Thanks for your patience! Here's another chapter, and hopefully this will clear up some confusion.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 5: Pink Fury
The same thought ran through all five Titans' minds upon seeing the furious pink-haired villain:
'Uh oh.'
Jinx was carrying what looked like bags of groceries, but had dropped them upon seeing the scarred apartment building. Fists clenched and face red, Jinx stomped up to them with a look ready to kill. Frantically, Cyborg waved his hands and attempted to calm down the now-irate goth.
"Wait, Jinx! Calm down, we can explain!" Cyborg said desperately. Jinx stopped right in his face and pointed a threatening finger at him.
"You're damn right you're going to explain!" she yelled. "Now you have thirty seconds to tell me why my apartment's been turned into World War II before I start dismantling you piece by piece!"
Off to the side, Beast Boy gave a small snigger.
"The same goes for you, you little vomit stain!" Jinx yelled, causing him to shut up immediately. "And I don't know who you are," she said to the five mages, "But you'd better hope you had nothing to do with this! You don't want to get on my bad side!" Evad had by now hidden behind Eutonos, hoping to not be seen.
"Jinx, please, just calm down!" Robin said calmly, trying to hide the fact that he too was nervous. "This was all an accident, we can explain everything if you just give us a little time!"
"Well, I'm eager to hear this. Explain away, bird boy," Jinx said looking daggers at him.
The gothic villain stood there with arms folded and foot tapping as Robin carefully explained what had just happened.
"So, who did this, then?" Jinx asked once he was done. All nine sets of eyes looked around to find the gray-cloaked mage, Evad. The mage was still hiding behind Eutonos, who grabbed him and forced him to step forward. Now exposed, he started blushing furiously and looked down in embarrassment.
"Um…I'm sorry?" he choked. Jinx looked at the now-sweating mage passively.
"Now, Jinx, don't doing anything hasty," Cyborg began nervously, but she didn't listen. The pink-haired villain raised a hand and prepared to unleash a torrent of her pink energy upon the poor mage. "Jinx, wait!" Cyborg said again, but she still didn't listen. The only thing that stopped her was Cyborg's hand shooting out and grabbing her arm before she could strike.
"Let go of me, Sparky," she said menacingly, looking him in the eye.
"Jinx please, don't do anything foolish," Cyborg said.
"This little pinhead just ruined my apartment, and you expect me to just let it go?!" she asked furiously.
"No, I'm not saying that, but don't do something you might regret – something that might land you in jail again." Cyborg emphasized the last part.
Jinx looked around her. All five Titans were there, and despite her help in getting rid of the Brotherhood of Evil, Jinx had no doubt Robin would send her to jail if she purposely hurt someone now.
Taking a deep breath and clenching her fists, she glared at the intimidated wind mage. "You're lucky they saved your butt this time." Evad gave a sigh of relief, having just dodged a pink bullet.
"Um, Eutonos," Robin said to the tall earthmover. "We can't just let this go, though. Something has to be done."
"Don't worry, I'll take care of him," he replied, causing Evad to gulp nervously. This just wasn't his day.
"Well, that's fine and dandy, but my apartment is still a huge hole now!" Jinx said.
"Are you sure your room got obliterated? I mean, you haven't been inside yet," Cyborg said.
"I've been living here long enough to know where my room is, genius," she said.
"Well, we should go and check it out anyway to see just how damaged it is," Robin suggested.
"Whatever," Jinx said. She and Robin left to survey the damage. When the got back, Jinx still looked as angry as she had been.
"Well, an entire wall of her apartment's blown away, not to mention damage that's been done to adjacent rooms." Robin said. "There's no way she can live in it now."
Jinx sighed. "Well, guess that's what I get for getting an apartment on the second floor," she said.
"Jinx, we're really sorry about this," Robin said. He couldn't believe this. Never would he have dreamed he'd actually have to apologize to a villain for causing trouble.
"You'd better be," Jinx said. She couldn't get over the irony. She had found a cheap place to stay only to have it obliterated by the very people who were once her enemies.
"Jinx, we're really sorry," Cyborg repeated. "Look, if you want, we can let you stay with us until you can get a new apartment." Yet even more irony, considering their conversation just yesterday.
Jinx gave him an annoyed glare. "Well, I guess I'll have to since I got nowhere else to go now. That is, if the boy blunder doesn't have any problems with it."
"No Jinx, we'll let you stay as long as you need," Robin said.
"And you," she said turning to Evad. "Don't think this means this is over." By this time, Evad looked like he shrunk a good foot and a half.
