Chapter 5

White walls filled my vision. The air had been artificially scrubbed and cleaned. This place was a research lab. Jinx was after something that was still under development, I had gathered. Something that nobody else in the world would have, maybe something that nobody else in the world would want anybody to have. I reached out with my mind again, searching for the 'feel' of hers. I found it, hiding in the ventilation not far from where we were now. I motioned for Raven to follow me, and walked over to an alarm keypad. After pulling the faceplate off, I quickly rigged a device that would respond to a call from my cell phone.

Raven was staring at me, watching my hands work swiftly with the wires, cutting and twisting them back together, connecting them to the device I had produced from my pocket.

"You've done this a few times before, haven't you," Raven mused. It wasn't as much of a question as a statement.

I stopped cold in my work. The last time I had done this… A shiver ran down my spine, and I closed my eyes tightly, trying to shake an image from my mind.

Precious moments passed before I could gather myself together again to finish my patch job. I could feel Raven's stare, but she didn't say a thing. A single tear rolled down my face. I hid it from the dark girl standing next to me, and 'coughed' into the sleeve of my coat, wiping my face clean.

There, I had finished my work. I motioned to Raven that we were moving on, and started down the hallway towards where I felt Jinx' presence. We snuck past labs, some housing strange weapons, some housing vehicles that were advanced beyond belief. And some labs, the windows had been covered or blacked over, so no one could even see inside. We passed countless security checkpoints, all of which had been abandoned at my request.

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Jinx couldn't believe her luck. Security here had been at a minimum. Maybe it was because it was lunch time, maybe it was because the base was locked down and the guards hadn't made it yet. Whatever it was, she had only had to slip by 4 manned security checkpoints. The pink girl was thankful she was small enough to fit in the ventilation at those points, it had made things many times easier. She looked down at the piece of paper in her hands, and at the number scrawled on it. She looked from there to the door she was standing in front of. This was it. A pink glow surrounded her right hand, and she shot a weak burst at the lock, and watched it disintegrate.

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My eyes burst open as I pulled myself back into my own head. I glanced at Raven to make sure I had her attention, and raced off down the hallway.

I ran down one hallway, and up another, Raven flying along behind, searching for the door I had 'seen' in Jinx' mind.

01-50-0

01-52-0

01-53-0

01-55-0

There it was, 01-60-0, the lock blown off the door. I threw my shoulder into the door and charged into the room. I stopped and stared, it looked like I had just walked onto the set of a sci-fi flick. Human size armor suits stood neatly in rows, their metal exterior gleaming in the bright light.

CLANK

I spun to face the sound, and saw our quarry desperately pulling apart one of the armor suits, searching for something. She let out a quiet squeal of delight as she found her prize. I watched in horror as she pulled the power core out of the suit, completely oblivious to our presence. I immediately recognized the palm sized fusion reactor. It was time to act. I didn't care about why she wanted the reactor, but she was not going to walk out of this building with that thing in her possession. I nodded to Raven, and she silently flew off to the side, taking up a hiding place for her surprise attack.

"Well, hello again," I quipped cheerfully.

Jinx jumped and spun around, nearly dropping the reactor. She stared at me, not believing her eyes. There I was, standing between her and her only path back to freedom. The girls hands immediately began glowing pink as she charged up her power. She was just about to hurl a huge blast of her power at me when she remembered what had happened last time she tried that. She didn't need her own future screwed with any more than it already had been.

With a wild scream, Jinx rushed me, attacking with a flurry of punches and kicks. I could barely keep up with her, managing nothing more than blocking her furious attack. I was forced backwards, closer and closer to the door, frantically blocking the pink witch's powerful attack.

Suddenly, there was a pink glowing hand directly in my face.

Jinx smirked, "Try throwing this one back at me."

"Hey witch," a voice droned.

Jinx spun around just in time to catch a "glowing" black desk right in the face. Raven hovered out from behind the armor suits she had been hiding behind, launching everything she could think of at the girl. Desks, chairs, tables, and even the prototype armor suits flew through the air.

