Fate's Own Rose
.Stubborn Red Amulet.
.Kid Flash.
My eyes, and Jinx's, widened in horror as we saw the attacker with an evil grin on her face. After all, could Madame Rouge muster up anything that wouldn't be evil?
"You incompetent fools!" She said, her voice dripping with her accent. "Do you really think the Brotherhood of Evil would just let you two go unharmed? If so, it disgusts me!"
Prying Jinx and myself free from the Ferris Wheel's safety bar, if we were going to fight her, we should do it where countless people weren't stranded in the middle. But my first priority was to free Jinx.
Jinx, after getting the necklace put on her, immediately began struggling, but Madame Rouge's strong and lengthy grip made it almost impossible for her to escape. Watching her struggle, I had to help...
Springing from the seat, I suppose I was either extremely predictable, or Jinx wasn't providing much of a fight, because Madame Rouge was able to restrain Jinx with one hand and swat me aside like a pesky fly. But I get that a lot.
Wondering why Jinx hadn't just thrown a bolt at Madame Rouge, I saw her do something that seemed unfair just in the way of fighting. Madame Rouge's grip on Jinx suddenly vanished as she threw Jinx, hard, to the ground, her hand shrinking back to her body as she shook it in pain.
I looked at Jinx, a bit puzzled. "You didn't bite her, did you?"
She spat, her beautiful face scrunched in disgust. "Well, it got her to let go, didn't it--" Before she could finish, Madame Rouge's other hand swiped the two of us backwards, our bodies hurdling into a near by vendor's stand. I was the first up, naturally, but Jinx took longer, as if she was already weak from a long battle. But it hadn't even been five minutes...
"Use your powers!" I shouted to her over the ruckus of many screaming people as they fled from the Jump City carnival.
.Jinx.
Struggling, I... couldn't. "THEY WON'T WORK!" I shouted in a very frustrated voice as I cartwheeled out of the way as Madame Rouge threw a small hot dog cart at us. Luckily, we both weren't hit.
"What? Well, what can you do?" He asked me as he dodged another stand cart thrown at him. I... don't know! What good am I without my powers? I paused as I tried to think, and before I knew it, Kid Flash threw a base ball to me.
What was I supposed to do with this? Play catch with her?
But the answer was clear enough. Kid Flash, his left arm full of several baseballs, began running circles around Madame Rouge, pelting her with base balls as he passed. Her shrieks could be heard, I guessed, from across town and, in an odd way, it brought strength to me.
As Kid Flash began to herd Madame Rouge away from me and towards another booth, I saw that it was the dunk tank...
.Kid Flash.
There was no doubt. Jinx was definitely better than her team...
As I began to lead Madame Rouge away from Jinx, she caught my eye and looked towards the dunk tank. Well, I caught her eye, I think I was too fast for her to see me...
"YOU WILL STOP THIS AT ONCE IF YOU VALUE YOUR--" Madame Rouge's voice rose and sank in pitch as I leapt away and Jinx hit the edge of the water tank, causing the water to escape and Madame Rouge to slip and fall with a large thud onto the sloppy ground. Seizing the chance, I yanked the plugs out of a near by generator and handed them to Jinx who 'dropped' them into the puddle.
Madame Rouge shrieked and Jinx's face was that of satisfaction, and mine glowed knowing I helped bring it to that state. However, it was a passing expression.
I should have known Madame Rouge was better than that. She, although injured, stood and laughed mockingly. "Did you think that was enough to stop me?" She asked with a glare as she cracked her knuckles. "You amateurs. The Brotherhood of Evil is not to be so easily defeated." Her hand came up and smacked Jinx to the ground. Using her other hand she squeezed me in her grip.
"For someone so smart," I muttered as she tried to squeeze the oxygen out of me, "You sure don't learn fast." With a grin, I began vibrating my molecules to such a speed that it would burn skin.
"Ah, you underestimate me, Kid Flash. I am the best there is, and you are inferior to me." She grinned and tightened her grip on me as I realized she learned from her mistake. Heat resistant gloves.
"Flash! Kid Flash! You wanna help or what? Now would be a good time to appear!" Jinx cried out between her clenched teeth as Madame Rouge began compressing Jinx. I knew that any longer for either of us, and there wouldn't be much left.
