Jordisk
<Unverified N00B>
- Location
- Blind Eternities
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
It harms me! Mentally! Thats like 1d4 psychic damage right there, maybe as much as 2d4 if Kori counts as over level 5 (she certainly isn't level 11 yet).
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Project: Gamer Ver. 2 (Young Justice/Gamer/Multicross OC)
- Thread starter Mister Ficser
- Start date
I was thinking on that earlier today.
With where the story currently is, I'm not sure that introducing another character would be best. I was thinking, though, that it might be a good idea around the time that they get back to their home reality and start to decompress.
Chapter 324, TT
New
Project: Gamer Ver. 2 Alpha Build 3.2.4
Disclaimer Me Do: I own nothing you recognize. And most of what you don't recognize, I still don't own.
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27/07/2003 (TT, Earth-12)
Watching the Centauri crab people zip off into the sky, Robin felt conflicted.
On the one hand, Blackfire was apparently some kind of interstellar fugitive from the law and had made some kind of plans to frame Starfire for whatever heinous crimes she'd been committing.
On the other... he'd been all for Blackfire joining the team. He'd believed her.
Everyone had.
She'd been too good to be true and he knew, he knew what it meant when someone was too good to be true. Blackfire hadn't even tried to be subtle in how she attempted to ingrain herself into the team dynamic. Martial arts with him, cheap humor with Cyborg and Beastboy, talking about chakras with Raven. It was all so...
Obvious.
Robin's eyes slid down to Starfire's backpack, sitting limply next to her feet as she stared up at the sky, watching the Centauri Space Police fly off.
Starfire had been preparing to leave. She didn't need much and she'd gathered everything up in silence and had herself ready to go. Over the team... there was a word or term for people being focused and excited to meet a new team member and he knew it but, for the life of him, Robin couldn't remember it.
Robin's lips thinned as his gaze turned to the side, to Alchemist. Just... standing on the roof of Robin's home. His hands in his pockets. Occasionally, Robin could even hear the man hum a chord or tone just loud enough to be heard.
The Teen Titans had avoided a needless fight because Alchemist had basically threatened the space police with turning their actions into a jurisdictional pissing match by getting the Green Lanterns involved. It was so...
Simple.
Honestly, it all left Robin feeling a bit upended.
Looking around at the rest of his team, Cyborg, Beastboy and Raven all seemed confused but largely accepting of the situation. They were bummed about the truth regarding Blackfire but, well... it was what it was. They'd deal.
"Hey, uh, Alchemist?" Robin called, drawing the interloper's attention down from the sky. "You mentioned having something for Starfire, right?"
"Hmm?" Alchemist hummed as he turned around to look at Robin, his yellow eyes unfocused for a moment before he seemed to come to himself. "Ah, right. One moment."
Robin felt uncomfortable every time he'd seen Alchemist or his cohort just... reach into empty space. There wasn't a rift or hole or anything else. No, instead it looked as though their arms just stopped existing at a certain point and he could see meat and bone and flowing blood and-
The Boy Wonder forced himself to not think about it as Alchemist drew his arm back, pulling a long, sheathed sword along with it. Just looking at it set Robin's brain to itching and it was not because of magic, not this time.
Alchemist slowly unsheathed the black blade and Robin could see a subtle curve at the tip and what looked like a thicker tube or pipe along the back of the single edged weapon.
"This is a pipe-back saber measuring sixty-five centimeters forged in the quill-tip design," Alchemist explained as he placed the sword flat against the palm of one hand, the other kept on the hilt, and presented it to Starfire. "This means it is exceptionally good for both thrusting and slashing but only has an edge on one side. It is made from Adamantine Alloy that's been further reinforced with magic, increasing its hardness by an additional twenty-five percent which makes it sixty-six percent harder than diamond... which doesn't actually mean very much, given the subjective nature of that measure."
Starfire gently took the weapon from the mage's hands and slowly turned it around in her hands. On one turn, the blade caught a glint of moonlight and revealed something etched near the hilt. Stepping closer, Robin tried to make sense of it.
One big circle with a strange symbol = a smaller circle with a strange symbol + another smaller circle with a strange symbol + one more circle with a strange symbol / the Green Lantern emblem / yet another circle - what was with all of the circles - one final circle.
"It is most strange," Starfire observed as her own eyes trailed across the etchings Alchemist had put along the blade. "I feel... there is power, here?"
"A few enchantments, yes," Alchemist agreed. "An enchantment that offers the holy attribute to the blade. It actively heals whomever wields it and can disrupt the forces that would reanimate the dead so it may be particularly dangerous if used on Pamela Isley, Alec Holland, Garfield Logan, Anton Arcane or Cyrus Gold."
"Wait," Beastboy shouted. "Hol' up!"
"The second enchantment on the weapon is a simple repair enchantment. There shouldn't be much that can damage it but, should you somehow crack the metal or dull the blade? Simply leave it be for a few nights and it should be restored in full." Disregarding Beastboy, Alchemist did not, in fact, hol' up.
Well, no, that wasn't quite right.
Alchemist did pause when Starfire gripped the sword by the hilt and then froze, a pained gasp leaving her lips.
"And that would be the final enchantment. Well, curse, really," Alchemist blithely stated, ignoring the hostile stances that Robin and the others took at his malicious admission.
"Friend Alchemist?" Starfire asked, her voice strained as she released the hilt of her blade, now coated in her own blood. "If I have done something to draw your ire, I apologize most profusely!"
"Oh, it's nothing like that," Alchemist began to explain, his yellow eyes glancing over Robin's own before sliding over to the other Titans. His hands were still in his pockets and his body language was just... relaxed. He didn't even seem to notice the threats in everyone's stances! "It's a rather modified curse of Binding. And it binds that weapon to you, tethering it to your very soul. Forever. You'll never be able to lose that weapon, nor can anyone ever forcibly take it from you. Should you ever reach for it, it will be at your side. However, it also means that you cannot wield any other melee weapon. No club, no mace, not even a stick. Not unless you've got your other hand on that sword."
That...