Jinx barely dodged each one of Raven's awesome attack, scurrying frantically from side to side, blasting the ones she couldn't avoid. In the confusion, she had dropped the reactor. She panicked, her eyes darting around the room looking for it, and she found it.

I was holding her prize in my hand, tossing it up and down gently.

Jinx growled, dodged the last desk of Raven's assault, and charged me. This time, I was more than prepared. Just before she made it to me, I threw the reactor high into the air, where it was immediately covered by a black shroud, and flew over towards my partner. Screaming in aggravation, Jinx' foot flew at my head. My silver blades slid out from where they were hidden in my sleeves, and I blocked her foot with the flat side of one of the blades, and followed through with a downward slash from the other one. She moved her leg just in time to prevent her foot from being removed, and spun gracefully away, returning with another flurry of punches and kicks. I blocked and defended patiently, awaiting my opportunity to strike back. I motioned Raven out of the room, hitting her mind with mine, telling her to keep that reactor out of Jinx' grasp.

Jinx saw the dark girl flying towards the exit from the room, and turned to take chase.

I grabbed my cell phone, punching in a string of numbers, activating my device on the security panel. A steel security door slammed shut just behind Raven, trapping Jinx in the room with me.

The pink sorceress turned, glaring at me. I winked, and snapped my cell phone shut, sliding it back into the side pocket of my black carpenter jeans.

"You're going to die for that move," she sneered.

My smile vanished, and the blades slid out of my sleeves once again.

"I highly doubt that," was my cold reply.

"DIE!" she screamed. She had jumped towards me, and was now streaking through the air, feet first.

I smiled and easily side-stepped her attack, letting her bury her feet into a pile of destroyed armor suits.

She stood, throwing armor pieces back at me, putting everything she had into the throws. I dodged and weaved, stepping around her assault of flying junk, making it look like a joke. All the time, my smirk never left my face.

It was that smile that finally got her.

"What are you still smiling about!" she screamed. "You're going to die, and yet you smile about it, are you crazy!"

I spun around an armored leg that was thrown at me, and with blinding speed was suddenly right beside her.

"And who's going to kill me?" I whispered into her ear. "Certainly not you, you can't even hit me."

As fast as I had appeared next to her, I was gone again.

"Who the HELL are you?" she yelled out.

I could hear the fear in her voice, I could feel the confidence draining from her mind. I reached out with my mind, and tipped over a coffee machine on the other side of the room. She spun, blasting hex bolts at it wildly.

I whistled from behind her, and she spun about. I was facing away from her. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the intricate design on the back of my blood red trench coat.

Jinx gasped, and felt her blood run cold in her veins. It couldn't be.

She turned in panic, and blasted an enormous hex into the wall, fleeing through the opening she had just created. She ran, terrified, up the stairs towards the roof access. She made it up three flights, when she heard the elevator ding. The door opened, and I calmly stepped out, right in the middle of her path. She let out a cry of terror, and turned around, only to have the security doors slam closed all around her. She turned to face me, and saw me putting my phone back into my pocket.

With no other choices left, she squared herself away to fight me, fighting to swallow the lump in her throat.

"Is this s-some kind of a sick joke," she stammered out. "How c-can the Titans even afford y-you?"

Her fear was running so thick I could almost taste it. She was to scared to fight properly. This would be quick.

SCHIINK

My twin daggers appeared in my hands, their blades glistening. I slowly turned to an offensive position, letting her get a good look at the silver, serrated edges. I watched her head bob and throat jump as she swallowed hard. My left hand motioned for her to bring her attack.

Jinx blinked back at me, unwilling to take the challenge that I had set before her.

"You're not going anywhere without going through me," I stated coldly.

Jinx swallowed again.

My figure never so much as twitched.

The witch finally charged, letting out a cry of desperation.

I stood stock still.

She closed the distance between us, hoping to work fast, and catch me off guard.

I waited until she was within striking distance before I so much as moved. When I made my move, there was a flash of silver and a blur of red.

