Chapter 9
Rachel had been in a peaceful trance, meditating when Jade's message entered her mind. Her eyes snapping open, she swiftly walked out of the large room. Jade could not be found out.
"Tara! Kory! Gar! I'm going out."
"How come?" It was Gar. It seemed that he had been taking a nap on one of the couches, unseen by Rachel, as she yelled that she was going somewhere. After all, he was rubbing his eyes. Rachel looked at him closely. His eyes looked tired, he must have had a fitful sleep. She would question him later. A thought trailed into her head, he has very green eyes.She shook her head at herself.
"Jade is being suspected to have powers. I've got to go to do a little convincing." Gar threw his head back and laughed.
"Convincing? Yeah right. You're probably going to scare them into letting her go." Seeing her scowling, he backed off. "Not that it's bad or anything. Here, I'll come with you." Scribbling a note to Kory and Tara that they were doing something, he held out an arm. "Will you accompany me, Miss Rachel?" he grinned as she just looked at him strangely. He tried to give her a hint, "You're supposed to curtsy and say, gladly, Sir Gar." He looked at her hopefully.
"Um, no." She glanced at him impatiently. "Come on. We've got to go to Jade now." Closing her eyes, she chanted softly. "Azerath, metrion, zinthos…" After a few seconds had passed, she opened her eyes in confusion. Nothing had happened. Seeing Gar's puzzled expression, she answered his unspoken question. "I don't know. It's as if someone was blocking my aura." Her forehead creased in thought. It was as if, someone didn't want her to go to Jade. She pushed past Gar, and began sprinting. "We have to catch the next flight out of here."
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A voice penetrated the darkness in the room. "I am sorry leetle one, but I cannot let you interfere just yet."
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Jade heaved a sigh, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. Her back to the wall she slid down to a sitting position, her head in her knees. There wasn't much of a view in a two-by-two yard glass cubicle, which by the way could withstand even Kory's most powerful star bolts. She glanced toward her left, where the oh so popular bachelor was standing, watching her. Irritated by it all, she snapped at him.
"What are you looking at?" She turned away to count the tiles in the ceiling, last time she checked, there were 234. Let's see if the number somehow changed. 1..2..oh forget it. She looked at the clock. Where was Rachel? She should have been here by now, she had messaged her hours ago. The door clicked, as it swung shut, the park officials leaving to go over the recording of her interrogation. They were almost too easy to fool.
"Let's start. If we have any trouble, we'll have to chain you." As if chains could have held her. "Your name."
"Jane Johnson."
"Any past felonies? Any crimes you have committed? Speeding tickets?"
She shook her head. All those times she broke the law…well that could stay private.
"What was the pink light?"
"Probably the sun reflecting off my sunglasses. They're tinted pink." Now that was a good lie. She had to give herself some credit; she had a unique ability to tell whoppers. Big ones. Believable ones.
He paused, "Your name."
They hadn't gotten anything important out of her. Poor fools. They didn't even know she was a contestant on The Bachelor. Thinking about it, she felt almost sorry for Shirley and Sharon, having ruined their date with Wally. First, by wasting time chasing him around the park, and now this. They had gone home a while back in frustration. Hearing footfalls she turned around, and squinted into the dim lighting.
"Hey." She started in surprise at the voice right outside her cubicle. She raised an eyebrow.
"What are you doing here?" Seeing him grin, she could feel a cocky reply readying to answer her. In one smooth gesture, he stood on one knee, and swept an imaginary hat off his head.
"I have come to rescue you, my fair maiden."
Jade smacked her forehead. Out of all the things that he could have said, how did he always manage to say, what she didn't want to hear?
"Sorry, West, but I," she sniffed at him primly, "don't need rescuing."
"Well, it seems to me, you're a did." Jade laughed at him, he didn't even make sense. "Yepp," he nodded his head. "One of those charming damsels in distress, a did. Except," he rested his pointer finger on his chin, as if in deep thought, "You don't seem very charming, quite the opposite actually…" he looked down at her, anticipating a reaction. He wasn't disappointed.
Jade yelled at him through the glass cubicle, not bothering to even disprove his point of her ability to charm.
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When Shirley and Sharon walked into the hotel where the bachelorettes were staying, they were immediately pressed for details. They glowered at them; their date had not gone well.
"Where's Jade?" Katherine asked. It was an innocent question, but asked at the worst time possible. Green with envy, Sharon spat out an answer.
"She's with Wally." She looked at Shirley pointedly, "They're making out in the haunted house."
At this, all the women wore angry expressions. The witch! How dare she! A commotion started in the room, resulting from a mix of jealousy and bitterness. Why couldn't it be they kissing the bachelor? Mara's face was one of stone. She didn't say anything, her unspoken anger, was possibly greater than the others, who were currently hurling rude comments about Jade.
"You're lying." Ahn looked at Sharon straight in the eyes. "You glanced at your twin before you spoke, your eyes slightly shifted. Not only that," Ahn smirked, "You hesitated for a fraction of a second before you talked. Sorry." Ahn finished in a sweet tone. "You lied."