Actually sounded kind of cool.
A bit too limiting for Robin's tastes.
But kind of cool.
"Well, that's me done," Alchemist said with a small wave. "Stop by some time, Starfire. Kary would love to teach you how to use that thing. And, since we got the whole flying tentacle monster thing squared away without anyone getting hentai'd? I've got a few things to take care of in the next state over."
"Hentai?" Cyborg asked. "The heck's a hentai?"
"Ask Raven," Alchemist said as he raised one hand into the air, his fingers clenching and ready to snap. "She oughtta know."
And then, with a snap, he's gone. Leaving the Teen Titans alone on the roof of their tower.
With a broken window.
Four sets of eyes turnws to Raven, Robin's own among them, and the girl froze in place. Her cheeks darkened with an obvious blush at the attention.
"Uh..." Raven stuttered out. "Uhhzarath, metrion, zinthos?"
Robin watched, silently confused, as Raven sank into her own shadow. Her face turning redder and redder as she disappeared from view.
"...Am I the only one concerned about Star's new sword being super-effective on Garfield Logan?" Beastboy asked, breaking the very awkward silence atop the roof.
"...Maybe?" Cyborg asked, his giant shoulders shrugging. "Who's Garfield Logan?"
"Me!" Beastboy shouted as he pointed back at himself. "I'm Garfield Logan!"
"So don't get stabbed, Beastboy," Cyborg told him with a shake of his head. "Wait- He said that's super-effective on the undead. You been a zombie this whole time, greenbean?!"
"What?!" Beastboy screeched. "No! ...At least, I don't think so?"
Robin inhaled deeply, then sighed heavily as he looked away from the squabbling duo and over to Starfire. She'd sheathed her sword while the two were yelling at each other and she was holding the weapon to her chest as she looked up. The Boy Wonder couldn't help but notice how the moonlight reflected in her eyes, taking on a gentle, green tint...
Then her eyes slid down to meet his and she smiled. Not the big, wide smiles that she wore whenever the team was out and about. This one was small, gentle...
Just for him, it felt like.
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28/07/2003 (TT, Earth-12)
With weeks spent at the H.I.V.E. Academy for under-performing villains, Jinx wouldn't be afraid to admit that she wasn't impressed.
Half of the day was spent on normal courses. English, math, science, social studies... she would be able to get her high school degree without any issues.
The other half of the day was spent in workshops which also technically counted for things like health or physical education but they were, in Jinx's opinion, really hit or miss.
Like the one day they spent an afternoon listening to some guy named Stirk talk about the best ways to dispose of a body. And which parts tasted the best.
Because, apparently, eating the evidence sounds like a really good idea?
Jinx could have lived her entire life without ever hearing about the best ways to cook a spleen. And she definitely did not need to see a live demonstration.
With that said- For the most part, H.I.V.E. really wasn't that different from a normal school. Probably the biggest thing was the fact that everyone had powers of some kind and the school employed actual guards to force the kids to behave.
So, in reality? It was actually better than the normal schools in California.
The last week had been kind of awkward, though. Once classes would get out, Jinx kept on finding people trying to shadow her. And they weren't subtle about it. A midget wearing a green jumpsuit may have had advantages in hiding but the kid's actual skills came up as short as he did. Mammoth was big, dumb and incredibly obvious. He'd try, at least, but the best that guy could come up with involved holding a few leaf fronds in front of his face. That he ripped off of a nearby potted plant. While Jinx was watching.
And then there was the local Jinx.
"We know you're the spy. We know you're the one that sold us out. And we're gonna prove it."
Who hadn't even been trying to be subtle about the matter.
She'd tried talking to Alchemist about it and that hadn't gone as she'd expected. Though, to be fair, she'd sort of expected him to tell her to just ignore the problem and they'd get bored.
Y'know, the usual tripe that adults told kids and teens that were having interpersonal issues.
Alchemist had asked if she wanted to hospitalize the kids. And he'd been asking as though it was a legitimate option. Because it was.
And Jinx actually didn't want to do that. It was fun to think about, yeah, but actually doing it? Look, she was willing to hurt people. Kill them, if needed. But the thought of hurting people because it was convenient made something under her stomach churn in discomfort and just did not appeal to her.
So, they'd brainstormed. Not in one big session, she had homework and he was busy trying to offload an absolute buttload of enchanted clothes to various churches and donation bins across the country, but they still had the message part of their system and they'd been throwing ideas back and forth to each other.
Jinx sort of wanted to prove to the trio that she wasn't the spy... but she didn't want to do that by revealing the actual spy. A lithe black girl with insect wings named Bumblebee that could alter her size by shrinking at will while retaining her full physical strength.
To that end, they'd come up with an idea. It took a little bit of prep work and a bit of talking with the others so they could try and hide as much as they could but-
"You can come on out!" Jinx, Darknessa, said aloud. She stood in front of the door to her dorm room after a long and rather tedious day and she was ready to get it over with. And get the Hive team over with, too. "It's like you're not even trying, I swear."
The other team walked around the corner of the hall. Jinx had her arms crossed, Gizmo's hands were in his pockets, the right one had a wire trailing into it from his half-completed backpack, and Mammoth...
Had a handful of long-wilted palm fronds held in front of his face.
"You're the one disappearing every night," Jinx accused, her pink eyes narrowed to tiny slits. "What, gonna sell off even more secrets?"
Darknessa, covered in black, billowing shadows, crossed her arms.
This was so juvenile...
"You really want to see what I'm doing?" she asked before she turned back to the door. She placed a hand on the doorknob and fed in a trickle of magic before opening it. "Come on."
Darknessa led the trio into her own demi-plane, a realm that was far smaller than the one Alchemist had been cultivating since Bitterblack Island. Hers was only about five meters square and only had a few things in it. A desk, covered in her schoolwork and open books. A bookshelf, largely empty but for a number of fiction books she enjoyed in her spare time. A military cot was stuffed into the corner, covered in rumpled blankets and dog fur.
"...What?" Jinx asked, the pinkette confused as her head whipped back and forth around the demi-plane. "This isn't the dorm?!"
