A/N: Why am I writing cliffhangers at the end of every chapter? Even I do not know.

A bit shorter chapter as we start to near the end of the fic. Yes, ladies and gents, you heard me. We're almost done.


Hour Four (Part One)


Madame Rouge looked like a normal Supervillianess at first glance. Too much make-up, too tight clothing, and a permanent sneer are almost pre-requisite of the any villainess. Kid Flash glanced at Jinx's face and wondered if while in costume she wore too much make-up (yes), too tight clothing (no), and a permanent sneer (yes).

With a small rush of sound, Kid Flash was back in the booth beside Robin and a quickly awakening Speedy. The three boys pulled the teen archer off the table and onto the booth and tried to remain as out of attention as they could. This was very much in opposite of everyone else in the room.

The villains poured out of their hiding places and into the light. Most were silent with awe of the major Baddies that they were now in the presence of and could only stand and gaze in wait. A few, Jinx and Cheshire amongst then, stood near the front of the now large crowd. They didn't speak but waited expectedly, their silence was edged with wise fear, however. At her side, Mammoth stood like a large sentinel. Hovering above, Gizmo whizzed back and forth in a jet pack, his head gleaming almost as much as his eyes as every few seconds he dipped lower and said something to Mammoth, who only nodded and swatted at the boy like he was an irritating fly.

Cheshire blended into the shadows Mammoth cast and was almost invisible in the crowd, the way she liked it.

There was a third group in the crowd, and they too were near the front. They pushed at each other, jockeying to gain the attention of the Society members freshly arrived. These were the stupid people, the ones least likely to get into the Society. They were juvenile adrenaline junkies into this life more for the rushes it provided them than the lack of morality that plagued villains.

That is the key difference between true villains and poseurs. Villains do not get a rush from "being bad". They simply are; they know no other way to be. Poseurs get the rush because they know the difference, they know what they're not supposed to do and find the idea of getting caught or doing it exciting.

The only good thing about being so obviously out of place in the Underworld of Villainy is that most don't last long. They want too much attention, do things too grand in scheme, and get caught quickly. True villains know their place in society. They operate in the shadows and under the radar.

Well, most of the time they do anyways.

"Greetings, children," a large French-accented voice boomed into the cavernous room. A large ape crept forward and stared out over the crowd. He spoke again, startling most who'd been whispering into silence. "I've invited you all here for a very important reason, one that will define your careers within the world."

Madame Rouge stood silently at his side and Jinx's eyes widened as she studied the woman. The mercenary was everything Jinx had always wanted to be. She was cool, calm, and untouchable. She'd never been caught, never been humiliated by the few teammates she'd worked with for any period of time. Her abilities were legend and her name was said with fear.

Jinx wanted that. She wanted the fear, the awe, the aloofness of it. She wanted to be on Most Wanted lists in dozens of countries. It was a place to belong. Jinx had spent most of her life at H.I.V.E. It was gone now and she'd spent much of the past few months trying to figure out where her life was going. The plan had always been that she'd go solo for a few years. Make a name for herself before returning to be a teacher at H.I.V.E. It was the only home she'd ever had.

She sneered at the wave of nostalgia and the memories it provoked. She had no time to play the teacher anymore and no will. She was ready to move up to the big leagues.

"As you know," Monsieur Mallah started, "we're on a recruitment drive of sorts. We're here to offer some of you a place within the Society. The rest of you shall receive a task of sorts. Dependent on that is whether or not you're offered a place." The large ape turned glaring eyes on several people in the crowd. "Some of you won't even be offered that. We have no patience for amateurs or children. The Society is for the elite. You must prove that to us if you want even a hope of a future. If you don't think you're capable of being the best, leave now and never return."

From the front of the crowd, several garishly costumed "villains" tottered on their feet. Jinx wasn't surprised by those doubting whether or not they wanted this. The weak ones, the "friendly" ones, the short-sighted ones; all of them were easily picked out in the crowd. Finally, two of them started away from the crowd, heading for the stairs. Cold, calculating eyes watched the two of them in such a threatening manner that within seconds both had taken off running and were out of sight.

A third and fourth didn't even try walking, but just ran through the crowd and away from this life for good.

Robin studied the two Villains standing there and surreptitiously began taking pictures. He, of course, knew exactly who the two were but wanted some documentation for when the case went to court. Batman had always trained Robin to document all manners of evidence. Though it had once been tricky for the police to use evidence gathered by a civilian, even a Hero, nowadays most courts accepted the irrefutable evidence, at least.

Kid Flash leaned into Red X's side and whisper-asked, "Why does Jinx look so happy?"

Red rolled his eyes but replied, "She looks up to Madame Rouge. She's like a mentor for her."

Kid quirked an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Pssht, I don't know," Red replied with a scoffing sound. "I could think of way hotter villainesses for her to look up to."

Kid shrugged and looked over at Speedy, who at least had his eyes open now. "Are you okay?"

"Five more minutes, Ollie..." the boy muttered under his breath before slumping down and slamming his head into the table. The three boys glanced at their friend before turning back to the proceedings.

Monsieur Mallah was speaking again.

"As you know, when the Society became active again a few months ago we awakened to find we had more enemies than before. Not only was the Doom Patrol and the Justice League snapping at our necks like dogs to a bone, we now had the Teen Titans to contend with." The ape managed to pack just the right amount of incredulity into the word "teen" to make sure everyone knew he found it ridiculous.

The crowd began to shift restlessly. All of them had encountered the formidable team of teen Heroes in their pasts and most didn't look forward to it. The Titans had that nasty habit of winning.

"That's where you come in, young ones!" Mallah announced grandly. "Those of you not offered a position with us tonight have the task of eliminating our pest problem."

"What do you mean?" The large villainess Rock asked, ignoring the shushing of her teammates as she did so.

"The task for those of you who want into the Society is to bring us a Titan," Madame Rouge explained in her own accented voice. Her half-opened eyes managed to be menacing even as she slowly yawned.

"There are only five of them," someone yelled from the back, "and dozens of us!"

Mallah gestured for Rouge to remain quiet as he explained. "Not just the five original Titans. We'd like you to capture all of the Teen Titans. The Titans East, the ones running around the world over. All of them."

Several people took off running for the exit, not willing to even listen to their "task" any longer. Even more began to shift uncomfortably. Some began to laugh hysterically and were either held up by friends or let fell to the floor.

Mallah and Rouge seemed surprised by this reaction and glanced at each other. The sight made Rouge angry and her face contorted as she restrained the urge to lash out and strike down several impetuously jeering teens. Mallah was merely confused.

"Do you not welcome the chance for vengeance on your enemies?"

This made even more in the crowd break out into laughter.

Finally, Jinx herself had had enough of the hilarity and made her way up the small set of steps to stand beside Mallah. "Alive or dead?"

Mallah straightened up to his full height. "Excuse me?"

She smirked. "Do you want the Titans alive or dead?"

Kid Flash choked on the sip of water he'd been taking. "What'd she just say?"

The other immediately shushed him.

All laughter stopped.

Mallah's amusement showed clearly in his eyes, or so it seemed to Jinx. "We'd prefer alive, but we'll take dead."

Jinx nodded. "Alright, then." She stuck out her hand and ignored the squirm of fear at seeing her small hand disappear into Mallah's encompassing hand (paw?). When she turned to return to her team, both the Villains watched her with interest, the crowd watched her with awe and fear, and the Titans watched with shock.

Speedy was finally coherent enough to speak.

"That bitch is hardcore."