Distortion Chapter 5

Yeah. Randy was a plot element. I like to think that just because this story will end with a paring of Jinx and Raven that other possible love interests don't just conveniently all fall into a near by crater never to be seen again. ;

She didn't question it. Why should she? There were enough people on the planet so that it was likely happening every minute of the day if not more frequently. She tried not to think of its cause. People didn't dwell on this sort of thing. The fact was that Jinx was her friend now. She was her best friend to tell the truth.

All her memories of Jinx did come back and she was a bit dismayed by the fact that virtually all of them were of them at odds. It was nothing personal. Jinx had been on the wrong side. The matter that bothered her most was the fact that she hadn't a shred of understanding for Jinx when she had been an enemy. If not for Kid Flash and his willingness to look through the deeds, would this friendship have been possible?

Although it hadn't come up, Raven also remembered Jinx's confession that she was gay. Jinx's sexual preference had no influence on the way Raven's feelings about Jinx.

After frequent run-ins during their field assignments, Jinx would one way or another end up in Raven's company and it was a company Raven, she had to admit, enjoyed. Jinx was zany but more intellectual than Beast Boy. She was full of spirit. She had a taste for the darker often misunderstood elements of life like the beauty in the serenity of a field at night. She appreciated things that would otherwise scare people away. She was much like Raven, but still plenty of someone else and to be honest, who wanted to be best friends with a clone of them self?

"There's no food in here," Jinx said closing a cupboard.

"Guess we are ordering out." Raven said.

"Again? I'm sick of fast food. I'm gonna get fat." Jinx said ruefully patting her stomach.

"No choice. Neither of us can cook."

"Isn't that crazy? We're both chicks! What is the world coming to?"

"Equality of the sexes?"

Jinx snickered. "Is that what they really had in mind when they gave us equal rights?"

"Yes perhaps they hoped we'd starve," Rave said. Jinx snickered.

Beast Boy strolled into the living quarters carrying a DVD case.

"DUDE-ets.! I finally found it! I've been looking everywhere for this. You have to see this." Beast Boy said coming into the kitchen.

"Can he cook?" Jinx asked Raven.

"Maybe . . ." Raven replied. Beast Boy didn't seem to hear them. He was ranting about his game.

" . . . Legacy of Kain Anthology. It's every title re-mastered . . . why are you two looking at me like that?"

So a bargain was stuck. Beast Boy cooked for the girls and Raven promised to at least watch the game which she actually did find interesting. It was one of the most original takes on Vampires she had ever seen and the convoluted story kept her glued to her seat. She couldn't play it however, and Jinx wasn't much better so they ended up watching Beast Boy play for hours. By 12am they had only gotten about half way through the game and Beast Boy wanted to go to sleep. Raven, finding herself to impatient to wait took the controller and tried to pick up where the green teen left off. She died many miserable deaths with in only a matter of minutes. Poor Raziel.

"Why didn't they just make it into a cinematic collection?" Raven close to pouted dropping the controller.

"For lazy and sorry a$$ gamers like you?" Jinx asked.

"In essence . . . yes." Raven grumbled.

"Come on Raven. You know if you want something you always have to fight for it!"

Jinx loved Raven like a sister. Though she had never seriously considered having siblings and she was sure if she ever had, she would have imagined one being older than her and better at the trades which she had to used to stay alive such as stealing. She realized now that she would have been better off imagining an older sibling that would have been a better role model.

Jinx picked up the controller and did marginally better than Raven for a time but too eventually died.

"God. Can't cook. Can't game. I guess I can still sing though. Some one save me if you will and take awayyyyyyyy all these pills!" Jinx sang as she tired to run Raziel past the various enemies. They hunted him down and killed him for the umpteenth time.

"Ok. I give up." Jinx said tossing the controller on the floor. She stood, took four steps towards the couch and flopped down on it.

"Alright. Guess I'll turn in too." Raven said turning off the game console and the TV. "Good night Jinx." Raven said to the slumbering form on the couch.