"Noo..." Darknessa drawled out as she turned around and waited for Mammoth to finish ducking through the door. Once he was in, she elbowed him aside and grabbed the doorknob, twisting it the other way and opening the door again. "You want to see what I'm doing after school? Come on. It's time for dinner."
"What?" Gizmo demanded as he tried to chase after her. "What's dinner got to do... with... huh?"
The mental midget slowly trailed off in confusion as he was led out into a house. Not the hallways of the H.I.V.E. institute but a house with wood paneling and warm lights.
Darknessa kept a close eye on the trio as she led them down the stairs which creaked heavily at Mammoth's passing, past a number of framed photos of two shadowy figures doing things like fishing, sitting around a campfire, playing with a puppy made of shadows...
All of which led, eventually, to the dining room. Where a large, bulky figure made of roiling shadows was in the process of setting two plates down while wearing a pink, frilly apron that said 'Kiss the cook'. Already on the table was a pitcher of lemonade and a pair of glasses.
"Darknessa!" Alchemist exclaimed, his voice loud and way, way over the top. "My darling cloud of darkness! You've brought friends! Oh, oh, dear. We need more plates- We need more food! Darling, you should have told me!"
"It was-" Darknessa started to say as Alchemist power-walked back to the kitchen. "-kind of sudden." Turning back to the Hive trio, she shifted her posture to seem apologetic and then pointed at the various chairs around the table. "That's the Shadow. Just pick a seat, I guess. He's not going to let you leave until you've eaten."
"Eaten what?" Gizmo asked, his tone acidic as he crawled his way up and into a seat. "Snot and cheese sandwiches?"
"Close, my young inventor friend!" Alchemist bombastically shouted from the kitchen. "For tonight we dine on toasted ham and cheese sandwiches! With tomato and basil soup!"
Mammoth carefully lowered himself into a seat and then, when the chair didn't break under his weight, bounced on it a few times to test it.
His face lit up in a crooked, uneven smile when he didn't end up crashing to the ground.
"...This is what you do after school?" Jinx asked, her slitted gaze drifting around the room to settle on the various decorations. From the scroll case filled with the Nether Scrolls on a fairly large shelf just over head height to a .50 caliber rifle that sat on a set of studs overtop the door that led to the living room, there were a lot of little bits of personality around the place. "You just... go home? Have dinner with your dad?"
"He's not my dad," Darknessa immediately denied. "It's... complicated. But other than that? Yeah. I come here, eat, do my homework and-"
The scrabbling of claws on the hardwood floors cut Darknessa off as another bundle of living shadows ran into the room. The H.I.V.E. trio nearly jumped out of their seats as Cinder, wearing a collar enchanted with Penumbral Disguise, tore through the house to practically jump on Darknessa.
"Back!" the dog barked as the disguised Havoc Dragon started rubbing her puppy's ears. "You were gone and I missed you and you're back and I... Love you!"
"Aww," Darknessa cooed as she ran her hands along her dog's face. "I love you too, Shindy."
"Okay. You also have a dog." Jinx did not sound impressed. "Just... living the American dream, aren't you?"
"What's with the gun?" Gizmo asked as Cinder started to sniff at the teens. Darknessa noted that both Jinx and Gizmo flinched away but Mammoth, simple and happy, just started to pet the dog.
"That, my young friend, is a fifty caliber Zastava anti-material rifle!" Alchemist exclaimed as he came back into the dining room after spending far too little time in the kitchen. The man had a pair of pastel green oven mitts on as he brought a great big pot of soup out and slammed the sloshing vessel on to the middle of the table. "It has proven itself most valuable in disabling the weapons of my foes!"
"...What? You use that to blast out tank treads or somethin'?" the underdeveloped inventor asked.
"At times, at times," Alchemist agreed as he walked back to the kitchen. "I often find that those who would stand against me are far less capable when I've taken their most potent tools from them: their brains!"
The atmosphere around the table shifted with Alchemist's proclamation. The teens, previously very sure of themselves, had just realized that Alchemist didn't necessarily play by the normal set of rules.
Well, except for Mammoth. The big lug was bent over in his seat and rubbing Cinder's belly.
Darknessa took the time to observe the trio as she poured a glass of lemonade for herself.
Gizmo's beady little eyes had gone back up to the gun, then he slowly turned his head to the kitchen where they could only just make out Alchemist's side.
Jinx, in contrast, was worrying her bottom lip between her teeth and was surreptitiously looking at Darknessa.
Several minutes of uncomfortable silence later and Alchemist came back, a massive platter in his hands, piled high with grilled ham and cheese sandwiches.
It wasn't anything fancy and Darknessa didn't care. It tasted great.
"Do help yourselves," the man said, his tone dropping to something far more normal. "A hearty meal often tastes best in good company, I find."
"...Thanks," Mammoth mumbled as he reached out, grabbing several sandwiches at once in his massive hands.
Darknessa didn't bother waiting for the others to get their heads on straight. She reached out and snagged a pair for herself, then stood up to fill her bowl with soup. Sitting back down, she tore a chunk of sandwich off and dipped it into the creamy, red liquid and bit in.
It. Was. Bliss.
Seeing no ill effects on either Mammoth or Darknessa, both Jinx and Gizmo helped themselves. And Jinx, in a move that Darknessa hadn't been expecting, just took Gizmo's bowl and filled it for the smaller boy without blinking or seeming to think about it.
For a while, the only sounds around the table were of people eating. There were a few appreciative hums, especially when the H.I.V.E. kids first tried the food, but the atmosphere quickly moved away from being spooked to something a lot more comfortable.
"Young man?" Alchemist eventually asked, drawing Gizmo's eyes up and away from the soup he'd been stuffing a sandwich into. "I find myself most curious. What is that technological marvel upon your back?"
"It, uh... it's my PAK," Gizmo began to explain as he poked at the half submerged sandwich with his spoon. "My Personal Assistant backpacK. It's got spider-legs inside to help me move around, controlled by a micro-processor operating in conjunction with a ballast and gyro device to maintain stability. It's supposed to have a set of jets in it, too! ...But I haven't gotten approval to get the parts, yet."