"Well, we'd better get going. We're going to have to file a report with the police, too," Robin said. "In the meantime, Starfire and Raven, why don't you help Jinx move her stuff out?" The two nodded and flew off to assist Jinx.
"And as for you," Robin said, turning to the five newcomers, all of whom looked rather embarrassed. "I think you'd better explain exactly who you are and why you're here."
"We'll tell you everything, we promise," Eutonos assured him.
"Well, if what you say is true we can't really arrest you. Tell you what, we'll take you back to the tower and you can tell us there, alright?"
The green-cloaked earthmover nodded. "Very well. In the meantime," he turned to Evad and handed him his axe. "Start running. Lekim, keep pace." Evad groaned, lifted the axe over his head, and started running in wide circles around the street. The lightning mage flew close behind him, preparing to give him a shock if he slowed.
Thanks to Raven's powers and Starfire's strength, it only took a few minutes to get all of Jinx's stuff out. Even after a few minutes, Evad started to get tired and was now starting to pant and sweat.
"I can transport this all back to the tower," Raven said. Robin nodded in approval.
"Let's go, team. Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy, why don't you fly back to the tower and let the two fliers follow you? Cyborg, you can let the others ride in your T-Car."
"Sure. I'll jut put the stuff in the front seat in the trunk," Cyborg said.
"Oh, now he can afford to move that stuff," Beast Boy remarked sarcastically.
"I'll stay behind to file a report with the police," Robin said.
"How far away is this tower, anyway?" Phanos, the fire sorcerer asked.
"A good several miles. Don't worry; it'll only take a few minutes to get there," Cyborg said.
"A few miles in a few minutes? That's funny," the water mage laughed.
"You obviously haven't met my baby here, then," Cyborg said, patting his car.
"What is that?" Eutonos asked.
"This is my car: second-place winner of Auto Monthly Magazine's Car of the Year contest! Course, the Bat-mobile always wins out," he said grumpily. The others stared at him blankly, not knowing what a car was.
"By the way, what kind of armor is that?" the water mage asked him. "I've never seen anything like that before."
Cyborg patted his metal chest. "This ain't armor, this is part of me."
"What? Are you serious? Are you some kind of half-golem?"
"A what?" Cyborg asked. "Naw man, I'm a cyborg." The others merely stared blankly back at him again. Cyborg shook his head and said, "I'll explain later. Just get in. Jinx, you ready?"
Jinx rolled her eyes. "Sure." She walked over to climb into the T-Car. Meanwhile, after uttering her mantra, Raven surrounded Jinx's stuff in a bubble of black energy and sent it to the tower.
"Alright, let us go, yes?" Starfire said cheerfully. Meanwhile, Evad was still running and by now looked as though his arms would fall off. Not spotting a pothole, he tripped and fell flat on his face.
"Evad, you can stop now," the earthmover called, not noticing that he was now prostrate. "You can finish up later."
A short while later, Cyborg was driving Jinx and the three newcomers back to the tower.
"Again, I'm really sorry about this, Jinx," Cyborg said apologetically. Jinx rolled her eyes and stared out the window.
"Why should you be sorry? You didn't wreck my apartment. They did."
"And for that I'm very sorry, miss," the earthmover apologized. He opened his mouth to speak again, but Jinx cut him off.
"Just don't. I really don't want to talk about it right now," she said.
"But Jinx," Cyborg said. "How come you didn't tell me you were living in that dump? Heck, if I knew you were living there, I'd have forced you to come and stay with us."
Jinx sighed. "Like I said, my pride wouldn't let me come crying to your doorstep looking for shelter."
"Pride?" Cyborg asked with a laugh. "You call living in one of the slummiest parts of the city pride?"
Jinx scowled at him. "Look Cy, I really don't need you lecturing me, okay?"
"I'm not lecturing you, I'm just looking out for your dignity, that's all," Cyborg said. "I'm just saying a gal like you shouldn't be forced to live in a dump, especially when she has friends who'd be more than happy to give her a better place to stay."
"Whatever," Jinx scoffed. "But…thanks, Cy," she added.
Cyborg gave her a smile from the driver's seat. "Anytime."
Up in the sky, Raven, Starfire, an eagle Beast Boy, Evad, and his brother Lekim were flying back to the tower. After a brief trip, the five of them landed on the roof of the large T overlooking the bay. The four touched down gently, while the lightning bolt Lekim was holding onto lowered him to the ground before dissipating.
"That's so cool," Beast Boy said. "Do you fly like that all the time?"
"Usually only for long distances," the indigo sorcerer said. "It's easier that way."
"So, you ride the lightning huh?" Beast Boy said with a chuckle.
"I don't get it," he said.