"Mhm hmm nm." came from the pink haired head face down on the couch.

"Whatever you said it was charming I'm sure," Raven said as she left for her room. Jinx snickered.

They shot down the street like the bullets they had fired at their pursuers. Their hearts were pounding as their sneakers pounded the pavement on the way to freedom.

"Halt!" a voice commanded. In an instant a young mage was floating inches off the ground in front of them. Both men tried to stop but only managed to flay their arms wildly before slamming into a black magic shield. One fired several shots at the shield only to watch them ricochet off. The other man got up and started running again.

"I got him." Jinx shouted. She sprung off the roof of a near by car and fell in place behind the man. Jinx was not only able to catch up to him, but she also ran past and whirled to face him with a predatory grin. He raised his gun but before he even finished aiming it she had slammed the heel of palm into his inner wrist and smacked his hand sending the gun flying into his face.

She followed up with a couple strikes to the chest and stomach until the man doubled over.

Raven floated to Jinx with the other man enveloped in her magic and dropped him next to the one Jinx had taken out.

"Nice," Raven said. Jinx made a courtesy. Raven contacted the police with her Titans communicator and they waited with the men until their ride arrived.

"I'll never get use to that," Jinx said as she and Raven walked away from the scene.

"What?"

"The police showing up after I had something to do with a ruckus, and then leaving with out me."

"Feeling left out?" Raven asked her.

"Yeah!" Jinx sniffled and pretended to wipe away imaginary tears, "What are you up to today sister?" Jinx asked grinning and throwing an arm over Raven's shoulder as they walked. Raven couldn't explain why but she liked Jinx at this close proximity. She even liked the little title she had just placed on her.

"Nothing I can't do tomorrow . . ." Raven answered truthfully.

"Good. Want to come with me?"

"Where are you going?" Raven asked.

"Just to get some . . ." Jinx paused in front of a shop. Raven stood next to her and read the sign. "Art Supplies."

"Never seen this before. I usually have to go all they way-" Jinx cut herself off when she realized Raven was looking at her. "What?"

"You draw?"

"Uh uh . . ." Jinx said back peddling and wishing to change the subject. Raven raised a brow.

"Well do you or not?" Raven asked.

"Yeah but I'm not really good and I'd rather no one know . . ." Jinx said scratching the back of her arm.

"So are you coming?" Raven asked already in the store. Jinx followed. They spent thirty minutes in there. Jinx stalked the isles making a wish list for when she had more money. She purchased a couple couple paint brushes and a drawing pad.

As they existed, a man snatched Raven's hand. She trained an annoyed glare on him.

"Ah. No need to rush my dear. If you can not wait to see what the future has in store, why not let a talented man such as myself tell you?"

"Fortune teller, huh?" Raven said. Raven squatted to stare the man in his tanned face. She smirked. "So you do have little magic. I can sense it. Well fortune teller, I like to make my own fate." Raven stood and she and Jinx walked away.

"A little magic?" Mumbo Jumbo muttered. He wasn't sure if he should be proud he had restrained his abilities so much that she didn't recognize him or insulted that he had so little magic to restrain.

The disguised super villain licked his index finger and pointed toward the sky with it.

"Wind conditions are not favorable. Where's the distortion Tribe promised? Nothing is changing!"

"Crap. See what ya did? I only have enough for this now," Jinx said showing Raven a coffin keychain. She pressed the button on the back and it started laughing.

"Jinx . . . do you even have a car?"

"What have I told you about logic?" Jinx snapped at her.

"What were you going to get originally?" Raven asked.

"Oh just some tops."

"Here," Raven said handing Jinx forty bucks.

"That's ok." Jinx said not accepting it.

"Not its not. Take it."

"No!"

"We are not arguing about this."

"Fine. I'll give it back."

"Don't."

"God. Dealing with you straight arrow types!" Jinx said pretending to be distressed.