"Marvelous. Truly," Alchemist commented. Similar to Gizmo, he was doing something weird with his sandwich. Unlike the young teen, however, he was cutting his sandwich apart and then dunking the individual pieces in with his spoon. "It is always inspiring to see an inventor create tools to assist them with their handicaps."
"I'm not -handicapped-!" Gizmo emphasized, turning a glare in Alchemist's direction. "I'm just short, okay!"
"I mean no offense, young man," Alchemist told the boy. Darknessa watched, chewing silently, as he reached into where a breast pocket would be if she could see beneath his disguise. He extracted his hand, revealing a pair of glasses. "I, too, required assistance in order to perform basic, daily tasks."
"It's not the same..." Gizmo argued, though without any actual heat.
"It is not," Alchemist agreed. "But it does not need to be. You were dealt an unfortunate hand and, through your own efforts, you have overcome your difficulties. Is such not the most basic impetus of the human spirit? To create tools that assist us in doing that which we cannot otherwise do?"
"Dude, he's complimenting you," Jinx stage-whispered to her teammate. "Just take it!"
"Uh..." Gizmo hesitated for a moment before shrugging uncomfortably. "Thanks?"
"You are most welcome, young man." Alchemist, still so upbeat, graciously dropped the matter.
Darknessa kind of felt uncomfortable with how her friend was acting. She knew he wasn't lying, not in his words, but his behavior was all kinds of wrong. She kind of appreciated him being more subdued and sarcastic, not... this.
"Do help yourself, my large friend," Alchemist said, directing Darknessa's eyes back over to Mammoth. The giant boy had grabbed the platter holding the rest of the sandwiches and seemed unsure if he should take the rest or not. "I can certainly make more should your hunger outlast this meal!"
The big, happy smile full of crooked teeth that Mammoth sent back... kind of hurt, actually.
Alchemist wasn't offering them any kind of huge kindness. It was just a meal where they could eat their fill. In safety. Without any jockeying or the other sort of social games that went on in the H.I.V.E. cafeteria.
Darknessa... felt like she was starting to understand why Alchemist had healed Mister Freeze's wife, Killer Croc and Two-Face in their own reality.
-----
Jinx heard the door close behind her as she and her team stepped out of Darknessa's strange little pocket reality and back into the halls of the academy.
She... had a lot of mixed feelings.
"So..." Gizmo started to ask. "Should we report that?"
Next to the small inventor, Mammoth stood tall and proud with a content smile on his face. His right hand was patting at his belly.
"Report what?" Jinx asked as she shook her head and started moving down the hall. "That the girl we're pretty sure is a spy just goes home at night, does her homework and... she lives with a shadow person and a shadow dog? One of which sounds like some kind of assassin?"
It was somehow nice and somehow creepy. Kooky. Altogether spooky.
But the overall affection and warm, fuzzy feelings in that house felt genuine and it had Jinx feeling uncomfortable.
"I say we keep it quiet," Gizmo pitched in, voting on the matter.
Mammoth held out his left hand, his thumb up in agreement.
Jinx just sighed and nodded. "Might be for the best," she admitted. "That was... nice. And I don't want to see what happens when they stop being nice."
Jinx... had been accepted. No 'job' that needed done, no creepy comments about her looks, even the dog had been cool about her being there.
The talking dog.
That, at one point while they were cleaning up, had sniffed at Jinx's leg and called her 'Not-momma!'
"Think they'll invite us over again?" Gizmo asked as he reached up and clasped his hands behind his head.
Jinx didn't know...
But she kind of hoped so.
Disclaimer Me Do: I own nothing you recognize. And most of what you don't recognize, I still don't own.
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27/07/2003 (TT, Earth-12)
Watching the Centauri crab people zip off into the sky, Robin felt conflicted.
On the one hand, Blackfire was apparently some kind of interstellar fugitive from the law and had made some kind of plans to frame Starfire for whatever heinous crimes she'd been committing.
On the other... he'd been all for Blackfire joining the team. He'd believed her.
Everyone had.
She'd been too good to be true and he knew, he knew what it meant when someone was too good to be true. Blackfire hadn't even tried to be subtle in how she attempted to ingrain herself into the team dynamic. Martial arts with him, cheap humor with Cyborg and Beastboy, talking about chakras with Raven. It was all so...
Obvious.
Robin's eyes slid down to Starfire's backpack, sitting limply next to her feet as she stared up at the sky, watching the Centauri Space Police fly off.
Starfire had been preparing to leave. She didn't need much and she'd gathered everything up in silence and had herself ready to go. Over the team... there was a word or term for people being focused and excited to meet a new team member and he knew it but, for the life of him, Robin couldn't remember it.
Robin's lips thinned as his gaze turned to the side, to Alchemist. Just... standing on the roof of Robin's home. His hands in his pockets. Occasionally, Robin could even hear the man hum a chord or tone just loud enough to be heard.
The Teen Titans had avoided a needless fight because Alchemist had basically threatened the space police with turning their actions into a jurisdictional pissing match by getting the Green Lanterns involved. It was so...
Simple.
Honestly, it all left Robin feeling a bit upended.
Looking around at the rest of his team, Cyborg, Beastboy and Raven all seemed confused but largely accepting of the situation. They were bummed about the truth regarding Blackfire but, well... it was what it was. They'd deal.
"Hey, uh, Alchemist?" Robin called, drawing the interloper's attention down from the sky. "You mentioned having something for Starfire, right?"
"Hmm?" Alchemist hummed as he turned around to look at Robin, his yellow eyes unfocused for a moment before he seemed to come to himself. "Ah, right. One moment."
Robin felt uncomfortable every time he'd seen Alchemist or his cohort just... reach into empty space. There wasn't a rift or hole or anything else. No, instead it looked as though their arms just stopped existing at a certain point and he could see meat and bone and flowing blood and-
The Boy Wonder forced himself to not think about it as Alchemist drew his arm back, pulling a long, sheathed sword along with it. Just looking at it set Robin's brain to itching and it was not because of magic, not this time.
