Latest chapter in the fan fiction. This one includes a speech from Dracul and even a minor confrontation, leading straight to a chase. Felt that it was time that Jinx stopped cowering and faced the crazed man for once. Especially after the events at the Pharmacy, where he injured Kid Flash quite a bit. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans, basically because I would ruin the show with plenty of sadistic murders! What? Don't look at me like that. I like dark stories…

A Haunting Memory Returns

Chapter Eight: "What Would A Man Become?"

Three days went by, and both Jinx and Kid Flash were surprised to receive word that they were needed in Jump City. Robin said that some new villain was in town, and that he was standing on a stage with other men, rallying several people. Kid Flash checked both of them out of the hospital by simply giving a grief goodbye. He scooped her up, which really embarrassed her with everyone staring and whatnot, and they were off in a blur. She could just faintly hear, "Wait! You haven't checked out properly!"

Everything seemed so compact as they went by, way better than any rollercoaster. (Not that she'd know.) The world sped by and she found herself now in front of a giant building shaped like a "T". The other Titans were standing outside talking. It took a few minutes before they noticed the newcomers.

"About time." Robin growled impatiently.

"I'm sorry, have you ever been sent to a hospital with demanding nurses everywhere? You should try it some time." Kid Flash replied bitterly.

"What's the problem anyway?" Jinx asked.

She wasn't in the mood for listening to a heated argument. Robin simply raised his eyebrow, which gave her the "I'm not exactly ready to trust you" signal. A year and he still hasn't forgiven her completely.

"Come on Robin, she's changed." Kid Flash defended.

"I'll believe it when I see it."

"Stubborn birdbrain!"

"Cocky carrot top!"

"Take that back!"

Robin scowled, "I wouldn't have even called for you if you weren't needed."

"Then what the hell's the problem?" Kid Flash demanded.

"Some guy is rallying people up on a huge stage." Cyborg answered, "He was with the Hive Five the other day at the Mint. What was his name Beast Boy?"

"Dracul, Dr. Dracul."

His name was like another cold splash of reality. Dracul, the man in the shadows, planning his next move, was now executing it. Would she ever get a rest? Unlikely.

"Let's get moving then." Jinx said, trying to sound as peppy as possible.

Kid Flash muttered something along the lines of, "Okay old man, time for round two."

They made their way to City Square, where, of course, a stage stood with several pictures of Titans that had been crossed out. Jinx saw several mercenaries, and could even see Levi. Many people have crowded around, wondering what was going on. Within ten minutes Dracul walked towards the stage to the microphone, hands crossed behind his back. He now had a red vest over the strange chest garments he had before, which she was thankful for, because those things were creepy.

"Friends, countrymen, citizens." Dracul said, as he brought his hands out to gesture to all the people, before putting them back.

"I come here to spread the truth, only the truth, and nothing but the truth."

"And…?" someone asked.

Dracul gestured to the pictures.

"So…?"

"What do you think of them?" he asked, in a very rhetorical tone.

"Helpful?"

"Trustworthy."

Dracul paced across the stage, his voice solemn, "Are they? Look around you, it's a food chain, and you're the ones at the bottom. What happens when they get hungry?"

"Never thought of it like that…"

"But they help us."

"Yes, they do help you, now… But they're children, naïve, unable to understand the power they have. But when will that change?" Dracul asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Men crave power, and many would die for what these children possess. What happens when they grow up? Begin to realize their gifts? Begin to want more?" Dracul paced to the center again, microphone in hand, "What would a man become, if he possessed what these children did?"

"W-what?"

"What would have happened, if Hitler had this power? Or perhaps Stalin? Osama Bin Laden?"

"Um… bad stuff."

"Oppression. They're children now but when they're adults they will take this city for themselves, and you'll be nothing more than their slaves." Dracul answered.

"B-but would they do that?"

"Of course they would! They'll ruin your life, and then they'll ruin the future of the children of Jump City. They'll mug you on the streets. Take your homes, your luxuries, perhaps your very lives! And what if they start charging for their services, collect taxes, rob you of your money even more?"

"They wouldn't do that!"