Amber stalked the fragmented landforms that floated carelessly in the black sky. Everything was in its place. Much to her preference. All but that box that she hadn't bothered to look at for the last week. If anything about the box had changed, she would feel it. Everything else was . . .

"Hmm." Amber stopped. A girl was in her path. It was Fuchsia. The pink garbed Raven was sitting on the ground humming and smiling. Her face was flushed. Amber squatted down to stare at the figment of Ravens' happiness more closely. It was strange. This was the way Fuchsia acted when ever a man had caught Raven's interest in a romantic way but with two major differences. Usually Fuchsia erected a statue of the male and two, Raven hadn't taken any interest in any males recently.

"Why do we still sleep alone after all this time? Why does Jinx sleep on the couch? She could share our bed . . ." Fuchsia said looking gingerly at Amber. Amber's eyes doubled in size.

"You can't be suggesting-!" Amber said bolting up, staring and stepping back.

"She's so . . . I like when we are around her. Makes me feel warm."

"I-I disapprove." Amber said sharply turning away from the other figment and squeezing her eyes shut. She could feel Fuchsia's desire like invisible arms moving out in waves and boring into her. She had witnessed this used on Raven many times. It wasn't Fuchsia's fault. This was her reason for existing after all. Just as It is Amber's reason to fight any radical changes in Raven's logic.

"Good thing it's not completely up to you." Fuchsia said in a singsong voice.

Then Amber felt it. Her head snapped up and instantly she could see the box with the image of Randy Kandel. It was many rock forms away but distance did not truly exist in this place. The box shattered and then Amber, the other figments and Raven herself remembered Randy.

Jinx was roused at some foreign hour by a scratching noise. It sounded like someone rubbing a fork against a plate. She sqeezed her eyes shut hopping that eventually it would stop. When it didn't, she shot up and looked in the direction it was coming from. In the kitchen was the silhouette of something that sent a shiver down her spine. It was buff but lean, especially in the upper body. She wanted to say it was Cyborg but the limbs were much thinner and the movement much too fluid. It stopped the scrapping sound and it's head snapped from left to right as if it had only know realized it was not alone.

She was suddenly overwhelmed by fear. So much so that she stood stock still on the couch to afraid to sit down and possibly disappear in the shadows. The creature whirled around to face her and in an instant, it launched itself at her. She cried out and began to summon a hex bolt but it had already closed in. It grabbed her wrists and pinned them to the couch. She kicked it twice, the once more as hard as she could. The creature fell to the ground but was lumbering back to its feet in seconds. Jinx was now on the shoulder of the couch releasing a hex bolt from her hands. It hit the beast in the head but had no effect.

"What?" she hurriedly tried again. And again. The creature was glaring at her now. It launched for her again. She hopped off the couch and started running for the door. It was blocked as Cyborg came into the room. She skidded to a stop and turned to face the creature only to find nothing. Nothing at all.

"What's a matter?" Cyborg asked. Jinx barely heard him. She was looking in every corner of the room for the creature she had just been fighting.

"Jinx? I heard a commotion." Cyborg started.

"Yeah. There was this-"

Just then, the power went out. Not long after that all the other Titans made there way into the living quarters. All except Raven.

"Well that's telling." Robin said.

"What?" Jinx was the only one who seemed lost by his comment.

"Something like this happened once before. Monsters that you just can't fight." Cyborg said.

"Are you freaking serious? Raven's doing this?" Jinx asked.

The other Titans were in silent agreement.

"But if she's doing it again, why doesn't she just do what she did last time?" Beast Boy asked.

"We won't know the answer to that until we find her," as Robin finished that sentence the length of the hallway leading to their rooms multiplied by several yards. Robin started running only to find that no matter how fast he ran he never got any closer to the intersection.

"This is going to be fun," Cyborg said.

"You look like you're on a treadmill." Jinx commented.

Robin stopped running and slapped one sharp end of a Birderang into the ground. The carpet rose up like a snake and stuck out at Robin. He froze it with an ice bomb and shattered it with a kick. The hallway returned to normal.