Alchemist slowly unsheathed the black blade and Robin could see a subtle curve at the tip and what looked like a thicker tube or pipe along the back of the single edged weapon.
"This is a pipe-back saber measuring sixty-five centimeters forged in the quill-tip design," Alchemist explained as he placed the sword flat against the palm of one hand, the other kept on the hilt, and presented it to Starfire. "This means it is exceptionally good for both thrusting and slashing but only has an edge on one side. It is made from Adamantine Alloy that's been further reinforced with magic, increasing its hardness by an additional twenty-five percent which makes it sixty-six percent harder than diamond... which doesn't actually mean very much, given the subjective nature of that measure."
Starfire gently took the weapon from the mage's hands and slowly turned it around in her hands. On one turn, the blade caught a glint of moonlight and revealed something etched near the hilt. Stepping closer, Robin tried to make sense of it.
One big circle with a strange symbol = a smaller circle with a strange symbol + another smaller circle with a strange symbol + one more circle with a strange symbol / the Green Lantern emblem / yet another circle - what was with all of the circles - one final circle.
"It is most strange," Starfire observed as her own eyes trailed across the etchings Alchemist had put along the blade. "I feel... there is power, here?"
"A few enchantments, yes," Alchemist agreed. "An enchantment that offers the holy attribute to the blade. It actively heals whomever wields it and can disrupt the forces that would reanimate the dead so it may be particularly dangerous if used on Pamela Isley, Alec Holland, Garfield Logan, Anton Arcane or Cyrus Gold."
"Wait," Beastboy shouted. "Hol' up!"
"The second enchantment on the weapon is a simple repair enchantment. There shouldn't be much that can damage it but, should you somehow crack the metal or dull the blade? Simply leave it be for a few nights and it should be restored in full." Disregarding Beastboy, Alchemist did not, in fact, hol' up.
Well, no, that wasn't quite right.
Alchemist did pause when Starfire gripped the sword by the hilt and then froze, a pained gasp leaving her lips.
"And that would be the final enchantment. Well, curse, really," Alchemist blithely stated, ignoring the hostile stances that Robin and the others took at his malicious admission.
"Friend Alchemist?" Starfire asked, her voice strained as she released the hilt of her blade, now coated in her own blood. "If I have done something to draw your ire, I apologize most profusely!"
"Oh, it's nothing like that," Alchemist began to explain, his yellow eyes glancing over Robin's own before sliding over to the other Titans. His hands were still in his pockets and his body language was just... relaxed. He didn't even seem to notice the threats in everyone's stances! "It's a rather modified curse of Binding. And it binds that weapon to you, tethering it to your very soul. Forever. You'll never be able to lose that weapon, nor can anyone ever forcibly take it from you. Should you ever reach for it, it will be at your side. However, it also means that you cannot wield any other melee weapon. No club, no mace, not even a stick. Not unless you've got your other hand on that sword."
That...
Actually sounded kind of cool.
A bit too limiting for Robin's tastes.
But kind of cool.
"Well, that's me done," Alchemist said with a small wave. "Stop by some time, Starfire. Kary would love to teach you how to use that thing. And, since we got the whole flying tentacle monster thing squared away without anyone getting hentai'd? I've got a few things to take care of in the next state over."
"Hentai?" Cyborg asked. "The heck's a hentai?"
"Ask Raven," Alchemist said as he raised one hand into the air, his fingers clenching and ready to snap. "She oughtta know."
And then, with a snap, he's gone. Leaving the Teen Titans alone on the roof of their tower.
With a broken window.
Four sets of eyes turnws to Raven, Robin's own among them, and the girl froze in place. Her cheeks darkened with an obvious blush at the attention.
"Uh..." Raven stuttered out. "Uhhzarath, metrion, zinthos?"
Robin watched, silently confused, as Raven sank into her own shadow. Her face turning redder and redder as she disappeared from view.
"...Am I the only one concerned about Star's new sword being super-effective on Garfield Logan?" Beastboy asked, breaking the very awkward silence atop the roof.
"...Maybe?" Cyborg asked, his giant shoulders shrugging. "Who's Garfield Logan?"
"Me!" Beastboy shouted as he pointed back at himself. "I'm Garfield Logan!"
"So don't get stabbed, Beastboy," Cyborg told him with a shake of his head. "Wait- He said that's super-effective on the undead. You been a zombie this whole time, greenbean?!"
"What?!" Beastboy screeched. "No! ...At least, I don't think so?"
Robin inhaled deeply, then sighed heavily as he looked away from the squabbling duo and over to Starfire. She'd sheathed her sword while the two were yelling at each other and she was holding the weapon to her chest as she looked up. The Boy Wonder couldn't help but notice how the moonlight reflected in her eyes, taking on a gentle, green tint...
Then her eyes slid down to meet his and she smiled. Not the big, wide smiles that she wore whenever the team was out and about. This one was small, gentle...
Just for him, it felt like.
-----
28/07/2003 (TT, Earth-12)
With weeks spent at the H.I.V.E. Academy for under-performing villains, Jinx wouldn't be afraid to admit that she wasn't impressed.
Half of the day was spent on normal courses. English, math, science, social studies... she would be able to get her high school degree without any issues.
The other half of the day was spent in workshops which also technically counted for things like health or physical education but they were, in Jinx's opinion, really hit or miss.
Like the one day they spent an afternoon listening to some guy named Stirk talk about the best ways to dispose of a body. And which parts tasted the best.
Because, apparently, eating the evidence sounds like a really good idea?
Jinx could have lived her entire life without ever hearing about the best ways to cook a spleen. And she definitely did not need to see a live demonstration.
With that said- For the most part, H.I.V.E. really wasn't that different from a normal school. Probably the biggest thing was the fact that everyone had powers of some kind and the school employed actual guards to force the kids to behave.
So, in reality? It was actually better than the normal schools in California.
