Birdarang appeared on Live TV, holding a microphone.
"Tonight, countless superheroes come out to prove they have what it takes to impress our panel judges! Batman, Superman, Zatanna, and Wonder Woman! The search has officially begun! As in, oh snap, right now, to find out who can fill in the very important empty slot of the Justice League!" Mas y Menos were doing rag time dancing, Aqualad was juggling three swordfish, and the Wonder Twins were practicing gymnastics. Kid Flash is practicing on his electric guitar. Oracle was balancing spinning plates and drinking glasses.
"I can't believe we're going to audition for the next spot on the Justice League!" Starfire exclaimed.
"So many A-list heroes!" Nightwing agreed.
"Uh, remind me again why we're here?" Beast asked. "We're already part of a team."
"We're just taking our chances of an opportunity." Raven reminded him. "In case one of us wins."
"Well, there's a lot of heroes here." Birdarang questioned. "You guys think you got a chance?"
"Of course we've got a chance!" Cyborg confirmed. "We're awesome! Booyah!"
"Yeah, we're pretty awesome." Jinx grinned as she brushed the back of her fingers against her hair. Soon, auditions got underway, a few of them already struck out. Mas y Menos failed to impress, and Red Arrow was disqualified from injuring his partner, Aqualad. Behind the curtains, Nightwing was being interviewed.
"My name is Nightwing. I am a crime fighting vigilante, with a very strong moral code."
"Epic yo! What do you think your chances are to win?" Birdarang inquired.
"Well, I can certainly say that despite being on good terms with Batman, he's not going to give me any special treatment. I'd be surprised if he green lights more than one to two people here. He's that strict."
"Now that's hard core badonkadonks! Best luck to you, bro!" Nightwing was the first of the OG Titans to step onto the stage.
"Justice League. Batman." He acknowledged his former mentor, whom nodded in response. "Throwing my talent into the hat, I decided to use something that nobody would think I would be proficient in."
"And what would that be?" Superman asked.
"...Ventriloquism." That got everyone's attention. Even Batman.
"Ventriloquism?" The Dark Knight asked in confusion.
"Yes. You think our mutual enemy in Gotham, The Ventriloquist, was the only one?" He held up a mini-sized version of himself.
"Oh my goodness, that's adorably funny!" Wonder Woman giggled.
"I know I speak backwards every day, but even I have problems lip syncing without magic." Zatanna admitted. "Show us what you've got, Nightwing."
"Alright. So, Tiny Robin, do you think I have what it takes to win the competition?"
"Well, if they like you, they must be bigger dummies than me!" The Justice League gasped.
"Oh, my apologies, JL, he didn't mean it."
"Did too! You know how superheroes have bad sense of fashion like Superman? They wear their underwear on the outside! Yuk yuk yuk!" The judges looked down, seeing that, from a latex or speedo kind of way over their outfits, it was true, making them blush. "Hey Batman, I heard you're overdue on your electric bill! Is that why you're called the Dark Knight, that your cave is so dark that bats comfortably sleep there?! Yuk yuk yuk! I'm on a roll, somebody stop me! Do you wonder why Wonder Woman is called that? She's always wondering where she left her invisible jet! Why does she even need it anyway? She can already fly! And how do one know how to operate one? For all you know, you could press the self-destruct button, and never know until it's too-kch!" Tiny Robin stopped mid speech while extending his neck, as if pretending to be blown up mid flight. "And how about that Zatanna, huh? With the way how magician acts work, if she needs assistance, does she call herself to come help?! Hey Zatanna, I hope you can choose an apprentice who doesn't stutter, or gets tongue tied speaking backwards. Like me! Annataz si..." Tiny Robin started choking before finishing the backwards sentence. While everyone in the whole stadium was shocked by his roasting of the Justice League Judges, they just sat there... until they burst into embarrassed laughter.
"Oh man, you have no idea how refreshing that roast is." Superman told Nightwing. "Everyone tries to act like we're gods walking among men, but we're people too. It doesn't matter if we have powers, or enough resources to save the day around the world, we still make mistakes just like everyone else. That's not to say we've never heard any cracks against us, but they're usually made to apologize because it's not cool to make fun of the Justice League. Don't bite the hand that feeds you and stuff. But unlike Batman, we have a sense of humor." Wonder Woman and Zatanna snickered loudly while Batman crossed his arms.
