. She was looking…right at my window. I stopped the car, and let my gaze wander along the rooftops around me. I did not see her on top the buildings, so I started searching the windows and overhangs.
There she was, hiding in one of the old warehouses. I could barely see her, but that pink hair was unmistakable. I nudged Raven, and motioned up to the warehouse, knowing my motions were concealed behind the dark glass.
Raven looked up, and confirmed my suspicions. That was indeed our little pink friend, Jinx. Raven reached for the door handle, but my hand stopped her short. I wanted to know what she was after before we made our move.
I moved on, easing my car back into first gear, and rolling on down the road.
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Jinx let out a sigh of relief, the mysterious two in that black car had missed her. She watched as the car rolled down another few blocks and stopped again, the occupants still searching for her. This was her chance, the car had moved on, and no one else was in sight. She leapt from her hiding spot, racing across the base, searching desperately for somewhere else to hide. An old truck sat on the side of the road, the canvas top over the bed was open at the back end. She made for it, and climbed quickly inside. She made it just in time. A jeep full of armed soldiers drove by, heading in the direction that she had just came from. A sigh of relief escaped her lips, and she panted for breath. Her hands were shaking from fright. She curled up and shook for a few minutes until she had worked up the confidence to venture out of the truck again.
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My black RX-8 sat on the opposite side of the building from Jinx' hiding place. Raven stared at me as I sat in meditation, my own projected thoughts hiding inside of my opponents head, watching her own vision, and waiting for her to make a move.
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Another clear moment made itself available, and she took the chance. The pink witch ran as fast as she possibly could, hoping to avoid any encounters with the troops that were searching for her. A huge white building rose up ahead of her, and she made straight for it. This was where her target was hidden, and she needed to get in and out of the facility fast. It would be heavily guarded. She figured her best approach wouldn't be to attack anyone, but try to sneak by and get in and out undetected.
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The white building, that's where she was headed. For some reason, I couldn't read what she was after, but I knew that's where she was headed. I revved the engine and raced after her. I pulled my link with her mind so I could concentrate completely on my driving, and the fight destined to come after we arrived.
I called the base HQ, and informed them of where the pink terror was headed, and told them to set up a perimeter around the building. They agreed let us try to take her down, but if she was to step foot outside the building, they would open fire. I let them know that I understood, then gave Raven the run down. She nodded gravely, grasping the reality of this situation.
We pulled up in front of the white building I had 'seen'. We both jumped out of the car, and rushed the front door.
End Chapter 4