The last week had been kind of awkward, though. Once classes would get out, Jinx kept on finding people trying to shadow her. And they weren't subtle about it. A midget wearing a green jumpsuit may have had advantages in hiding but the kid's actual skills came up as short as he did. Mammoth was big, dumb and incredibly obvious. He'd try, at least, but the best that guy could come up with involved holding a few leaf fronds in front of his face. That he ripped off of a nearby potted plant. While Jinx was watching.
And then there was the local Jinx.
"We know you're the spy. We know you're the one that sold us out. And we're gonna prove it."
Who hadn't even been trying to be subtle about the matter.
She'd tried talking to Alchemist about it and that hadn't gone as she'd expected. Though, to be fair, she'd sort of expected him to tell her to just ignore the problem and they'd get bored.
Y'know, the usual tripe that adults told kids and teens that were having interpersonal issues.
Alchemist had asked if she wanted to hospitalize the kids. And he'd been asking as though it was a legitimate option. Because it was.
And Jinx actually didn't want to do that. It was fun to think about, yeah, but actually doing it? Look, she was willing to hurt people. Kill them, if needed. But the thought of hurting people because it was convenient made something under her stomach churn in discomfort and just did not appeal to her.
So, they'd brainstormed. Not in one big session, she had homework and he was busy trying to offload an absolute buttload of enchanted clothes to various churches and donation bins across the country, but they still had the message part of their system and they'd been throwing ideas back and forth to each other.
Jinx sort of wanted to prove to the trio that she wasn't the spy... but she didn't want to do that by revealing the actual spy. A lithe black girl with insect wings named Bumblebee that could alter her size by shrinking at will while retaining her full physical strength.
To that end, they'd come up with an idea. It took a little bit of prep work and a bit of talking with the others so they could try and hide as much as they could but-
"You can come on out!" Jinx, Darknessa, said aloud. She stood in front of the door to her dorm room after a long and rather tedious day and she was ready to get it over with. And get the Hive team over with, too. "It's like you're not even trying, I swear."
The other team walked around the corner of the hall. Jinx had her arms crossed, Gizmo's hands were in his pockets, the right one had a wire trailing into it from his half-completed backpack, and Mammoth...
Had a handful of long-wilted palm fronds held in front of his face.
"You're the one disappearing every night," Jinx accused, her pink eyes narrowed to tiny slits. "What, gonna sell off even more secrets?"
Darknessa, covered in black, billowing shadows, crossed her arms.
This was so juvenile...
"You really want to see what I'm doing?" she asked before she turned back to the door. She placed a hand on the doorknob and fed in a trickle of magic before opening it. "Come on."
Darknessa led the trio into her own demi-plane, a realm that was far smaller than the one Alchemist had been cultivating since Bitterblack Island. Hers was only about five meters square and only had a few things in it. A desk, covered in her schoolwork and open books. A bookshelf, largely empty but for a number of fiction books she enjoyed in her spare time. A military cot was stuffed into the corner, covered in rumpled blankets and dog fur.
"...What?" Jinx asked, the pinkette confused as her head whipped back and forth around the demi-plane. "This isn't the dorm?!"
"Noo..." Darknessa drawled out as she turned around and waited for Mammoth to finish ducking through the door. Once he was in, she elbowed him aside and grabbed the doorknob, twisting it the other way and opening the door again. "You want to see what I'm doing after school? Come on. It's time for dinner."
"What?" Gizmo demanded as he tried to chase after her. "What's dinner got to do... with... huh?"
The mental midget slowly trailed off in confusion as he was led out into a house. Not the hallways of the H.I.V.E. institute but a house with wood paneling and warm lights.
Darknessa kept a close eye on the trio as she led them down the stairs which creaked heavily at Mammoth's passing, past a number of framed photos of two shadowy figures doing things like fishing, sitting around a campfire, playing with a puppy made of shadows...
All of which led, eventually, to the dining room. Where a large, bulky figure made of roiling shadows was in the process of setting two plates down while wearing a pink, frilly apron that said 'Kiss the cook'. Already on the table was a pitcher of lemonade and a pair of glasses.
"Darknessa!" Alchemist exclaimed, his voice loud and way, way over the top. "My darling cloud of darkness! You've brought friends! Oh, oh, dear. We need more plates- We need more food! Darling, you should have told me!"
"It was-" Darknessa started to say as Alchemist power-walked back to the kitchen. "-kind of sudden." Turning back to the Hive trio, she shifted her posture to seem apologetic and then pointed at the various chairs around the table. "That's the Shadow. Just pick a seat, I guess. He's not going to let you leave until you've eaten."
"Eaten what?" Gizmo asked, his tone acidic as he crawled his way up and into a seat. "Snot and cheese sandwiches?"
"Close, my young inventor friend!" Alchemist bombastically shouted from the kitchen. "For tonight we dine on toasted ham and cheese sandwiches! With tomato and basil soup!"
Mammoth carefully lowered himself into a seat and then, when the chair didn't break under his weight, bounced on it a few times to test it.
His face lit up in a crooked, uneven smile when he didn't end up crashing to the ground.
"...This is what you do after school?" Jinx asked, her slitted gaze drifting around the room to settle on the various decorations. From the scroll case filled with the Nether Scrolls on a fairly large shelf just over head height to a .50 caliber rifle that sat on a set of studs overtop the door that led to the living room, there were a lot of little bits of personality around the place. "You just... go home? Have dinner with your dad?"
"He's not my dad," Darknessa immediately denied. "It's... complicated. But other than that? Yeah. I come here, eat, do my homework and-"
The scrabbling of claws on the hardwood floors cut Darknessa off as another bundle of living shadows ran into the room. The H.I.V.E. trio nearly jumped out of their seats as Cinder, wearing a collar enchanted with Penumbral Disguise, tore through the house to practically jump on Darknessa.
"Back!" the dog barked as the disguised Havoc Dragon started rubbing her puppy's ears. "You were gone and I missed you and you're back and I... Love you!"
"Aww," Darknessa cooed as she ran her hands along her dog's face. "I love you too, Shindy."