"I've had my doubts when you said you'd do a ventriloquist act." Wonder Woman admitted. "You didn't seem like the kind of person who could do such a thing. But by the Greek Gods, you've said you'd deliver an act no one thought you'd be good in, and it was brilliant.
"I totally agree." Zatanna nodded with her. "And you're right, speaking backwards isn't for everyone. It took me a while to figure it out. What I really liked is you didn't care if we got angry, you took a big swing at our expense for comedy, and it paid off." Nightwing smiled, before looking at his former mentor, whom was still stone faced.
"My ward being cheeky with me. It's not the first time. But, at least it's not Damian digging at my fathering skills. Fine." All the judges gave Nightwing the green light. The hero smiled as he and Tiny Robin bowed, and walked off stage.
"After cracking up the Justice League with his surprisingly roasty digs at them, Nightwing has us holding our guts!" Birdarang told the camera. "Migity-meanwhile, contestants are preparing for their auditions, with talents ranging from mind blowing, to heartwarming." He focused on Starfire, trying to teach a cat how to jump through a hoop.
"Oh well done, Mr. Sparkles!" Once they were behind the scenes, Starfire said in her interview,
"I have always loved the small felines. Ironically, while my race, the Tamaraneans, have descended from humanoid cats into the warrior based humanoids we are today, we do not have the small felines on Tamaran. Let me tell you of my home world. It's a planet in the Vega star system. The planet, Tamaran. There, I was a princess next in line to become the queen of the entire planet! But, I was betrayed, by my own sister, Blackfire. She sold me out as a slave to a race my people were warring with. But I escaped on Earth mid-transport. Robin, at the time, and my other to-be friends and comrades saved me from my captors, and the rest is history. Thankfully, after years of bitterness and several more betrayals, Blackfire and I have become the proper happy sisters!"
Starfire floated onto the stage, with two tables covered in white tarps. "Why hello! I am Starfire! For your consideration, I present the circus of the felines!" She removed the tarp to show three cats and various objects for gimmick acts.
"Aw! So adorable!" Wonder Woman and Zatanna squealed for the kittens. Batman was merely caught off guard while Superman looked pleased.
"Well, I can't wait to see how this circus will perform." Superman chuckled. "You may proceed."
"Do the hoop, Mr. Sparkles!" The Tamaranean encouraged the first cat. "Do the hoop!" However, it just walked through, plopping onto its face. "Whoo!" The judges weren't impressed though, despite their initial warmness. "Now, Mrs. Buttons will play the soccer!" The second cat batted at a small soccer ball, but then it also fell over. Superman yawned. Starfire was becoming nervous. "A-And, um, Mr. Fluffles will recite the William Shaking Spears!" It just simply meowed though. The female judges were simply bored, making the alien girl laugh shakily. "Hahahaha! And... the final and most spectacular acts... Mr. Twigglebow!" It was a tiger this time. Instead of falling onto its face, the tiger growled hungrily as it pounced towards Batman. He was about to reach for his bat taser when Zatanna cast a spell with her wand.
"Pots!" The tiger stopped, frozen in midair. The four judges unanimously pressed the red buttons, disqualifying the warrior princess.
"Oh nerdlegruts." Starfire moaned in disappointment. She went backstage where Birdarang came up to her.
"Ouch, that sure wasn't the cat's meow! How ya feelin', Star?"
"I mean, I am a little bit the saddened." She sniffed, tears appearing in her eyes. "I gave it my best effort. This is not the last that you will see of me." Starfire tried holding it in, before outright bawling her eyes out, unable to hide her feelings. "My dreams of winning this competition will not become the reality!" Nightwing came in to hug and comfort his girlfriend.
"There, there, Star. It's okay. It's okay."
"Th-Thank you, Boyfriend Nightwing." She hugged him tight, crying into his shoulder.
"Starfire wasn't the only one the judges didn't give props to!" This was said after Oracle dropped the spinning plates which were above her paralyzed feet, and Aqualad hurt his foot after dropping a swordfish onto it. "Up next is Cyborg! Half man, half robot, all fresh! But will he be able to hit his high note? Or will he be the one who cracks under pressure?" Birdarang asked the audience before Cyborg was being interviewed behind the scenes.