"Oh yes they would. Every man with power at some point lets it consume him, and he'll do anything to get more, no matter how much innocent blood is spilled along the way. That's how nature left it. That's why God forbid Adam and Eve from taking a bite from the Apple. Look throughout history, every one person that held such power has abused it at least once. Don't believe me? In fact, they stand in the audience today, looking to silence me." Dracul motioned towards the crowd.

Jinx instantly felt the weight of a hundred eyes on her.

"Hell, they killed my daughter in hopes that it'd shut me up!"

"What?"

"Is that possible?"

Dracul, again by the podium, seemed to break down and was on the verge of tears. A dramatic pause ensued. The only things missing were the crickets, but with Beast Boy around, that wouldn't be much of a problem. The silence was eventually broken.

"Her name was Lyra… she was the sweetest girl you'd ever meet," he sniffled, "and made her mother and I so proud. But her mother ran off early. She never got to see her little girl grow up."

"…"

Jinx listened to the story, could it be true? Did Dracul have a daughter?

"They killed her. They heard about my suspicions and they killed her! Like animals! I couldn't even find a body to bury!"

Dracul was now full out sobbing, and many people started to give the Titans angry looks.

"She was only six damn it! And they took her life like she was just an ant!"

Some of the people climbed on the stage and were patting Dracul on the back, trying to support him.

"She always used to wear a red bow, she considered it lucky. When I walked in her room to see what she was screaming about, I saw them!"

Dracul buried his head into the podium.

"One of them was holding her bow in his hands! Just looking at me with those masked eyes!"

More sobbing continued, and men were cracking their knuckles. Women were getting out of the way.

"And after they killed her they mutilated my face! Which is why I have to hide behind the bloody mask every breathing moment of my life!" he yelled before sobbing more.

"We never did anything like that!" Robin yelled to the stage.

Dracul looked up to see the Boy Wonder.

"Shut up! You monster! You demon! This is my mission. To avenge Lyra!" he yelled as he brought his fist down hard and breathed heavily.

"Leave him alone punk!" a man called.

"He's only an innocent father!"

"Protection?! You believe that they bring you protection?! You're nothing more than their puppets at this point! Do you know why they protect you?! To keep you! All the support they need is you! They have power but when it comes down to image you're the beams that hold them up! They expect you to be there to give in to their wants! They couldn't care less about you or your family! They didn't care less about Lyra! What happens when you can't supply those wants? They'll be rid of you, and be on their merry way. Now is the time for the people of Jump City to rise up. Rise and stop giving in to 'future overlords', take matters into our own hands! To erase the Titans! Why?! For the common good! It's already begun! God gave humans life, and now, the Devil sends demons into our vicinity!" Dracul held a cross up.

"Yeah! You never can trust people with powers! Look at them! It's only a matter of time before they convert like the other villains!" a man shouted from the crowd.

"No more Titans! No more Titans!"

The chanting grew louder and louder.

"Not just the Titans! But all the supers in the world! We must keep pure!" Dracul yelled.

"No more supers! No more supers!"

A man jumped at Kid Flash who scowled before punching him.

"Hey!"

It was a huge mistake, like adding gasoline to a fire, and Jinx watched at a riot erupted. People beat each other up, and each of the Titans were being attacked. She watched as Dracul yelled, "God bless all of you! I know Lyra would be happy to see all these people defending her!"

He was then led off by Levi, who supported him as if trying to ease a distraught mother, or in this case father, but Jinx knew better. She could see Levi snickering as they walked away. There was no Lyra; Dracul was only playing Jump City's citizens. It was sad, because, for a moment there, she felt genuinely sorry for him. Either way, she left the other Titans behind so she could chase him down. She ran, pushing through mass amounts of people, getting hammered by angry citizens all the way there. When she finally found herself out of the heavy crowd she saw Dracul leading the mercenaries away to trucks.

"Idiots…" he snarled.

"I can't believe they fell for it." Levi laughed.

Jinx steadily tiptoed closer and closer, using bushes as cover. Not very easy while wearing platform boots, but she was sure no one saw her.

"Get in the trucks and return to base. Wait for further instructions."

