"Nnngh...why don't you get us out of this already?

"Why don't YOU get us out of this?"

"I can't! If I snap the chains with my hex, the detonator will trigger off!"

"And I don't have the strength to teleport us out of here!"

"Pffft... ...You're useless."

"And you aren't HELPING!"

"Helping what?.?.? As long as we're both stranded here, EVERYONE is screwed!"

"You don't think I know that... .. ...?"

"Help me figure out a way out of here."

"I'm trying! But I can't even START to meditate with you squawking your head off the entire time!"

"Nnnngh..."

"Dear Azar above... ... ..."

It is a dark, dank basement room. Full of pipes, abandoned stoves, metal storage racks, and spiderwebs.

I'm sitting in a chair with my arms tied and my body chained tightly to the seat. But I am not along. For directly behind my shoulders is another chair, where someone else is tied and chained to the same beeping explosive sensor that I'm bound to.

And it's not just any 'someone', it's--

"Between the two of us, we should be able to snap apart that wretched bomb...," I hear Jinx hiss. She shakes and wobbles in her binds directly behind me. "Maybe if I only used half of my degree of hex powers and you mustered up as much weak pulses of your--erm--'dark stuff' or whatever your telekinesis is called, we can shut the thing off from the inside out and then work on getting out of these chains!"

"I doubt it's that simple... ...," I glare into the brick-laid wall of shadows beyond me as I drone. "H.I.V.E. is an organization that revolves around efficiency. Even after Brother Blood was defeated, they didn't take to kidnappings and assaults on innocent lives lightly. They want the two of us held here for a reason. And anything we can think or possibly do in contrast to their plans will only end in our self-termination."

"Even if we w-worked together?" she meows from behind me. "Surely, they couldn't expect that!"

"Why wouldn't they?" I frown, half-trying to look over my shoulder at her. "The H.I.V.E. has been targeting everyone who partook in the defeat of The Brain and his Brotherhood of Evil in Paris!"

"So?"

"YOU were there, Jinx! For all the H.I.V.E. know, you're on the Titan's side..."

"Pffft-HAH! That's rich!"

I narrow my violet eyes on my surroundings. "Whatever..."

"H.I.V.E. is just after me because I was once a part of the H.A.E.Y.P. division before I ditched, them. Good riddance, too! Just took a little therapy to see the light.. ...or whatever fluff that is..."

"Whatever it is about Kid Flash is between you and him."

"Hey!" Our chairs rock. "What's THAT supposed to mean?"

"Nothing..."

"EGADS.. ...You are the worst conversationalist in the world!"

"That's a lie and you know it."

"... ... ... ... ...got me there."

"I guess... ..."

Silence.

"... ..."

"... ...how much explosive power do you suppose this detonator is attached to?" the pink head behind me asks.

"Why? Are you wanting to end it all that soon?"

"I'm just trying to explore all options before all options aren't around to explore with."

"We have only one option..."

"Oh yeah? And what's that, sunshine?"

My forehead pulses. I calm down and murmur: "We wait here for the Titan's to come. Robin--of all people--knows how badly H.I.V.E. has been on the hunt for allies to our team. Whether or not you count as that--I don't care. But H.I.V.E. does, and they'll do great bodily harm to us in due time if we don't give them the tactical information they need to launch a full-scale assault on Titan's Tower, the Justice League's Watchtower, and even Fawcett City."

"Bogus! We're not doing that!"

"... .. ... ..why not?"

"Maybe YOU want to wait for the Titans. But me? No no no.. ...I can't quite handle that sort of a risk."

"We're sitting back to back in two wooden chairs... ...our hands are bound.. .. ... .and we're chained to enough explosions to paint this basement's walls with our internal organs," I drone. "... . ...what is or isn't risky at this point?"

"What I'm saying is, we've got to come an agreement to do something that is equally suited to both of our interests."

"And I say we should wait for the Titans."

"And I say we should use what's available of our mutual powers and break free of these bindings!"

"And we're not going to try and break free of our bindings..." I groan.

"And we're NOT going to wait for the Titans!" She hisses.

"Then that means..."

"...we do something else in between!"

Silence.

More silence.

"... ... .. ..." I stare at the wall.

"... .. ... .. ." She sits still behind me.

"... .. .. ... .. ...so, do you like show tunes?"

I groan. I shake my head and clench my eyes shut. "... ...NO."

"Well, what the heck do you want to talk about?"

"What are we EVER talking about?"

".. .. ...," her brow scrunches. "...what are you talking about?"

"... ... ... ... .. ... .. ...never mind..."

"No, seriously!"

"It's just that..."

"What?"