Beast Boy gave another snicker. "Oh, heh, just a joke. I'll explain later."
"Wow, this is amazing!" Evad remarked. "I've never seen a city as big as this! And look at the size of those towers! Those must take decades to build!"
"Actually, it takes usually only a few years," Beast Boy said proudly. "By the way, did that red guy say you two were brothers?"
The two nodded. "Yes, Evad's my younger brother by two years," the lightning mage said.
"By the way, that's some great power you got there," Evad said. "I don't think I've ever met a shape shifter before!"
"Why, thanks! And take a good look, cause you'll probably never meet another one like this!" Beast Boy said grinning.
"As if you need something else to feed your ego," Raven remarked as she opened the door to exit the roof. After she left, the two newcomers looked at Starfire and Beast Boy curiously.
"Rather gloomy, isn't she?" Evad asked.
"Yeah, but don't worry about her. Raven's a nice person really, just not the most cheerful of people," Beast Boy said.
"Yes, and she does not take very kindly to strangers all the time," Starfire said sadly. "But come, I must show you two around the tower!"
"Alright!" they both said excitedly, the hearts reappearing in their eyes. Oblivious, Starfire lead them off the roof with Beast Boy close behind.
Meanwhile, Raven had just gotten to her room and stopped outside the door. Taking out her communicator, she pressed a button and talked into the receiver. "Robin, we're all at the tower. Cyborg and the others haven't arrived yet."
Robin's image appeared on the small screen. "Okay. I'm going to be here a few more minutes. We'll help move Jinx in, then get this thing straightened out with the newcomers."
"Alright," Raven replied.
"Oh, and just keep an eye on the new guys, alright? I'm not sure I trust them just yet."
"Will do."
"Okay. Robin out." The leader's face disappeared from the screen. Now with that out of the way, Raven opened her door and entered her familiar dark habitat. Setting her communicator on her dresser, she decided now would be a good time to do the thing she'd been meaning to do for some time. The half-demon opened one of her drawers and pulled out a familiar looking mirror. Taking a deep breath, Raven looked straight into it and uttered her chant.
"Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos." Not two seconds later, a hand popped out of the mirror, grabbed Raven, and pulled her in.
After a rather unpleasant trip, Raven found herself looking upon a familiar sight. Before her was a tall gateway under a dark sky. Several dark ravens with red eyes were fluttering around, though ever since her father's defeat they only had one set of eyes instead of two. Cautiously, Raven walked forward and stepped through the portal. When at last she was through, Raven's eyes took in a flowery landscape under a bright pink sky. A heavy, flowery scent invaded Raven's nostrils and made her cringe.
"Oh, hey, Rae-Rae!" a very happy voice called. The only thing that came out of Raven in response was a loud groan. She turned her head to see a pink-cloaked version of herself come skipping toward her.
"Why does it always have to be you first?" Raven asked with a sigh.
"Oh Rae-Rae, you're so silly! What's up? It's been a long time since you've been here!" she asked in her annoyingly cheerful tone.
"Look Happy, I really don't have any time to talk," Raven said. "Where are the others? I need to see them. And for the last time, it's Raven!" As if Beast Boy wasn't bad enough, her own emotion called her something that annoyed her even more!
Happy nodded eagerly and motioned for Raven to follow her. Raven followed closely, trying not to breath in the heavy fumes. She'd always hated the way Happy scented her domain. It smelled, as Beast Boy put it, like the land air fresheners came from. After a few minutes of walking, Raven and Happy came to another gateway and stepped through.
Off in another corner of her mind, Raven's primary emotions were all gathered in Wisdom's domain. The yellow-cloaked knowledge and brown-cloaked wisdom both were standing next to each other, arguing. Timid sat against a rock, arms wrapped around her knees and head lowered, looking depressed as usual. Rude was leaning against a tree, rolling her eyes and looking as if she was bored with the whole thing. Rage was there too, her red eyes looking angrily at everyone else. She too no longer had two sets of eyes. After her father's defeat, Rage had weakened considerably, but she still needed to be chained for safety.
"These five newcomers are all very peculiar. They obviously came from another place, but I do not know if we can trust them," Knowledge said.
"We must not be too hasty to judge them yet, Knowledge," Wisdom pointed out. "We did the same thing with Terra. While she did indeed end up betraying us, it's not fair to do it with every stranger we meet. So far, they do not seem malicious in any way."
"Well, this cannot be good. I don't doubt we dreamed of their arrival beforehand," Knowledge said about the five mages. "If that dream was fulfilled, what about the other one?"
"Then we must be on our guard. Anything could happen, we just have to be ready for it," Wisdom said.