Trying to think, it seemed to be one of the first times that I was at a lack of time instead of an abundance of it.
"Titans East, GO!"
Hearing the cry from behind me, I saw five figures, or wait, four figures running towards the scene. One, an archer, took out an arrow and shot it at Madame Rouge, piercing the arm she held me in. It instantly froze the muscles in her arm, as I observed, for she almost immediately let go of me. Before she had much time to react, the archer shot the same arrow to the other arm, freeing Jinx. Her body was extremely weak and she was gasping for air as soon as the grip lessened. I ran over and caught her as I stopped to rest.
"Run. Out. Of. Gas. Again?" She asked me as she wheezed for air. I nodded my head. I needed to have plenty of food, water, and rest to power my body, all three which I had been lacking after using my powers.
Jinx began coughing as she was on her hands and knees, hunched over as her hand went to the necklace on her. "It's so tight," she murmured.
.Aqualad.
The woman that Speedy hit with his arrows was now raging with an internal fire as she was able to shrink her hands out of the ice, throwing the huge ice blocks at the two she had been squeezing before. They were both able to move, but not much else after.
"I'll get in her face, Speedy, see that dunk tank?" Bumblebee asked Speedy as she pointed to a second dunk tank behind the first one that had been destroyed, "I want you to freeze it as soon as we get her in it." He nodded his head. "Mas y Menos, you need to pick up the tank and make sure you are right behind Madame Rouge when she falls."
"Si, si," the twins answered, "But who is Madame Rouge?"
"Her," Bumblebee spat. Shaking her head, she continued giving out orders as we all avoided the raging woman's stretching arms. "Aqualad, do you think you could uncap the fire hydrants there and there," Bumblebee asked me as she pointed to two fire hydrants that were on either side of 'Madame Rouge'.
"I can," I said confidently.
"Good. We need to blind her. I'll blast her with one of my laser beams to hopefully trip her." At that, one of the people Madame Rouge originally attacked ran up to us.
"What can I do?"
"Take care of her," Bumblebee said, despite not knowing him. She pointed to a girl with pinkish hair who was still coughing and having trouble breathing. "Titans East, go!"
.Jinx.
Nngh... where am I?
As I slowly opened my eyes, the lights, where ever I was, were really bright, almost blinding. I yawned as my mind tried tracing back what had just happened.
"Nice of you to wake up, mind letting go now?"
Turning my head up, Kid Flash's was right above mine, his blue eyes bright again. Wondering what he meant, I quickly realized it and bolted up, which I immediately regretted as a sharp pain went through my head.
"What.. what happened?" I murmured as I took a seat on the dark gray couch that I had been sleeping on.
He grinned. "You kind of passed out at the carnival, so I picked you up and carried you here, but you wouldn't let go of my arm." And I ended up waking up with my hands wrapped around his arm and my head rested on his lap! I blushed, embarrassed.
"That's not what I meant!" I snapped. Looking around the room, it was like I've been here before... "Where are we?" I demanded, my voice a bit harsher than I intended.
Just then, a sliding door behind me opened as I saw someone enter.
.Kid Flash.
And I thought I knew a lot about her...
"How's the HIVE doing?" Bumblebee snapped as she walked into the main room of the Titans East's tower. The night sky was still pitch black and it was just past midnight, but things seemed to just be heating up.
Jinx glared at Bumblebee, her hands clenched as they hung by her sides. "Fine," she muttered.
I couldn't even believe that, for a second, I thought they were just going to have a 'friendly' conversation. Within the blink of an eye the two were staring at each other with glares of spite.
"Bumblebee."
"Jinx."
"Traitor."
"Witch."
I had to step in after that, after all, the fight with Madame Rouge was bad enough. Stepping between the two feuding girls, I pushed my hands apart to put distance between them. "Now now. Save it for the Brotherhood Of Evil," I said with a smile.
"Where's your team?" Jinx asked Bumblebee bitterly.
Bumblebee scoffed. "I could ask you the same." Sparks flew as I sighed. This could keep up all night.