"My dream was to be a football star, and with my 110% determination, my coach said I would've gone all the way too. I could've been part of the Detroit Lions." He then went from proud to solemn. "But then I was a horrible accident. My dad saved me by turning me into... this. I thought I was a monster. But thanks to my friends, especially BB, I found my new purpose in life." Victor smiled, briefly. "The Teen Titans. And that's how it's been for the past five years. But... when next year comes... when none of us fit the teens part... I don't know."
"Wowzer, that's some heavy stuff for a half-metal cyborg! Luckily, things won't be so cold steel serious with Cyborg has up his metallic sleeve!" Birdarang told the audience, while said Titan nervously walked up to the mic, wearing a pink jacket and pants, the jacket not closed.
"Hi-" Feedback pitched from the mic, making the judges wince... except for Batman. "Uh... hi. I'm Cyborg. And... I'd like to sing a song."
"What kind of song will you be singing Cy?" Wonder Woman inquired.
It's um... it's a love song. For my girlfriend, Jinx." The audience went, "awww", which the Justice League liked.
"That's lovely Cyborg." Zatanna told him. "Nothing better than a sincere presentation from the heart."
"You better not have any autotune in those vocal cords." Batman said with his usual stoicism and intimidation.
"N-No, I wouldn't!" Cyborg shook his hands worriedly. "I'm not one to cheat with my powers! At least... not when it isn't allowed. I'll show you!" Cyborg then took a deep breath to calm himself down. The lights dimmed, while the spotlight on Victor brightened, illuminating his shiny body and pink clothes. R love music played for a few seconds before he started singing.
"Grrl Ur So Uhmayzeen, Grrl Ur So Uhmayzeen. Yeah.. Like a suit that's tailor made, baby, I could wear you everyday. All I want is you...(you). I just thought I let you know, I just thought I let you know... all I want is you. All I want is you, all I want is you, all I want is you, you, you." While it was admittedly a sweet song, everyone was awestruck by how heart moving it was, making his words completely believable.
"Wow." Superman shook his head. "I've never felt my heart stabbed so hard since Doomsday stabbed me there with his spikes." Batman looked at him, unamused.
"Really?"
"Come on, I've died enough times where I can joke about it."
"Be that as it may..." Wonder Woman gave a stern side glance before smiling at Cyborg. "That was amazing, my dear. Zatanna?" She looked to the backwards speaking magician, whom was dabbing a napkin against her eye.
"Cyborg, you have left me speechless, which is no small feat for me. Yes!" She buzzed green. Wonder Woman, Superman and Batman did the same, letting Cyborg in.
"Booyah!" Victor cheered as he ran to the backstage, where Beast and all his friends jumped to hug him. "I'm in it to win it!"
"Cyborg!" Jinx jumped over all her other friends to hug around his head, kissing all over his face. "I loved it! Why don't you serenade to me more often?!"
"Oh, well... I didn't want to possibly bore you with songs that might sound corny, cheesy or sappy to you."
"I can tolerate them if they're from you. I like being treated like I'm your whole world."
"Jinx..." He and the metahuman kissed again, making their friends smile.
"Coming up next, we've got an interesting act from our closeted Raven behind her usually closed cloak!" Raven was being interviewed after being seen practicing some tap dancing.
"Hi, I'm Raven. So... when you're born with an evil, intergalactic demon for a dad, that doesn't leave much opportunity for a normal childhood in Azarath. I became a hero... to at least do some good before father would render it all meaningless. And for a time... it was true. But Nightw-Robin never gave up on me." Raven smiled. "He, and the others, saved me from a future I believed was hopeless. Now, I can express my emotions, I have a loving boyfriend whom I love back, even if I don't show it often, and I found a hobby I never thought I'd have after turning 17 around three years ago. I found a passion in... dancing." Raven blushed. "And... I have this dress that I made for this last night. It's reminiscent of Azarathian clothing, and I hope I can honor my birthplace by mixing something of their tradition with my relatively new hobby."
"Looks like Raven is going old school with a new twist with her love for dancing! While others have been wickety-whack..." Kid Flash accidentally broke the strings of his guitar, while the Wonder Twin's balancing act literally fell apart. "... others have been wowing the judges! Well now, let's see what happens next, when the audition continues, right now!" Raven floated on stage after Birdarang's interview, wearing an Azarathian dress, the upper half covered in sparkly sequins, along with white long gloves and long boots. A strip of white cloth extended down the middle between the front and back of her legs.