A cry of pain escaped Jinx' lips. She stumbled forward, thrown off balance by my sudden attack. The sleeve fell off the left side of her outfit, and a slit of red appeared. She clutched her arm in pain, a trickle of blood leaking out from under her hand. A pink tear formed in her cat eyes, but she bravely turned to face me yet again. Her right hand glowed bright pink, and she threw the bolt at my feet, the floor exploding where it hit, but I was gone again in a flash of red.

I was behind her, standing with barely two inches separating me from her back.

"You can't even come close, why do you try?" I breathed into her ear.

The girl's eyes shot wide, and she spun around, releasing bolt after bolt of her power, but not even coming close to where I was.

I was behind her again, whispering into her ear.

"Temper, temper. Maybe if you slow down and think, you might at least come close."

She spun around again, releasing even more of her hex bolts into the side of the wall.

"You can't surprise me."

The whispering was even more disturbing then that smirk I had worn earlier.

She whirled, but held her fire this time.

And looked straight at me, her nose to the middle of my chest. Time stopped, and Jinx' heart froze.

"I know what you want," my tone was ice cold.

She stared up at me, I wasn't even looking at her, but out the window behind her. 'How could he…' she thought

"I can help you, you know," the ice was gone from my voice. It had been replaced with the warmth of a protective older brother.

The pink sorceress took her chance, and charged a huge hex bolt and flung it up at my face.

The bolt exploded on the ceiling, and pain flew through her right arm. The sleeve had been cut open, and a thin red line ran up the entire length of her forearm. Blood slowly began to escape from the new wound. A flash of silver, and a pair of black ribbons floated down to the ground. Her hair fell down around her face, released from the ties that kept them up.

The girl had been fully humiliated. She dropped to her knees, looking at the floor, her pink hair falling over her face.

"Go ahead and kill me," she sobbed. "That's what you do, isn't it."

My heart sank, a tear formed in my eye. I dropped to my knees in front of her, and lifted her head in the with two fingers. Pink tears were streaming freely down her face. Her fear washed over me like a wave. She was afraid of me, afraid of the military waiting for her outside, afraid for her very life, and the fact that she had just surrendered it to my will. I shook my head, looking her straight in the eyes.

"I told you I could help you, and the offer still stands. One day, you will be at the end of your rope. When you make it there, remember me. I'll still be there for you."

I pulled the now helpless girl close in a hug, let her cry on my shoulder for a moment, then stood to my feet, pulling her up with me.

"Get out of here," I whispered. "Use the rooftops, the troops are all watching the ground entrances."

She turned, and ran for the exit, praying I wouldn't change my mind. She had just about made it to the door when…

"JINX!"

My voice stopped her cold, and she slowly turned to face me.

I came at her in a blur, silver blades glimmering in the fluorescent lighting.

The girl's mouth opened in a scream, but nothing came out. Her entire body froze, and all she could do was watch this red vision of death come flying at her.

SHRIIIEEEEEKK

The sound of metal on metal tore into Jinx's ears. Her voice finally came through, and she screamed for everything she was worth, falling to her knees once more.

That's when it hit her. There was no pain, there was no black threatening her vision, but it felt like something had been lifted off of her shoulders. A burden that she had carried for years felt like it was instantly gone. The collar!

And then it was back. The weight fell back upon her shoulders. She gasped for breath as the headmaster's control was returned to her body.

"Now you know what I have to offer," the voice behind her spoke softly. "Remember this freedom you felt, it is yours when you are ready, but now is not the time."

She looked at me, her face contorted by the pain that the collar wracked upon her small frame. This punishment came quickly for the deactivation of her collar, even though it had only been for a matter of seconds. She knelt there on the verge of tears again, waiting for the harsh punishment to end. When she was finally able to get back to her feet, she started making her way back towards the exit I had provided for her. She looked back towards me, and I pointed my blade out the door, telling her to go. As she began limping up the stairwell, the security door slammed closed behind her. She made the trek up to the roof, snuck to the edge, and leapt to the next building. The troops on the ground didn't even notice the pink streak fly over their heads.

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I stood at the window, watching her leave.

"Take care of yourself," I whispered to myself, "my sister."

I turned with a jerk to walk out, my coat billowing out behind me.

End Chapter 5