Bumblebee suddenly looked at me, her stare reading 'You better get her in line!'. I rolled my eyes. When was I ever able to do that.
"Well, it was fun, but now I'm leaving." Jinx said stubbornly as she stomped to the door. However, she didn't even make it that far before she suddenly collapsed to the ground, her hand flying to her throat where the necklace was. "YOU. DIDN'T GET. THIS. OFF ME!" She screeched whenever she was able to gain enough breath.
I scratched the back of my neck. "And what, wake you from your unnecessary beauty sleep? Sorry, fighting off one mad female a day works for me." I smirked. Walking over to her, I went behind her to where the clasp of the necklace should be. But it wasn't there. "What the..?" I looked at the necklace. I recognized it from somewhere.
"WOULD YOU JUST THE DAMN THING OFF ME!" Jinx screeched, her voice echoing throughout the tower as Speedy, Aqualad, and Mas y Menos joined us in the main room.
Speedy yawned as I helped Jinx to the couch. She turned away from me as I tried, again, to find a way to take off the necklace. Aqualad, who was rubbing his eyes, sat down on the floor as Mas y Menos went to the kitchen for a couple of cookies and milk. "What's going on now?" Aqualad asked as he saw me fumbling with the necklace.
"It won't come off." I muttered simply. Staring at the necklace, there was definitely something familiar about it... "WAIT! Jinx! This is the amulet you tried stealing from the museum when I met you!" I said triumphantly.
Speedy raised an eyebrow. "You two met when she tried robbing a museum?"
"Shut up!" Jinx shouted. "I don't care what it is, just get it off, it's choking me! Madame Rouge sure knows how to put it on tight!"
The red pendant on the front covered Jinx's normal dark blue one and the black collar of her original necklace was completely covered by the red velvet string of the necklace. "It's not even around your neck," Aqualad pointed out as we regarded how the pendant rested on top of her collar bone and how the rope around it was at the base of her neck.
"Yeah? Well it sure doesn't feel like it," she barked, extremely irritated.
And that began the next half hour of trying to get the necklace off her. I tried pulling it off, using scissors, a kitchen knife, which Jinx nearly didn't consent too... I even tried burning it, but the match went out as soon as it hit the necklace. Well, actually, the burning one was Bumblebee's idea, which we later learned was just a prank on Jinx.
It was nearly 1 AM before we decided that, after one last thing, we'd have to call in help.
"Hold still, okay? I don't want to see parts of you all over the room," I said as I held Jinx's shoulders steady. Speedy, as our last resort, complied and took one of his arrows, one of his explosive arrows. Luckily, it will only hit the target, not anything around it, so his aim had to be precise. Speedy was only two feet away, his bow raised, the arrow ready as he aimed for the heart of the pendant.
Jinx winced as she stared at the arrow. "If he hits me, and I survive, I am going to kill you," she murmured. Her hand brushed past mine and grabbed it, squeezing it until I wasn't sure if there was any circulation left. I gave her a comforting squeeze back as Speedy pulled back the bow and fired.
.Jinx.
"THAT'S IT! I GIVE UP!"
Bursting from my seat on the couch, Speedy was a couple of feet away, on the floor, rubbing his head from the incident. Sure, he hit the pendant of the stupid amulet, but instead of puncturing it or cracking it, the arrow bounced off it and struck Speedy. And, if he wasn't wearing his uniform, who knows if he'd be standing up right now.
Grabbing my jacket, I really did plan on leaving now. I saw Kid Flash apologize to the others behind me, but I didn't care. Taking my time as I reached the door, I planned on just going home and taking a nice warm bath and burning the necklace as soon as I got it off. If I could get it off.
.Bumblebee.
"Well, bye!" Kid Flash said as he waved to us and was ready to walk out the door right after Jinx.
"See you, Kid Flash!" Speedy called as he waved back, still sore, but open-minded. "I'm sorry we couldn't help!"
I bit my lip. What should I do? The right thing, or what I thought Jinx deserved?