"Hi, I'm Raven, and I'm going to be doing... a dance." With a snap of her fingers, the lights dimmed before the judges could say anything, grabbing their attention. A single light was on Raven, down on her knees, arms extended on the floor, she rose up, dancing to ballet music, moving on her toes as she twirled a white ribbon. Running the other way, she performed a few jump splits, the ribbon trailing behind her. Now she used two ribbons while pitter-pattering on her toes. She spins around a few time with her arms, performing a few more ballerina moves, before dropping her ribbons, and crossing her arms over her chest.
Then suddenly, Raven's eyes turn red, her eyebrows opening to reveal her second set of eyes, and her teeth now sharp as she summoned a fraction of her demonic power. Toccata and Fugue in D minor struck as lightning struck down on the half-demon woman, her clothes inverted to be black and menacing, than white and elegant. Everyone gasped at this turn as the stage became sundered with fire, a fire wall in the background and two flame pillars exploding on either side of the cackling heroine. She proceeded to combine her ballet routine with her demonic magic, turning the stage into her own fire and brimstone playground. For the grand finale, Raven let her soul-self fly out of her body, and unfurled its black wings wide enough to dwarf the talent show stadium, cawing a mighty shriek of the raven. As the stage calmed down and everything went back to normal, all the judges voted yes with the green buttons!
"Wow, talk about flipping expectations!" Wonder Woman marveled.
"Indeed!" Zatanna agreed. "While I normally don't condone black magic, that was the most impressive display of dark, recreational talent I've ever seen with it."
"Wow Raven, you almost scare me to the point I would dread to fight you, and that's only like five separate individuals." Superman jokingly wiped his brow. "You are impressively scary. Batman?"
"It was fine."
"Oh, don't let that fool you, Raven. He just doesn't like letting people know he can do more than brood." Superman laughed lightheartedly while Batman didn't respond.
"Believe me, I know what that was like. Thank you so much." Raven bowed before floating off to her friends. "Whoo, I'm in the final round! I'm in the final round!" Her friends and boyfriend cheered for her, with Cyborg hoisting her up onto his shoulder for her victory.
"That's what's up! Booyah!"
"Raven, I loved that so much!" Jinxed praised her. "I mean, I totally plan on beating you, but whoo boy, do I have my work cut out for me."
"Yeah, good luck beating that." The half-demon chuckled playfully, the two females enjoying themselves.
"Alright, with the competition almost wrapped up, we go to one of our final participants! She's lean, she's mean, she's an anti-patriarchy feminist fighting machine, she's Jinx!" Backstage, Birdarang was interviewing her. "So Jinx, you sure stirred up a political stew by leading a feminist rally through Jump City yesterday! Aren't you worried about negative criticisms, like "She's just a man-hater! She's more concerned with enacting vengeance than progressing women's rights!" Or, "With your 'punch a guy you don't like' comment, is your whole plan just throwing a feminist hissy fit, punching and yelling, until you get your way?" The pink haired metahuman crossed her arms while rolling her eyes.
"Tsk, typical boy complaints. Look, will I say that I'm the perfect feminist? No, I'm too hotheaded for my beliefs to be completely peaceful about it. And it's not like I hate all men. I'm dating Cyborg, after all. But abusive men are such wimps. They can physically or mentally beat on women all day long with no remorse, but if they so much as get as one slap or punch, they either double down on beating us, or try to make us sound like we're the bullies because their pride was hurt. What kind of bull is that? That women are the bullies for defending ourselves? Screw what they think, I will not play by their rules when they're so stacked against my favor, I might never win if I play fairly."
"Talk about girl power on steroids, yo! Let's see if this femme fatale can stand as tall as the big boys, or if her bark is worse than her bite!
"Hey, was that a b! h comment?! I'll freaking-!" The feed cut out before she could continue on that as she got out of her seat, angry and aggressive.
Jinx, having changed from her punk rock outfit to a cutsie outfit typically seen on girls' dolls, her hair down and dyed black covered part of her face. Everyone wondered what she had in mind.
"Behold, my name is Jinx... the witch. What you're about to see may shock... and disturb you." Turning her back to everyone, she bent backwards, and started crawling on her hands and feet in said backwards position. She crawled up to the judges table, where everyone except Batman was spooked. Climbing onto the desk, Jinx twisted herself to sit upright. Taking out a nail, the witch hexed it with her pink magic, before twitching her middle finger to raise up the nail without assistance to pull or push it up. Everyone watched closely, leaning in, before Jinx slammed her hand into her face with a scare chord, falling back off the table and making the girls shriek, and the guys gasp. Jinx slowly rose up like the undead, coughing now as she coughed louder, and louder, until she coughed out the nail, clattering on the floor covered in saliva.