"I don't like them. They scare me," Timid said quietly.
"What do you others think?" Knowledge asked. Out of the corner of her bespectacled eyes, she spotted Affection lying flat on her stomach on the soft grass. She had her chin propped up on one hand while the other traced circles on the ground. The purple-cloaked emotion sighed softly and had a wistful look in her eyes.
"He gave us flowers," she said softly.
"Affection, are you still thinking about that?" Knowledge asked. "We have more important things to worry about!"
The emotion gave a dreamy sigh and smiled. "Someone out there loves us."
"Oh listen to yourself!" Rage yelled. "You make me sick, you know that? You with your stupid lovey-dovey bullcrap! You're lucky I don't come over there and strangle you right now!" Affection paid her no heed and continued to trace circles in the grass.
"Be nice, Rage," Brave said as she appeared. "Sorry I'm late, I just finished a fight."
"Good. Now where's happy?" Wisdom asked.
"Hey guys!" the cheerful emotion called as she walked toward the group. "Sorry I'm late. But look, Raven's come to visit!"
"Hello, Raven," Knowledge said.
"Greetings," said Wisdom. "It's a good thing you're here. We need to talk."
Rude burped loudly. "Sup, Rae?"
"Hey Raven!" Brave shouted. "Wanna spar?"
Raven shook her head waved her hands to silence the others. "Look, I don't have much time here! I just need to speak with all of you for a moment, okay?"
"Well, go ahead then," Wisdom said. "We'll try to help you any way we can."
Raven sighed and rubbed her temples. "Look, I don't know what's been going on, but I've been feeling strange lately."
"Ah yes, I was wondering when you'd ask about that," Wisdom said.
Raven looked at her coldly. "You knew about this?"
"Well, I am part of you, after all."
Raven shook her head. "Whatever. Look, as I said, there's this feeling I've been getting, and I don't know what it is. So I want to know right now – which one of you is responsible?" All eight emotions looked at her, puzzled.
"Which feeling would this be?" Knowledge asked. "Can you describe it?"
Raven moaned again. "It's…it's hard to describe. I've never felt anything like it before. It's like this sensation I get in my chest, and it almost seems to spread to the rest of me. I got it today when…" she paused. "…when I talked to Beast Boy."
Affection giggled slightly, stood up, and walked over to Raven.
"That'd be me," she cooed.
Raven glared at her. "You? You're the one responsible?" Affection nodded. "Well, you'd better stop now. Because whatever you're doing, I don't like it."
"But Raven, I'm just a part of you! I can't stop myself from feeling any more than you can," Affection said.
"Well at least you could tell me what it is and what's causing this feeling!" Raven said angrily. "In case you didn't notice, I'm pretty confused here, and it's annoying me to no end! And don't tell me it's just affection, because I've felt it for all my teammates before and not felt this way. So what is it, Affection?"
The emotion giggled again. "That's not my name any more, Raven!"
"What? You have a new name now?"
The purple emotion nodded again.
"Why?" Raven asked impatiently.
"Because Raven, you are starting to feel something new, and it's changed me!"
"Ever since your father's defeat, you've been allowed to feel emotions, and so you've been able to experience new feelings. Those feelings in turn have strengthened Affection and allowed her to evolve into a new, more powerful emotion," Knowledge explained. Come to think of it, Affection's robe did indeed look an even deeper shade of purple than before.
Raven rolled her eyes and sighed. "Alright, fine. What's your new name?"
"I can't tell you!" she said happily.
"And why not?" Raven asked, glaring at her purple-robed self.
"Because you have to learn what it is yourself before I can tell you! All I can tell you is that it's the same feeling you've been experiencing lately – the same one you've been feeling for only one member of the team!"
"And who might that be?" Raven asked, dreading the answer.
"Why, Beast Boy, of course!" she said. At the mention of his name, the emotion sighed dreamily, and her cheeks flushed red.
Raven felt as though someone had just dropped a weight in her stomach.
"Beast Boy?" she repeated.
"Yup!"
"I like Beast Boy! He's so funny!" Happy exclaimed.
Rage growled. "He makes me so mad! We ought to wring his scrawny green neck!"
"I think he's funny when he gets on everyone's nerves," Rude commented. "He burps really well, too. I gotta ask him how he does it."
Raven shook her head. "No. I don't feel anything for Beast Boy. He's just a friend. An annoying friend, but a friend."
"Now Raven, you know you don't mean that," Affection giggled. "Come on, don't you remember all those times you've felt strange around him? All those times you felt things around him for no apparent reason? All those times you've thought about him or looked at him without even meaning to?"
