02/24/24

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Change For The Better

Chapter Ten: Escape Plans and Rescue Missions

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When Starfire opened her eyes, she found herself lying on the floor of a dimly-lit room. She immediately began to panic, zipping around through the air and trying every door. Unfortunately, all three of them were locked. She turned her attention to the small window at the top of the room, and began to bang her fists against it. The glass didn't budge.

It was then that she noticed her teammates, who were slowly beginning to wake up themselves. Her heartbeat slowed to a steady rate, and she immediately began to feel better. Her family was here. It would all be okay.

She landed on the ground next to Robin, who was massaging his head slowly. He clasped his free hand together with hers, squeezing her hand tightly.

"You okay, Star?" he asked.

She nodded her head.

"Where have they taken us?" she asked.

Before Robin could answer, the room on the other side of the window lit up. The Titans, sans Beast Boy plus Aquagirl, stopped in their tracks and turned their attention to whoever was on the other side. They were disappointed but not surprised to see the Slade bots again. It would have been nice to see whoever was controlling them in the room as well, but unfortunately the Slade bots did not consult the Titans on this matter before deciding to appear on their own.

"Hey! Where's my brother, you metal-headed freaks?!" Aquagirl shouted, banging her fists against the wall.

"He is not here, but you will join him soon," boomed a metallic voice. Starfire couldn't shake the similarities between the voice and The Brain. She suppressed a shudder.

Raven scowled, standing to her feet, "Where exactly are you planning to take us?"

The bot ignored her line of questioning.

"Do not delude yourselves into thinking the green one will come and rescue you. Our sources indicate he has been taken by our partner. Our boss shall be pleased."

"Wait, where have you taken Beast Boy?!" Starfire panicked.

She felt sick to her stomach. How would they ever find their friend now?

The window dimmed again, and the Titans fell silent. Yet, they knew it couldn't be the end. After all, they had gotten themselves out of much worse situations before.

"Come here," Robin said quietly, beckoning the rest of his team closer to him. "I think I have a plan."

...

Jinx squeezed her hands tightly into fists, careful to keep her emotions in check. A normal day had turned to chaos when Flash got an emergency call from Black Canary. Apparently, the Titans' current issues with keeping track of Beast Boy had much worse implications than what was initially clear. He quickly gathered up everyone but Vibe, who wasn't answering his phone, and now Jinx found herself standing in the middle of the Watchtower surrounded by the Justice League. Given her ongoing mental crisis and the impostor syndrome that came with it, the timing couldn't be worse. She just wished she could go home and pretend the Titans and the world of heroes and villains just... didn't exist.

Another younger hero in an orange, tiger striped costume approached their little group in a hurry. "Great, you're here. Canary needs to talk to you."

Flash nodded his head. "Okay. Let's get this figured out."

Jinx bit her lip, realizing that she didn't recognize at least half of the people in the room. The H.I.V.E never let them watch the news, and they only briefed them on heroes they could expect to fight. Now that Jinx had been properly removed from the situation, it was clear to her that this was a part of their brainwashing regimen.

Although The Flash zipped away to go find Black Canary, the new girl had stayed behind. She seemed to be looking Jinx over, as if preparing to make a judgment. Jinx's mind immediately began to conjure up ways this interaction could go wrong.

"What's the plan right now?" Kid Flash asked, turning to the new girl.

The girl sighed, her attention averted from Jinx for the time being. "Not a clue. I'm just the errand girl. But judging by the way Canary's losing her mind right now, I don't think there is a plan."

Jinx knew that most of the more experienced members of the Justice League were gone right now. Flash, Black Canary, and Hawkgirl had more or less been left in charge of a bunch of teenagers, sidekicks, retirees, and rookies for the time being. Combined with the fact that the Titans were still putting themselves back together after defeating the Brotherhood of Evil, the chaos seemed a little too perfectly orchestrated. Now that Vibe was possibly missing too, the utter perfection of the scheme was beginning to make Jinx nervous. Years of leadership had sharpened her instincts, and she knew better than to believe this was all just a coincidence.

"Maybe we don't have a plan, but whoever is behind this definitely does. The Titans and the Justice League are both weak right now. I don't know who's behind this, but they waited for everyone to have their guard down. Someone must have been planning this for a long time," Jinx said, swallowing the lump in her throat.

The girl bit her nail, nodding slowly.

"Yeah, that sounds right. Did you hear anything with the Brotherhood?"

Jinx winced, hoping the girl didn't notice. She tried to reassure herself that the girl's tone didn't seem judgmental, but it was hard to know for sure.

"Sorry. If they're involved somehow, I wouldn't know."

"Bummer," Firestorm sighed. Jinx tried to ignore the way he was keeping an eye on her. It was probably due to Vibe's sudden disappearance, but she wasn't naive enough to discount the possibility that he hadn't trusted her to begin with. She felt like she was about to spontaneously combust from the pressure of everyone watching her now.

Kid Flash reached for her hand, as if reading her mind. She let herself relax for a moment, clasping her hand in his, until she realized the girl was wiggling her brows at them and smirking.

Great.