Sharon glared at her, seething. "Prove it." Jessica nodded slowly in agreement. Her cheeks were red with anger.
"Yes. Prove it." Ahn's eyes seemed to snap, and she pulled out an electronic device from out of nowhere. Pressing in a flurry of numbers, a screen opened, with a picture materializing. Curious, all the women pressed in around Ahn, trying to make out what the scene was. The screen cleared in a few moments, giving view to Jade screaming none too pleasant things to Wally, banging her fists inside the glass cubicle.
Silence reigned in the room, as Ahn casually tucked the device back into the folds of her dress, and looked at Sharon who was fuming.
"Well, what do you know." Ahn turned and walked out of the room, the rest of the bachelorettes following her, including Shirley, who was worried that her twin's current unpopularity would rub off on her.
Left alone in the room, Sharon glared, her eyes filled with hatred. She would make Ahn pay.
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Wally grinned as he watched Jade vent her anger out on him behind the glass cubicle. He wished her good luck on trying to hurt him. Too bad that wouldn't happen, not when she was in there, and he was way out here. But then again, she wouldn't be fast enough to hurt him, even if she was out here.
"And you put too much gel in your hair anyway!" Jade screeched, finally ending her tirade of insults. She leaned, one hand against the glass, panting. Screaming took a lot out of a person.
She watched Wally stiffen. Ha. It had taken long enough, but she had found one of his pet peeves. He couldn't stand negative comments about his hair.
"Way too much gel." Jade emphasized smugly.
"Your pigtails are tacky. What are you in, kindergarten?" Wally shot back. Jade's pigtails stuck straight out in shock. He. Did. Not…Oh yes he did. Her eyes radiating pink light, waves of energy shot of Jade's fingertips shattering the glass easily. It was powerful enough to stop Kory's star bolts, but her hexes? Breaking glass was one of her specialties. Her cubicle didn't stand a chance. Stepping out, she growled at the bachelor, it was time to have some fun.
"Jinx." Wally nodded slowly at his realization. He should have guessed. He could have guessed. But meeting another metahuman after nearly a decade was something his mind would not let him grasp. After all, he had been one of the newer heroes. Meeting only the main five, and the Titans East, before speeding off to wherever he was needed. Then in the final fight with the Brotherhood of Evil, after he had brought Madame Rouge to her knees, and defeated Dr. Light with the others, he had quickly left the party before meeting many of the Titans. He had…he grinned at the memory, plans with several gorgeous women. Not long after, the Titans disbanded due to public discontent. He had never met the rest of them, certainly heard of them, but…
"JINX!" Still growling, Jade glared, seeing her friend Rachel, and a stranger running through the door.
"About time you came. Don't you think?" At her accusation Rachel scowled, and looked down, not meeting her eyes. Her eyes popped open, as she realized Jade's hands were sparking with pink energy. As she observed the broken glass, and the shocked amusement park officers, Rachel got angrier and angrier.
"Now, look at what you've done. Again! I can't believe this Jinx!" Rachel hissed. Jade stopped her ranting, as she noticed what she really had done. She had blown her identity, but this wasn't the first time, Rachel could always erase their memories… "No, this time I can't, someone's blocking my powers." Rachel muttered. "And, I can't believe I thought you would stop with the roller coaster." Rachel glared harshly at Jade. "Of course you wouldn't. I always have to save our butts because you, Hyperactive, and Rocky can never control your emotions."
Jade shifted her weight guiltily. It was true. She turned her gaze to the stranger. He looked vaguely familiar, and he seemed to know West, who was in deep thought. Probably thinking about how freaky I am. Jade bit her lip. The thought had upset her…weird, her mind flipped back to their situation.
"Can you trace to where the person is?" As Rachel nodded, Jade looked at her seriously. "I have an idea, it's weird, and it's unreasonable, which is why it might work." Jade swiftly trapped the park officials with hexed metal and gagged them as an afterthought. "Trace my hex energy, through your mind to whoever is blocking you. The hex will mess up what they're doing for a few minutes, and you'll get your powers back. In that time, erase their memories." Jade pointed to the officials. "Got that?" Rachel looked at her friend who had obviously lost her mind.
"Yea…that'll work." Jade glared.
"And it also makes sense that since Kid Flash was struck by lightning, he is able to travel at light speed, and vibrate his molecules through solid objects." Rachel shook her head at the hopelessness of her reasoning.
"I lost my powers, which includes the ability to read people's minds…" Mind reading doesn't count! Jade's voice echoed triumphantly in her head. Rachel shrugged. "Fine."
The two stood fingertip-to-fingertip, Jade's energy flowing into her friend. Rachel heard a distant cry of outrage, but that was soon forgotten. Rachel gasped as her powers surged back into her, enveloping her in a black shadow. Her cloak flowing, Rachel uttered three words. "Azerath, metrion, zinthos."
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Okay, so that was a longer chapter for those who requested it, it's not much longer, but it is a little bit longer. Those people who write really long chapters... Wow. I applaud your talent. By the way, thanks for the reviews!