Raven closed her eyes defiantly, folded her arms, and scowled. "No."
"Oh really?" Affection prodded. "What about that sensation you feel whenever he hugs you or looks you in the eye, hmm?"
"Affection, I don't know what you're getting at, but you're wrong. Beast Boy is a friend, okay? I think I'd know if I felt something more for him or not."
"Are you sure about that?" Wisdom asked. "Not that you're to blame, you've only recently been allowed to feel emotions. You've felt things before and not known what they were."
"Like when?" Raven asked angrily.
Brave spoke up. "How about that time in Tokyo, huh? When you kept hitting him almost every time he spoke? Or how you yelled in his face when he was worried about that green stain on his uniform?"
Raven shrugged her shoulders. "He was being stupid, and I decided to set him straight."
"But Raven, he's said 'stupid' things before and you haven't blown up on him like that. In fact, you started getting angry as soon as he mentioned being worried about attracting hot Japanese girls. Remember?" Knowledge reminded her.
Raven's face started to flush red. She clenched her fists and stared her emotions down menacingly. "Are you trying to imply I was getting jealous?" Knowledge and Affection nodded.
"No," Raven said. "I was not jealous, and I definitely don't feel anything for Beast Boy."
"Perhaps you remember your battle today?" Wisdom asked. "How you felt that same sensation when Beast Boy was injured? How you became so afraid and upset that he might have been hurt?"
"Again, he did something stupid," Raven repeated.
"No, he took an attack for you, Raven. Which I might add, you have yet to thank him for. Never before have you yelled at someone like that for doing a selfless act. You did it because you were both afraid and angry with him for getting hurt, because you couldn't bear the thought of him possibly dying. In turn, you took your frustration out on him. You should know, you started tearing up, remember?"
At this, Raven could give no reply. All she could do was shake her head.
"Raven, the sooner you admit that you feel something, the sooner you'll know what it is, and the sooner you'll know how to handle it," Wisdom said patiently.
"I don't see why you wouldn't like him," the emotion formerly known as Affection said. "He's so funny…and handsome…and brave…" Bright pink hearts started bubbling over her head as she spoke.
Raven had finally had it. "Look, I don't know what I'm feeling, but it isn't…whatever you're trying to say it is, and it definitely isn't for Beast Boy!" she said angrily.
"But Raven," Wisdom began, but Raven cut her off.
"I don't have the time! The others need my help, and I've already wasted enough time in here. I have to go."
"All right, farewell," Wisdom said.
"Goodbye, Raven," Knowledge said.
"Bye, Rae-Rae!" Happy exclaimed.
"RAVEN!" the mage shouted as she walked away. God, she would never escape that stupid nickname.
When Raven at last emerged from her mirror, she grabbed it and angrily thrust it in her drawer and slammed it shut. Scowling, she folded her arms and sat down on her bed.
"They're all wrong," she said, trying to convince herself she was right. But as she sat there and brooded over what just happened, the repercussions of her conversation gradually sank in. Affection, or the emotion formerly known as Affection, said things Raven couldn't keep from replaying over in her head. As much as Raven hated to admit it, those emotions were part of her, and they didn't lie. But that didn't mean they couldn't be wrong, right? Especially Affection. But then again, her emotions were part of her, and whatever they felt…that means she was feeling it too.
Raven's eyes widened as she recalled everything Affection had said during their short conversation. All her words she had spoken about her teammate came back to her, and suddenly Raven felt as though someone had struck her over the head with a baseball bat. She slowly turned her head to look at her reflection in the overhead mirror as her lips parted to speak to no one.
"If she says she feels those things about Beast Boy, then that must mean…"
Woo-hoo! First of all, I'd like to apologize for the lack of explanations in this chapter over the five mage's origins. I was originally going to put it in this chapter, but I decided instead to put it in the scene in Nevermore in instead. But don't worry, the next chapter will explain everything. Also, I'm sure it might be a little confusing to remember all their names. Here's all of them:
Eutonos – earth elemental, dark green cloak.
Worek – water elemental, azure cloak.
Phanos – fire elemental, red-orange cloak.
Lekim – lightning elemental, indigo cloak.
Evad – wind elemental, gray cloak.
You'll notice all their names start with the same letter or sound as the elements they control, that should make it easier to remember! The only exception to this is Evad, mostly because I liked that name for him and it sort of stuck. Well, again, sorry for not giving an explanation just yet. This is BBxRae after all, so most of the stuff is going to center around them. Luckily, finals are over (thank God), and I'll be able to get the next chapter posted soon. As always, please read and review, and thanks to everyone who's been reading so far.