Kid Flash shot her a dirty look, but the girl just laughed in response. Noticing the black stripes on the girl's uniform, Jinx managed to put the pieces together on just who they were talking to. It was only Tigress, one of Kid Flash's closest friends. Jinx had heard enough about her from Kid Flash to immediately feel at ease. After all, she was an ex-villainess as well. Jinx managed to relax for real this time. She was a bit miffed that she didn't get an introduction right off the bat, but she supposed there was so much crap on everyone's minds that it made enough sense.

"What about you? Any ideas?" Jinx asked, directing Tigress back to the subject at hand.

Tigress was about to respond, but before she could say anything a soft alarm began to sound. Jinx directed her attention to the front of the room, where Flash and Black Canary were standing in front of a screen. Tigress gestured for their little group to follow her. The four of them made their way to the front of the room, finding a spot close to Flash and Canary. Hawkgirl walked past, giving a quick greeting and ruffling Kid Flash's hair, before joining the other heroes at the front. Kid Flash let go of Jinx's hand for just long enough to smooth his hair back into place.

"Vibe's gonna be okay, right? You don't think they took him too?"

She glanced at Firestorm, who was nervously standing next to her. Determined to gain his trust, she answered.

"We'll find him. All of them. I promise."

Black Canary began to speak, commanding the attention of the room. She was a natural at this, and for a moment Jinx wondered why she wasn't always the one in charge. Canary had identified four "groups" to search for: Aquaman (who had been missing the longest), the main group of Titans alongside Aquagirl, Beast Boy (who was likely still on his own), and now Vibe as a precaution. They also identified everywhere the missing persons had recently been spotted, and reviewed the profiles of the suspects. Jinx listened carefully, trying her best to absorb every detail. She was determined to use every skill she learned from the HIVE for good this time. Instead of destroying the Titans, she would save them.

"Kid and I can take Jump City," Hawkgirl said. "Unless you mind me stealing him again, Flash?"

Jinx realized she was talking about Kid Flash. It made sense to take him. He had spent enough time in the city while watching it for the Titans, surely he knew the ins and outs by now.

"That's fine. Vibe and I can handle searching Central-Keystone on our own after I go get him. He's probably just taking a nap or something. I shouldn't need to much help."

Hawkgirl nodded, turning her attention to Jinx. "Works for me. I'll take your new one, too."

Jinx felt her eyes widen in shock. Hawkgirl actually wanted to work with her? It made sense, as she knew the city even better than Kid Flash did, but at the same time it didn't add up. Kid Flash had told her about Hawkgirl. A lot. She was something of an extra mentor to him, especially during the time he spent in Jump City since he wasn't on speaking terms with Flash back then. Even now that they had made up, KF clearly thought the world of her. And if there was one thing Jinx learned from their conversations, it was that Hawkgirl had trust issues.

Bad trust issues.

Trust is to be earned, not given, kind of trust issues.

My honorary baby brother is dating a girl with a criminal record so I think I might bash her skull in with this giant morning star I just happen to have on my person at all times, kind of trust issues.

Jinx shook the thoughts from her head and forced a smile. In an instant, she took the situation for what it truly was. It was a test. Hawkgirl wanted to see Jinx prove herself. Luckily, despite it making her nervous enough to want to puke on the spot, Jinx had been preparing herself for this very moment all day.

"Mission accepted," Jinx said coolly, never once betraying the fact that she was dying inside.

...

Beast Boy was abruptly awakened by a headache and a piercing light. He was dizzy and disoriented, and felt too sick to question what was happening. He could somewhat remember being captured, but it was like a heavy fog was clouding his judgment.

A shrill, deranged laugh echoed through his mind. His eyes eventually locked onto D'kay's outline, obscured by the blur in his vision.

"It's cute how easily your mind can be tampered with," her voice trickled into his brain. "For a pitiful worm, you're awfully entertaining. Perhaps when this is all over with I'll keep you. After all, when J'onn and I get married, we'll need a little pet to call our own."

He could tell she was saying things. He knew all of the words on their own. But for the life of him, Beast Boy couldn't focus on the meaning of what she was saying.

"I suppose now is as good of a time as any to gloat. Simply put, we've won and you've lost. You led me right to all the information I need to track down J'onn. Soon, he will be all mine, just as it should be. As for your little worm friends? Well, let's just say you'll make fine bait if my associates failed to capture them. And just think, I didn't even have to use the special bait I prepared just for you! My boss will be so pleased."

Beast Boy felt like he was floating. Maybe he was. He could tell there were three doors in front of him. The room was spinning too much for him to really register anything else that was around him. Before he could think about it too much, he found himself moving through one of the doorways. He stopped floating abruptly, and he could tell that he was laying on something cold and hard. The quick stinging sensation he felt in his arm was probably connected to all the wires that were now sticking out of it.

"Don't worry, my pet. You could survive for many millennia without sustenance as long as you keep those tubes in. For now, sleep."

And so he did.

…..

Hi again! Its… been a while, hasn't it?

I'm very excited for the next chapters, since its what I've been building up to all these years! I can't wait to share these next couple of chapters with you :3

Quote of the day:

"You should write a book: How to Offend a Woman in Five Syllables or Less!" - Rodgers, The Swan Princess

May the odds be ever in your favor,

Spectrobes Princess