"Are you done yet?" Jinx snapped from where she sat.
"Easy Boss Lady," Billy tried to placate. He failed, of course. The H.I.V.E. Five knew enough about their team leader to give her some space when she was this angry. "Almost done."
"Just hurry up." Jinx closed her eyes.
Billy put the cap back on the bottle and began to put away the medical supplies. He didn't know where See-More and Kyd Wykkyd found that healing jelly, nor did he care, but it did do its job well. There were no traces of her cuts.
"All done, Boss Lady." Immediately, Jinx got up and was out of the infirmary in a split second.
The anger was still there. The embarrassment, the resentment, but she tried to push that aside for now. If she wanted to get some payback, she'd have to prepare a plan, and a lot of information.
The rest of the boys were in the living room, specially customized to meet the needs and preferences of the former H.I.V.E. students. Yellow and purple painted the walls and floors. See-More and Mammoth were playing some random race car game with a Billy clone. Kyd Wykkyd was brooding… understandably as that's his favorite past time, in the corner. Gizmo was fiddling with his jetpack and occasionally swerving his chair toward a computer.
Jinx went right for Gizmo, twisting his seat around so that he was trapped between her and the expansive keyboard.
"What did you find on him?" she went straight to the point.
Gizmo sighed, more out of exhaustion than anything. Innovations were one thing. It was always a chore to repair his inventions. "The Titans don't have much on 'em."
"What do you mean? They made the suit, didn't they?"
"Yeah, but their tin can Cyborg is better at software defenses than I thought." Gizmo turned and fiddled with the computer. "All of their files started to delete themselves when I got in. I managed to save some of them, but the stuff we have on Red X doesn't tell us anything new."
Jinx crossed her arms. "What does it tell us then?"
"Eh, that the suit was designed to specifically to fight against the original Titans." Gizmo, squinting, scrolled down the entry displayed on the wide monitor. "It's also meant to be good at breaking, entering, and stealing. That's all his file says." The boy looked to the older villainess. "Can I go to bed now?"
Hard to believe the runt can act so innocent and cute sometimes. "Fine," Jinx relented. She can bottle up the fierce emotions for later anyway. While Gizmo ran off to his room, Jinx made her way to the kitchen area and prepared herself a late dinner. Some canned sausages and bread for a sandwich along with some soda would fill up her system.
Kyd was nibbling on a sliver of beef jerky as he sat on a counter when Jinx began to prepare her meal. He gave a short wave which Jinx returned with a tired smile. Out of all the boys, he was the most mature and the most reliable person she could count on.
She only wished he could verbally talk back to her to make conversations easier. Ignoring the more idiotic comments Billy and the rest made all the time got harder and harder each time they spoke in her presence. Kyd was the only one that could see the big picture like Jinx did. Small-time crime was all fun and good, but it wouldn't get all the infamy and reputation guys like Slade and Madame Rouge earned.
"What's your take on Red X, Kyd?" Jinx asked as she began to eat her sandwich, leaning on the counter beside her friend. Her eyelids were low, probably just as tired as Gizmo, but she had to keep her eyes open to see Kyd's response.
He frowned. Unlike his usual one, the ends of his mouth were drawn further down. He closed his eyes completely, tilting his head forward and shaking it slightly left and right. It was his "deep thinking" expression, his way of saying that he has yet to form a definite opinion.
Kyd looked to Jinx. He gave a questioning gaze, waving his hand toward her face and using his other to touch his chin.
Jinx's sour look returned tenfold. "I'm going to kill him. Next time we meet, Red X is a dead man." She raised her head and met Kyd's stare. "There were six of us, and he beat us, all with barely a sweat. We trained for years, and some punk kid who stole a fancy suit beat us."
Her hand was pulled away as she was about to take another bite. Kyd pointed to her sandwich, now rotten. It was mostly eaten up already, so she tossed it into the trash bin.
"Stay on watch, Kyd," Jinx ordered as she walked away. He nodded. He didn't need much sleep. Jinx ignored the overenthusiastic gamers as she made her way to her room.
Red X's voice sounded a lot like Robin's. That was probably just a filter, though. Nevertheless, he did sound young, though, possibly around the bird's age. What was Robin, sixteen or seventeen? Those two also liked to fight with random gadgets and fancy martial arts. Question is, if Robin trained with the Batman, who trained Red X good enough for him to keep up?
Maybe Slade got himself another apprentice? One that went rogue again? Wait, Slade was supposed to be dead. The League of Shadows could have gotten a new recruit, too, but there were just too many potential trainers and not enough evidence.
Names, some big, some small, went through Jinx's head. Most off the ex–H.I.V.E. students she kept up with were either with the Brotherhood as muscle or laying low till the current "good versus evil" battle ends. Any teen villains Jinx didn't personally know, like Kitty or Kitten or whatever that bitch's name was, were in the same boat.
Bottom line, Red X could be anyone.
Jinx would find out who it was behind the mask soon enough, as long as his face could be distinguished after he's dead.
The young villainess had taken residence in Raven's room. It was dark and purple, just to Jinx's liking. The heroine did have good taste in gothic furniture and artwork, especially that small, striking mirror. Her little diary stashed underneath the bed was also a nice plus. Who knew the apathetic girl had a little crush on that Beast Boy klutz and Boy Wonder himself?
On a nightstand beside the bed, Jinx had placed a small portrait of her graduating class from the H.I.V.E. Academy. She sat down and continued her nightly ritual of quietly gazing at the photograph. All of the Five were standing at attendance. Some of the students were with the Brotherhood now: Private H.I.V.E., Angel, XL Terrestrial… Stone was in the picture, too, right between Gizmo, Mammoth, and Jinx.