Going over to Superman, the former villainess spread out a deck of cards for him to choose from. From the camera's angle, he got the 10 of spades. Taking the card back, Jinx reshuffled the deck, rolling her eyes as high as they'll go, further creeping out the judges. Once she stopped shuffling, she hexed the deck, so that a part of it slide to the side. Picking up the top card of the bottom half... she handed him the 10 of Spades. Superman nodded with an impressed look before it exploded into pink ashes, startling him and Wonder Woman.
Finally, Jinx put up an old fashioned tri-stand camera with a black sheet, and a thing that's holding a type of dust in it. Pulling the black sheet over herself, the witch girl aimed the camera at Wonder Woman, whom started to sweat from the attention and even gave a peace sign. When the camera took its picture, the dust reacted, and a flash briefly blinded them. The sheet fell empty, and the thing dropped to the floor, Jinx no longer being there somehow in the instant the picture was taken. Zatanna elbowed Wonder Woman to check the developing photo. The Thymascerian got up, and looked at the picture. But what she saw wasn't herself, but Jinx staring hauntingly at Batman from behind him. She looked up, and yelled as the witch was behind him. The Dark Knight looked around, and actually gasped and flinched from her standing right behind him, her pink eyes staring into his soul. Jinx walked up to the stage, and bowed. Everyone applauded her performance, whereas the judges clapped to her performance. Superman went first.
"I don't... I don't know what to say. With just a fraction of magic of your close friend, Raven, you somehow managed to scare me three times of much. You must be the most atypical teenager I've ever known... and I love you for it."
"I totally agree." Wonder Woman nodded. "I've fought many scary gods and monsters of the Greek pantheon, and I faced them all with only a sliver of fear. But sitting here, being a judge and watching your performance? You'd give Circe a run for her money."
"I do admit, I wasn't terribly impressed by your act, unfortunately." Zatanna shrugged. "Aside from the nail to the face, it was all just parlor tricks to me. Now, I'm not saying you did bad, or boring and anything, it's just I deal with things much scarier as a magic castor on a regular basis." Now it was Batman's turn. The audience waited in bated breath for his reaction when he said,
"You successfully snuck up on me. That's good enough." He green lit Jinx, along with all the others. Jinx smiled as she walked off the stage.
"Well, looks like we have our finalists!" Birdarang proclaimed. "Singing Cyborg, Ravin' Raven, 'Nocking Nightwing, and Jinxy Jinx! We're about to find out!" Cyborg, Jinx, Raven and Nightwing walked back on stage, standing shoulder to shoulder with nervous, or confident looks. "The winner, of the first Justice League Top Idol and newest member of the Justice League is... Jinx!" The metahuman gawked as her friends smiled and clapped their hands at her win. Starfire flew in, shouting Joy as she hugged her friend, along with the others supporting her victory. Jinx smiled extremely wide as she held her arms up in victory, yelling at the top of her lungs.
"Yeah, I did it! I'd like to thank my Titan family for making this possible!" She looked back towards them, and sort of quickly became subdued in her emotions. "But... if I may say something first..." The audience quieted down to let her speak. "From my heart, I really do thank everyone that helped me become the newest member of the Justice League. However... I'd like to wait till next year to start directly working under you guys. I'm... I'm not ready to leave my friends. They're my family. They... mean everything to me."
"Of course." Superman nodded. "We'll be waiting for your official recruitment, Jinx."
"Thank you. But... if there's just one small thing I can do with you guys..."
"What is it you'd like?" Wonder Woman asked. The metahuman grinned.
The background was the rising sun. The Justice League founders were doing the strong, slow walk in silhouette, shoulder to shoulder. And to the right of Superman, and left of Wonder Woman, was Jinx's silhouette, the tiniest and skinniest of the bunch, compared to the muscular warriors of the Amazon, and Hawkgirl. But what she lacked in overall size and strength was confidence in her walk, like she belonged there.
"And that's the show, my homies! This is Birdarang, signing out!"
A/N: Hey everybody. How are you liking the last few chapters? I've been really proud of the last two, so I'd like some feedback, please? Shout out to AGT's Sacred Riana for some inspiration.