I turned around and bumped into Aqualad who had been standing right behind me. He looked at me and raised an eyebrow. "Guilty conscience?" He asked me. I glared and tried to get by him, but he wouldn't let me inside, instead pointing out to the direction Kid Flash and Jinx had just left in. Jinx, again, had collapsed, and Kid Flash kneeled down and picked her up, one arm under her knees and one behind her neck. "Go." I glared at Aqualad and he merely grinned as I trudged off after the pair, who were walking out into the darkness.
"KID FLASH!"
I knew I had to call him because there was no way I could even try to keep up with him after her began to run. It was merely a split second before he was back with an unconscious Jinx in his arm. "Mm hm? You rang?"
I bit my lip again, as if I had a choice to tell or not. "I think the amulet Jinx has on has a charm on it that won't let it be removed." He nodded his head as he followed my theory. "Well, there is only one person I know who might be able to help, but I'm not sure if she is going to want to."
"Why not? Not like we have much other choice," he said as he tried to stay optimistic.
.Cyborg.
Nngh! Who in their right mind would visit the tower at... 1:30 AM?
As I walked to the door, half awake, I heard a familiar voice on the other side. "Come on, Sparky. It isn't exactly warm out here, and if we have to wait any longer, I'll burst down the door."
"Bee. What are you doing? Do you have any clue what time it is--"
As I opened the door, it wasn't just Bumblebee there. I saw two figures approaching the tower, one a guy I didn't recognize, but the one in his arms I definitely did. "Jinx?"
.Robin.
"Absolutely not. Cyborg, she's a villain!" I paced around the main room as Cyborg had woken up the team for an emergency meeting.
"Robin! Come on! We have to help her!" He whined as he cast a pitiful glance over to the couch where Jinx was laying, her breathing becoming shallower and shallower. The guy that brought her in was sitting next to her as he rubbed his eyes, clearly he had been up all night too. Bumblebee was flipping through TV channels as the rest of the team argued about what to do.
Starfire looked at Jinx and I saw a flicker of mercy flash across her eyes. "Surely the Jinx may need assistance? Raven, if I may speak of so, it is rather... 'rude' to turn down help, yes? On my planet, it is considered yyergrk if you chose to turn down the opportunity of assisting others."
Raven glared at Jinx. "This is no 'other', Star. This is Jinx. She's a villain, I feel no obligation to help her."
"Um, do I get a say in this?"
The team, who were all huddled together over the kitchen table, and I, who was pacing down the kitchen isle, looked up to the red haired boy who had brought Jinx in. Within a second he was over with us at the table, holding his thumb proudly to his chest. "The name's Kid Flash."
BB muttered a hello, his eyes not even half open as his arm propped his head up on the table. "Look, just do what you want, I don't know why you need me. If you don't mind... I think I am going to count the... sheep.."
"You have to help Jinx," Kid Flash said after casting a curious glance at Beast Boy, who was muttering in his sleep.
I sighed. "How can we help? I don't even know what you are asking of us."
"Madame Rouge of the Brotherhood of Evil put a charm on the necklace she put on Jinx," Bumblebee said as she spoke up from the couch, not turning to talk to us. The TV channels still changing, she continued talking. "Kid Flash here was desperate, and Jinx can't walk for five minutes before collapsing, so I said the only person I knew who could possibly know anything about the charm was Raven."
At that, all eyes turned to Raven as she crossed her arms. "It's no obligation, but I can see what I can do." Kid Flash beamed. "But as soon as I get it off her, she's out."
.See-More.
No, no, NO! This was not supposed to be happening like this!
As I floated above Titans Tower, I saw Jinx on the couch, not moving except for the slight rise of her chest, and Kid Flash constantly went over to check on her. "She's surrounded by heroes, there's no way that's good," I muttered.
Madame Rouge wasn't keeping up on the deal! Jinx wasn't supposed to get hurt, only Kid Flash!
Frustrated, I flew myself home, only hoping Jinx could last until I could gather the HIVE 5 and rescue her. Then, she'll come back to us and we can get rid of Kid Flash once and for all...
A/N: Heh, had to do the Bumblebee and Jinx version of Raven and Terra's arguement. :) Lol. So fun. Please review, this chapter was mainly plot development, and it was fun bringing in all of the heroes! Tee hehe. Um, I'm rushed to post this, so please review:D