"... .. ... ...I know fate's been cruel to all of us..."

"Yeah... ..."

"And I know that--as soon as we somehow get free from these binds--we'll both be as much enemies to each other as we've ever been..."

"Right.. .. .. ..."

"And yet... ...all this time you've been my mortal enemy," I murmur. "... .. ...but I can't help but think you've been the easiest person to talk to in the last three years of my life."

"Even easier than talking to the Titans."

"... ..n-not... ... ...not that it really matters for you to know that or--"

"Don't you hate the word 'schizophrenia'?"

"... .. ...excuse me?"

"Schizophrenia!" She turns her pink head to glance aside and over her shoulder. "The way everyone overuses it and all that stuff..."

'Why should I care?"

"Do you or don't you hate it?.?.?"

"Nnnngh...," my face turns red and my forehead pulses. Is pit: "Yes! I hate it! But I don't see how that means anything--"

"Cuz I think it's just plain stupid. I mean--you ever watch daytime t.v. these days?"

"I try not to..."

"Just turn on CNN or an A&E documentary and there it is! Everytime there's a psychobabble conversation...BLAM! 'Uhhh, yes, I believe the child was displaying a schizoid personality, what with his different personalities inside his head at conflict with one another'."

"Well, that's wrong."

"YEAH! And why is that?"

"Because schizophrenia is quite simply an imbalance of brain chemicals and synaptic functions that causes an individual's perspective of both reality and assumed reality to be blurred. Having multiple personalities in his or her head may be a side effect and component of 'schizophrenia', but to call somehone a 'schizophrenic' solely to describe his or her potential to display an split personality is completely erroneous."

"Besides, there are two different levels of split personality disorder."

"Yeah, I know. Multiple personality disorder--"

"And dissociative personality disorder."

"Well, that's a developing term..."

"But it makes sense, right? Sure, many of us may have our egos and ids at so much conflict that--on a psychoanalytical scale--we develop multiple different facades to deal with everything on a daily basis. But the fact is, when such a schism of emotional display happens--subconsciously or not, we are aware of the emotions and the actions we are partaking in. But...NOW...a dissociative personalit disorder is when for whatever reason a person's brain develops contrastingly DIFFERENT and UNRELATED personalities existing within one being."

"Right...," I nod. "A rarity at best, but that's the sort of thing Hollywood has exploded out of proportion through sensationalist stories of melodrama and--"

"'The Three Faces of Eve'?"

I shudder. "Ugh..."

"Hehehe...or just go see 'Identity' or 'Secret Window' or what-have-you. Hectate Alive, it never changes!"

"Don't talk to me about movies," I drone. "The only ones I ever watch have Christopher Lee in them."

"Gawds...you are SO predictable."

"Well, at least my movies don't have unicorns in them..."

"SNKKKT!" The chair behind me rocks. "WHAT DID KID FLASH TELL YOU?"

My lips curve slightly. "Only... ...enough..."

"That...two-timing.. ...stupid...nngh...STUPID HEAD!"

"Next time you're in prison, I should visit you so you could show me your drawings..."

"Grrrrrrrrr--"

"I'll bring along my 'Jack Skellington' pen&inks..."

"GRRRRRRRRRR!"

A pink aura fills the room.

The walls rumble.

The pipes shake.

The chairs start to rattle together.

I sweatdrop. "Uhm... ...Jinx?"

"NNNGHHHHH!"

"...JINX!"

"WHAT?"

Snap!

We both freeze.

"... ..."

We look down at ourselves.

The chains and ropes have completely snapped.

A faint, pink aura flutters about them.

We raise our arms and flex our fingers...

"... ...uhhh..."

"You...Y-You freed us...," I shuffle up to my feet and stare at the chairs.

So does she. "But...B-But..."

I squint at the shattered chain links. "Why hasn't the detonator gone off?"

Jinx bites her lip.

We both look at the little black box situated beneath our empty chairs.

Silence... .. ... .. ...

Then...

Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep!

"Great Azar...," I gnash my teeth.

"EEP!" Jinx hops, her hands covering her mouth. "Oh jeez Oh jeez Oh jeez! It's gonna blow! It's gonna bl-blow us to bits!"

"CALM DOWN." I look desperately around for an exit. "If we hurry, we just might be able to--

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!

"We're gonna die! Oh jeez! Oh jeez! My f-first kiss...I'LL NEVER HAVE MY FIRST KISS! I-I..." she looks around, panting. She glances at me and gasps. "OF COURSE!"

I make a face. "What are you talking about---" THWOMP! "--MMMMMMFFF!"

KABOOOOOOOM!.!.!.!