"Okay. You also have a dog." Jinx did not sound impressed. "Just... living the American dream, aren't you?"
"What's with the gun?" Gizmo asked as Cinder started to sniff at the teens. Darknessa noted that both Jinx and Gizmo flinched away but Mammoth, simple and happy, just started to pet the dog.
"That, my young friend, is a fifty caliber Zastava anti-material rifle!" Alchemist exclaimed as he came back into the dining room after spending far too little time in the kitchen. The man had a pair of pastel green oven mitts on as he brought a great big pot of soup out and slammed the sloshing vessel on to the middle of the table. "It has proven itself most valuable in disabling the weapons of my foes!"
"...What? You use that to blast out tank treads or somethin'?" the underdeveloped inventor asked.
"At times, at times," Alchemist agreed as he walked back to the kitchen. "I often find that those who would stand against me are far less capable when I've taken their most potent tools from them: their brains!"
The atmosphere around the table shifted with Alchemist's proclamation. The teens, previously very sure of themselves, had just realized that Alchemist didn't necessarily play by the normal set of rules.
Well, except for Mammoth. The big lug was bent over in his seat and rubbing Cinder's belly.
Darknessa took the time to observe the trio as she poured a glass of lemonade for herself.
Gizmo's beady little eyes had gone back up to the gun, then he slowly turned his head to the kitchen where they could only just make out Alchemist's side.
Jinx, in contrast, was worrying her bottom lip between her teeth and was surreptitiously looking at Darknessa.
Several minutes of uncomfortable silence later and Alchemist came back, a massive platter in his hands, piled high with grilled ham and cheese sandwiches.
It wasn't anything fancy and Darknessa didn't care. It tasted great.
"Do help yourselves," the man said, his tone dropping to something far more normal. "A hearty meal often tastes best in good company, I find."
"...Thanks," Mammoth mumbled as he reached out, grabbing several sandwiches at once in his massive hands.
Darknessa didn't bother waiting for the others to get their heads on straight. She reached out and snagged a pair for herself, then stood up to fill her bowl with soup. Sitting back down, she tore a chunk of sandwich off and dipped it into the creamy, red liquid and bit in.
It. Was. Bliss.
Seeing no ill effects on either Mammoth or Darknessa, both Jinx and Gizmo helped themselves. And Jinx, in a move that Darknessa hadn't been expecting, just took Gizmo's bowl and filled it for the smaller boy without blinking or seeming to think about it.
For a while, the only sounds around the table were of people eating. There were a few appreciative hums, especially when the H.I.V.E. kids first tried the food, but the atmosphere quickly moved away from being spooked to something a lot more comfortable.
"Young man?" Alchemist eventually asked, drawing Gizmo's eyes up and away from the soup he'd been stuffing a sandwich into. "I find myself most curious. What is that technological marvel upon your back?"
"It, uh... it's my PAK," Gizmo began to explain as he poked at the half submerged sandwich with his spoon. "My Personal Assistant backpacK. It's got spider-legs inside to help me move around, controlled by a micro-processor operating in conjunction with a ballast and gyro device to maintain stability. It's supposed to have a set of jets in it, too! ...But I haven't gotten approval to get the parts, yet."
"Marvelous. Truly," Alchemist commented. Similar to Gizmo, he was doing something weird with his sandwich. Unlike the young teen, however, he was cutting his sandwich apart and then dunking the individual pieces in with his spoon. "It is always inspiring to see an inventor create tools to assist them with their handicaps."
"I'm not -handicapped-!" Gizmo emphasized, turning a glare in Alchemist's direction. "I'm just short, okay!"
"I mean no offense, young man," Alchemist told the boy. Darknessa watched, chewing silently, as he reached into where a breast pocket would be if she could see beneath his disguise. He extracted his hand, revealing a pair of glasses. "I, too, required assistance in order to perform basic, daily tasks."
"It's not the same..." Gizmo argued, though without any actual heat.
"It is not," Alchemist agreed. "But it does not need to be. You were dealt an unfortunate hand and, through your own efforts, you have overcome your difficulties. Is such not the most basic impetus of the human spirit? To create tools that assist us in doing that which we cannot otherwise do?"
"Dude, he's complimenting you," Jinx stage-whispered to her teammate. "Just take it!"
"Uh..." Gizmo hesitated for a moment before shrugging uncomfortably. "Thanks?"
"You are most welcome, young man." Alchemist, still so upbeat, graciously dropped the matter.
Darknessa kind of felt uncomfortable with how her friend was acting. She knew he wasn't lying, not in his words, but his behavior was all kinds of wrong. She kind of appreciated him being more subdued and sarcastic, not... this.
"Do help yourself, my large friend," Alchemist said, directing Darknessa's eyes back over to Mammoth. The giant boy had grabbed the platter holding the rest of the sandwiches and seemed unsure if he should take the rest or not. "I can certainly make more should your hunger outlast this meal!"
The big, happy smile full of crooked teeth that Mammoth sent back... kind of hurt, actually.
Alchemist wasn't offering them any kind of huge kindness. It was just a meal where they could eat their fill. In safety. Without any jockeying or the other sort of social games that went on in the H.I.V.E. cafeteria.
Darknessa... felt like she was starting to understand why Alchemist had healed Mister Freeze's wife, Killer Croc and Two-Face in their own reality.
-----
Jinx heard the door close behind her as she and her team stepped out of Darknessa's strange little pocket reality and back into the halls of the academy.
She... had a lot of mixed feelings.
"So..." Gizmo started to ask. "Should we report that?"
Next to the small inventor, Mammoth stood tall and proud with a content smile on his face. His right hand was patting at his belly.
"Report what?" Jinx asked as she shook her head and started moving down the hall. "That the girl we're pretty sure is a spy just goes home at night, does her homework and... she lives with a shadow person and a shadow dog? One of which sounds like some kind of assassin?"
It was somehow nice and somehow creepy. Kooky. Altogether spooky.
But the overall affection and warm, fuzzy feelings in that house felt genuine and it had Jinx feeling uncomfortable.