"Let's go Titans!" Robin shouted and the other teens fell in line behind him. As soon as they reached the intersection they were confronted by an army of shadowy soldiers. The Titans attacked them.

Jinx blasted one with a hex bolt and again there was no effect. She frowned and started assaulting it with kicks and punches.

At first the Titans were moving through the group. But the incapacitated soldiers they left in there wake began to rise. Some even doubled becoming two soldiers. Now the Titans were surrounded in a narrow hallway.

"I think we are doing this wrong. Didn't you guys see 300?" Beast Boy cried. After a minute more of struggle the creatures began running into each other. The all became one solid from. This form became a torrent of black water that washed the teens all the way back into the living quarters.

"She is kicking our collective $$." Jinx said after gasping for air.

There was a loud rumbling then. The ground was beginning to shake. The Titans soon realized that the ground was alive. The rumbling was thousands of feet scurrying towards them. The clamping of sharp teeth was that of a rat swarm.

"High Ground!" Robin called. Starfire lifted him off they ground and flew for the window. Beast Boy turned into a pterodactyl and grabbed Cyborg. Jinx hopped on his back. As they flew for the large windows of the tower several black rivers of smoke traveled across the glass wall and met in the center. It call converged to form a large demon man. He was taller than Cyborg and his face was all black except for four large red eyes.

His large arm shot out and backhanded Starfire and Robin. They went reeling into a wall. It struck down Cyborg, Beast Boy and Jinx as well. The rats swarmed over the fallen Titans. The Titans struggled in vain as the rats covered them and changed from black rodents to chains.

Jinx was levitated several inches off the ground. She was then brought by unseen forces to stand beside the demon man who turned to her with and almost caring gaze.

"Dude . . . ?" Beast Boy said.

"What are you going to do with her?!" Robin shouted at the creature as he struggled in his bonds.

The creature looked at him with what they thought might be annoyance then back to Jinx. Jinx was set down on her feet but still bound with her wrists behind her. A black magic set over the pink haired girl and she whimpered in fear. Was this it? Was she going to be devoured by it? She felt with her heart racing the substance racing over her upper body but no pain yet. She opened one eye slowly to see her demise but the magic was still just racing back and forth over her torso. When it stopped her out fit had been replaced with a new one. A strange one. A white one. A wedding dress!

"Oh, hell no!" Jinx said struggling with all her might. "Even if you were human you still wouldn't be my type," she almost laughed despite the immense fear this creature was building in her.

It became angry. The temperature in the room almost doubled. Jinx's white dress became pitch black. The creature loomed over her. In its four eyes Jinx was sure she could almost see as much pain as anger. Then it turned away from her and its head dropped in self pity.

"Is it just me or is this getting reaaaaaaaly weird?" Beast Boy asked.

Should she try to console it Jinx wondered. It seemed insane. This was some kind of demon. No logic she had ever possessed would have convinced her that this would work. She didn't get to try however. The creature fell to one knee. The shackles on all the teens became slack. It let another knee hit the floor and the shackles disappeared as did the rats. All evidence of its presence began to fade from the room. Robin rushed toward the creature preparing to strike it down with his staff.

"Wait!" Jinx said standing over the creature. It had shrunk. It was now just figure in a cowl. It was Raven.

"This is taking to long. They control too much of the city," Mumbo Jumbo said. "That potion doesn't even seem to be working."

Control Freak spun in his office chair several times.

"I don't like this idea anyway. This Tribe . . ." Mumbo Jumbo said looking pensively into nothing.

"What we need . . . is an inside man . . . or woman," Control Freak said seeming not to have noticed his partners growing dissent.

"What do you have in mind?"

"Think. We know someone who was on our side but is now on there side right?" Control Freak said.

"Jinx? She seems pretty comfy in her new role." Mumbo Jumbo said.

"Pfft! There has got to be something we can use." Control Freak said. He whirled to face this computer and began typing. "Let's just ask our friend Mr. Classified files."