"Aye-aye Cap'n!"

With that the mercenaries loaded onto the trucks and were gone. Dracul stood there until he was sure they were gone.

"Well then, my dear shadow, tell me why you're here." Dracul demanded in a sweet voice.

It took awhile for Jinx to realize that he was talking to her, and she emerged from her cover.

"Well…?"

"What are you trying to pull here?" she hissed.

"Me? You haven't figured it out yet? Of course not, how could you when you were too busy being a lovebird." Dracul snarled.

He turned to her, his probably ugly face hiding behind that mask.

"I'm doing nothing more than fulfilling a dream."

Jinx scowled at these words, her eyes giving a venomous glare at the hateful man.

"Some dream."

Dracul paused, and his head tilted. He scratched his chin, as if looking at an abstract painting.

"How curious…"

"What?!"

Jinx was surprised by the sudden randomness of his words. He took steps closer to her, and pink energy began to shine around her hands.

"I wonder…"

His hand reached out and landed on her forehead, within a few seconds he took it back. The eyes began to glow red.

"Figures." he mumbled, "Still, why?"

Dracul turned away and began to walk off.

"Another time Lucky."

How in God's name did he know her nickname?

"You're not leaving yet!"

He turned his head to her.

"Shall we then?"

With that he ran off, going straight through the city, leaving her far behind. She also began running, and shouted at him to stay still. Dracul stopped in front of an office building, turned to look at her, and then sprinted inside. She followed and began to pant. Dracul was running at a speed that even Kid Flash could respect. Jinx barged in to find many startled people. A woman shakily pointed towards the stairs going up the floor. Jinx sprinted up the stairs, her hands trembling from rage. That man lied to her face, to the whole city, hurt her boyfriend, and was now openly playing with his words, as if trying to come up with what would irritate and confuse her most. She found him standing not too far from the stairs, and that's when things became fishy. He waited for her to catch up, almost as if he were leading instead of running. What was he planning?

"You'd think dating someone so fast would have improved your speed." Dracul called to her, as he began running again.

"You won't be so glib when I hex you to oblivion!" She hissed.

They passed by several cubicles, files were scattered, people screamed, a just scratched their heads. Dracul passed right by a filing cabinet, and opened the top drawer as he sprinted away. Jinx's feet came to a halt right in front of a concussion made to order, and she cursed under her breath. Dracul leaped onto a desk, before lunging to another. Several people were left dazed by the sudden events. Dracul eventually landed in front of a locked door reading, "Employees Only".

He turned to make sure that she was still following before walking in at an unusually slow pace. Jinx followed, and was surprised to see stairs leading straight to the roof. Whatever he was planning, he obviously didn't want any witnesses. But she had no choice, and continued upward before finally reaching the roof, where Dracul stood at a dangerously close range to the edge, his back to her. Jinx became giddy with excitement. She could end it all now. Send him falling to his death; she would get to hear his screams for once. But… did he deserve it? And would it be the right thing to do?

"Bull shit. Since when have you cared if it was right or wrong?" a voice called, from the darker recesses of her mind.

The voice did have a point, she may have been a hero, but still, breaking a rule now and then wasn't totally out of the book. Especially when it involved asshole teachers who thought they understood her better than she did. Jinx's hands began to glow pink, as her mind was made up. Dracul has breathed his last breath.

End of Chapter…

Yippee, another chapter out of the way, as we slowly progress to the good stuff. Mass murders, mind games, and churros- er forget I said that. Tell me, did you find the speech convincing whatsoever? It's probably a very biased topic, since one, you already know that Dracul's a villain. Two, you all love the Teen Titans so much, and would have a hard time being forced into believing that they were evil. Also let me know what you think Jinx's darker thoughts. Dracul's done a lot, and there's plenty more on the way. Do you feel that her thoughts are justified? Or that she should let him live? What would you do if you were in the situation? What about Dracul's strange pause when Jinx confronted him? Get your popcorn, your soft drinks, and canned garbanzos, because the next part will reveal a few of Dracul's intentions. And some bone chilling quotes as well. All reviews are accepted. Thank you for your time.