"I say we keep it quiet," Gizmo pitched in, voting on the matter.
Mammoth held out his left hand, his thumb up in agreement.
Jinx just sighed and nodded. "Might be for the best," she admitted. "That was... nice. And I don't want to see what happens when they stop being nice."
Jinx... had been accepted. No 'job' that needed done, no creepy comments about her looks, even the dog had been cool about her being there.
The talking dog.
That, at one point while they were cleaning up, had sniffed at Jinx's leg and called her 'Not-momma!'
"Think they'll invite us over again?" Gizmo asked as he reached up and clasped his hands behind his head.
Jinx didn't know...
But she kind of hoped so.
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- Location
- Here
Everyone deserves a place to go where someone is happy to see them.
- Location
- United States
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How easily can Brother Blood read surface thoughts? Even if the H.I.V.E. trio don't report their findings, would Brother Blood's telepathy inform him about their dinner with THE SHADOW?
For getting along from "frenemies"(???), I like the fact that Darknessa felt uncomfortable deceiving the H.I.V.E. trio, which shows character growth. Jinx's personal code of honor puts limits on how much trickery or physical harm she's willing to inflict on others. Mild pranks? No problem. Manipulating emotions? That's a step too far.
One of the interesting things in the Superhero genre is that while you often have truly evil villains like Darkside, Slade, Thanos, or just forces of nature like Galactus, many times the Rogues gallery also include people who could have been heroes had things in their life been a little different. [Or the society they lived in been less shit]
That is one of the things I think the second half of this chapter captured pretty well. Not saying the trio is saints, just that many things in their life have pushed towards this end and not everyone is a paragon of truth, justice, and not being a dick back.
That is one of the things I think the second half of this chapter captured pretty well. Not saying the trio is saints, just that many things in their life have pushed towards this end and not everyone is a paragon of truth, justice, and not being a dick back.
Lycanthromancer
The Arcane Fuzz
- Location
- USA
Damnit. Yuffie'd.
I'm not sure how thorough Brother Blood's telepathic capabilities extend. In canon, we've got a number of students that aren't under his thrall and he seems unaware of that fact.
It may well be that the majority of his capabilities is in projecting rather than receiving. He might be able to tell when someone isn't receptive to his powers but that might also be too difficult for him to perceive when he's using his powers on many people at once.
A lot of people would be a lot more chill if they had someone accept them as they are. No demands, no expectations beyond basic civility.
Sure, there are some kids that just came out of the womb with something wrong with them. But a lot of other villain kids in the show? If they had a kind ear, a safe place and someone willing to converse with them and offer suggestions without pointing them down a dark road and saying 'Well, you've already taken one step. Another one shouldn't be too bad, right?'
When you've already made a mistake and it feels like the world is against you? Why shouldn't you lash out? Why shouldn't you fight back? Why shouldn't you take what you're owed?
I'm not sure where I was going with this, honestly, but the students at H.I.V.E. are being manipulated into being villains by adults that are profiting off of the children becoming disposable minions. Alchemist doesn't have a ready-made solution to the problem and Jinx is getting a firsthand look at how troubled teens are turned into career criminals.
Ah yes, steamed clams, an old family recipe!
I do like the smaller slice of life stuff that goes around, and it's kinda sad that both Jinx are uncomfortable with what's a happy family.
Does the adams family series exist in this universe?
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- Location
- United States
Lets not forget the most important thing about that episode that never came up again. Cyborge putting himself back together with psychic powers.
If we assume the Scooby Doo series is accurate? Then yes.
Scooby Doo season 1, episode 3 is a crossover with the Adam's Family.
Scooby Doo, season 1, episode 2 is a crossover with the 1970's Batman and Robin cartoon.
This would imply that, through the New Scooby Doo series from the days of yore, the Adams Family and DC Comics exist in a shared universe.
- Location
- Madness realms
Surely you mean steamed hams! That's what I call hamburgers.
Ah, Mammoth is good civilization. He is invited for dinner? He tries to be polite. He sees cute hellhound? He pets cute hellhound.
Honestly, small part of me hoping the H.I.V.E. Trio end up coming back, and a sloghtly bigger part of me is hoping that they end up joining the Titans.
Honestly, small part of me hoping the H.I.V.E. Trio end up coming back, and a sloghtly bigger part of me is hoping that they end up joining the Titans.
Honestly there's a reason that my Favourite Flash Storyline that I've read about is "The Top"'s As Barry ends up befriending quite a lot of his Rougues, unmasks to Mick Rory(Heatwave) And even after The Top's Brainwashing is undone remains on good terms with them to the point that Mick is still his friend
Lycanthromancer
The Arcane Fuzz
- Location
- USA
Gotta love the Addams Family. *SnapSnap*
Absolutely. One of the best episodes of the Justice League cartoons was when the Flash took Batman to Central City. Rather than treating his rogue's gallery like Batman would (beating them up and throwing them in a hellhole asylum), the Flash spent time talking to them like people and doing things like reminding them to take their meds.
(My other favorite was the one where Booster Gold had a side adventure when the rest of the team was dealing with another emergency. Probably because I love BG.)
Magos Tractor-1
Archmagos Dominus
- Location
- Somewhere in Mars, Olymus Mons probably
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Of course, inscribing the formula for one of the Seven Forces as enchantment to easily given away weapons is appropriate. Nevermind that the weapon suddenly became one of the most powerful anti-demonic, anti-undeath, and Anti-Life countering weapons in that iteration of the DC universe.
Alchemist is really playing the Chaotic Good Archwizard archetype well.
- Location
- Iowa, United States
- Pronouns
- Him, His, He
Not my favorite version. I prefer Raul Julia.
- Location
- Right behind you *Stabbing Time*
Nice, but I prefer this One
- Location
- Nightopia
I was reading it more as her understanding where that came from for Mammoth. Something as simple as "Eat your fill, and if there isn't enough I'll make more" getting that reaction should hit formerly-homeless Jinx pretty solidly.
- Location
- USA
If he was being more... Alchemisty... I could see him dropping a line about Doc Ock.