Forgoing changing her clothes or washing her face, Jinx plopped her back against the bedsheets and went to sleep.
In every city where there was a hero and a rogues gallery for them, there was always a hole in the wall pub for the criminals to rest in between jobs and jail time. Jump City was no different. "Walker's Corner," it was called, in memory of the previous owner who had to leave to take care of his daughter.
The only reason the Titans' let the bar continue running was because the current owner was someone they trusted, a guy named Spike. He used to work for a villain called Atlas. Nowadays he was a part-time mechanic and manager of the Corner. He keeps the pub fairly legit, no full blown fights breaking out or vandalism allowed. As long as things stayed quiet, no cops or Titans interfered, not that many cops knew where to find the place anyway.
Tonight was supposed to be a quiet one, what with almost all of the regulars out of town. Civilians didn't come to Walker's Corner often, but Spike would have left the lights on. On nights like these, he liked to tinker with the radio or T.V. or read one of his car magazines as he patiently waited for a customer.
Red X took advantage of his friend's infamous generosity and patience and strolled in through the back door.
"Hey X!" Spike called out in greeting, not even glancing over his shoulder, instead too engrossed in his magazine. X mad himself comfortable on a barstool and poured himself a glass.
Spike was your larger than average man, built on a mix of both fat and muscle. He usually wore a blue jumpsuit with a matching do-rag. For the longest time X could remember, Spike always had an X-shaped bandage on his left cheek. No one knew why it was there so often, but it became a staple trait of Spike's.
"So how was the H.I.V.E. Five?" Spike asked, turning over a page.
Red X chuckled. "They were better than I expected. Decent enough fighters, but not very bright." X placed a pendant and a snake-shaped scepter on the counter. Spike turned his head to look.
"Oh, where'd you get these?" In the blink of an eye, Spike went from "bored, disinterested" mode into "time is money!" He grabbed each artifact and scrutinized them closely. An ear was still paying attention to the thief before him, however.
"From a few kids that didn't know any better." X removed his mask and took a swig from his drink.
"You aren't much older than them, kid."
"At least I've got more experience than any of them. I can work and act cool while doing it." Red X pointed lazily to the relics in Spike's hands. "We split the profits, sixty-forty, as usual."
"Yeah, yeah," Spike waved off, "I'll find a good dealer." Then he gave X a level, stern look. "These H.I.V.E. kids are going to want to kill you, kid. I don't know if they've actually done it before, but –"
"Kill?" Red X scoffed. "No, they've caused some collateral damage, but those kiddies have never looked someone in the eye and straight-up murdered a person, any of them."
Spike shook his head, taking a sip out of X's drink. "Yeah kid, don't sugar coat it."
Red X stared impassively. "I'm serious."
"And so am I. You make a mistake, you will end up dead, kid, and I'm one of the few people that actually like you." The spoils of the museum were dumped into Spike's special safe behind the counter. "Just watch yourself."
"Always do, Spike." Red X finished his drink, slamming the empty glass down. He was quiet for a moment, with a look on his face that Spike grew to be familiar with.
"What is it, kid?"
"… Do you think I got a shot with that Jinx chick?"
The two stared at each other.
Red X, mask equipped, left the Corner with a smile and a burning red mark on his cheek.
Next Morning…
"Hope y'all like eggs and pork with a side of pineapple!" Billy exclaimed, his duplicates passing around breakfast.
After a good night's rest, the H.I.V.E. Five's spirits were rejuvenated greatly. Even Jinx appeared to be in a good mood, not bothering with her usual critiques on her teammates. No one really wanted to ruin her temper and tried to give her space.
See-More dared to ask, "So, Jinx, what's the plan for Red X?"
Before their leader could react, Kyd Wykkyd arrived through one of his portals. He was holding a large box and placed it in the middle of the dining table.
"Where'd you get this, Kyd?" Gizmo raised an eyebrow as he chewed on a strip of bacon. "What the heck is it?"
Kyd removed the top and revealed –
"Cake!" Mammoth exclaimed at the towering chocolate deliciousness. He reached with a knife, but Jinx slapped his hand away.
Jinx said, "No one touches it." She practically growled, and everyone backed away. "Was it left on our front porch?" Kyd took one step, stopping to look directly at Jinx. He handed her the note attached to the box.
It read, Welcome to Jump City! For your duration of stay, please go fuck yourselves! The signature read none other than Red X.
"It's from X," Jinx announced. Mammoth groaned in disappointment with Billy. With a wave of her hand, Jinx destroyed the cake, the entirety of it collapsing onto itself and making a mess. "We're making a game plan to get rid of him, today."
"Wait, Jinx." See-More pointed to what should have been the remains of a ruined cake. "Look."
In the place of the box was what appeared to be a pile of TNT with a timer counting down with around four seconds left.
When Kyd reappeared with Jinx and See-More, they were greeted with the sight of a dozen Billy clones in a dog pile repainted turquoise. Mammoth was still lamenting the inedibility of the paint-covered cake remnants as Gizmo took his breakfast to the living room, muttering more obscenities and curses.
See-More whistled as he crossed his arms. "Red X sure was honest when he said he was going have fun with us." Kyd nodded earnestly.
Jinx was absolutely silent. As something caught her eye, she kneeled down. It was another note. The writing could be clearly distinguished through the paint and frosting.
It's lead paint, by the way. Ciao for now!
Jinx swore loud enough for Kyd and See-More to flinch back.