Time is a Thief 5 - #422 - Pyrrhic Victory
Title: Time is a Thief 5
Fandom: BtVS/Teen Titans
Prompt: 422 - Pyrrhic Victory
Words: 1597
Warnings: Unbeta'd, (Let me know if I misspell Adeline Kane, due to the fact that I love the actress Adelaide Kane, I keep screwing it up)
Jinx was curled up on the thinly padded bench in the corner of the cell she shared with her teammates. Mammoth and Gizmo were sleeping. She almost envied them that. Mammoth was so heavily sedated that he didn’t care that they’d been arrested and Gizmo, no matter how intelligent he was, still had the body of a child and crashed hard when he ran out of energy. Jinx was too miserable to sleep. Their first mission out and it was a total failure. They hadn’t even managed the disgrace of a hasty escape. They’d been handed over to the JCPD and her hands were encased in specially designed metal mitts that covered everything from the elbow down. She couldn’t shoot off a hex bolt unless she wanted her hands to be crushed when the metal warped. Gizmo was a whizz with technology, but these were old school manacles. She sighed deeply and buried her face in her knees.
“No~body, knows the trouble I’ve seen, no~body knows my sorrow….” The faux deep voice made her jump and look around. There was a face peering down at her from an air vent high on the wall over her head.
“Billy?” Jinx peered up at the familiar mask above her.
“Do I look like that narcissistic self-multiplying hick?”
“Yes.” Mammoth rumbled, one glazed and half lidded eye open and watching them.
“You are wearing his mask.” Jinx pointed out.
The unknown teen gave a dramatic pause, as if considering, “Point to the lady.”
“Who the crud is this suck-pirate?” Gizmo demanded grouchily, he hated being woken up before he’d gotten a full night’s sleep.
“The Headmistress sent me to retrieve you.”
“Yeah? …and what diptastic powers do you have that we don’t?”
“I don’t have any powers.”
“WHAT?!? I'm not getting rescued by some scuzzbucket hench-puke.” Gizmo grumbled, his whole face scrunching up in an attempt to look condescending. It didn’t work very well on a 10-year-old, he just looked like he was about to cry.
“Oh, were you planning on taking a relaxing time out in Belle Reve? ...or were you hoping Blackgate took minors, because nothing but max security is gonna keep you away from the headmistress’ punishment.”
Jinx couldn’t help fidgeting uncomfortably at that, “Is she angry?”
“She was showing actual emotion.”
The pink haired witch flinched. “We’re so dead.”
“Not my problem, I was just hired to escort you back.” He flipped gracefully out of the vent, landing silently on his toes and was followed by an oversized mechanical bee. “Buzz, tools.” The bee’s thorax popped open; it reached its six legs up into the cavity and produced a small bundle. The bee flew over and dropped its package into his waiting hand and he unrolled it into a set of delicate looking lock picks in various sizes and shapes. His fingers skimmed over the options and chose a few. It was the work of seconds for him to get her out of the cuffs. Jinx was impressed; she’d never seen someone handpick a lock so fast. Those with powers usually just blasted them off or manipulated them with magic. She rubbed the feeling back into her wrists and hands, taking comfort from letting her power spark freely over her fingertips.
“Buzz, adrenaline shot.” The bee produced a nasty looking hypodermic needle with a six inch tip. Their still unknown rescuer reached over and stabbed Mammoth directly in the chest, injecting the whole dose straight into his heart. Mammoth gasped and his eyes cleared and focused. He reached up and ripped the needle out of his chest, crushing it in his big meaty hand. He sat up and glared down at his unrepentant attacker. “Awake now?”
“Yes.” Mammoth growled in resentment, frowning even deeper as the smaller teen met his gaze and refused to back down.
“Did you have to stab him in the chest?” Jinx asked, peeking from between her fingers and relaxing when she saw that the needle had been put away.
“It’s not like an epi-pen to the thigh would have helped much.” He pulled out a different selection of tools and headed towards the cell door.
“We’ll take it from here.” Jinx hated feeling like a damsel in distress and sent a hex bolt whizzing past his head to blow the lock out. The door blasted open, off of its hinges and bounced off the opposing wall with an almighty clang. She cringed a bit at the sound. He just turned to look at her in amusement.
“This is why I was sent to get you out. You supes can’t do anything quietly.”
“Screw quiet, I want out.” Gizmo complained.
“You’re just lucky that I brought knockout gas with me and dosed the guards on my way in. You’d be sitting ducks otherwise.” He gestured pointedly at Mammoth who was wavering on his feet, the adrenaline barely fighting off the pharmacy they’d emptied into his veins. “I would think you'd want to avoid using your powers indoors and dropping another building on yourself tonight… but as I’m just a lowly henchman I’ll follow your lead.”
He bowed mockingly, “Ladies and children first.”
Jinx turned up her nose at his slight on her mistakes and stalked out of the cell, fists clenched and back ramrod straight. Gizmo tried to kick the teen in his shins but was easily evaded. Mammoth was doing all he could to stay upright and put one foot in front of the other. They continued on in that fashion, Jinx leading the way with Gizmo stomping after her, Mammoth swaying and weaving, leaving divots in the walls where he had bounced off and pulling up the rear was their rescuer. He radiated mocking amusement, like he was a babysitter keeping his eye on the kids as they went on an 'adventure'.
The back of Jinx’s neck prickled with awareness of his presence and gaze, even though his steps didn’t make much sound. She found herself constantly glancing into reflective surfaces and turning to check that he was still there. He moved like a phantom, and she had the feeling that he’d disappear if she took her eye off him for too long. Gizmo made them track down his fried Tech-Pak before they could leave, but they made it back to the HIVE Academy without any mishaps. Jinx found her pace slowing as they approached the Headmistress' office, her indignant stride away from the unknown threat behind her was hindered by the knowledge of the danger ahead of her. With a mocking smile at her faltering confidence, the self proclaimed henchman took the lead again and brought them before the Headmistress.
"That will be all, Anonymous, you may leave."
He sketched a passable but very sarcastic curtsey, dipping his head as he lifted an invisible skirt. With one last grin and flash of mocking brown eyes in Jinx's direction he was gone and they were alone in a room with a fire breathing dragon-lady. Jinx didn't know what the Headmistress' powers were, but she desperately hoped fire breathing wasn't one of them.
She almost wanted 'Anonymous' back. Her eyes narrowed in consideration as she thought of the new kid. He seemed familiar, but she hadn't ever spent any time getting to know the henchmen before. They were fodder, not friends or allies. She may have to re-evaluate that assessment.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Xander flopped back on his bed as Buzz returned to his place on the wallscreen. "Buzz, start a folder for Missions on the server and download all files about tonight's mission into it. Create a digital blueprint of the JCPD and add the footage to the database as well, update files on Jinx, Gizmo and Mammoth."
The robo-bug obediently started whirring and glowing as it compiled and sorted data.
"Buzz, do a general search, connections between 'Adeline Kane' and 'Slade'."
The bug beeped acknowledgement and continued processing.
Xander evaluated his night. His first mission was a success, almost pathetically so. He didn't even feel challenged enough to be proud of it. Now that he had time, he mulled over the deal he had made with the Headmistress. At first it could be considered a victory, but it felt hollow. Having saved the most gossiped about members of HIVE from their failure, he would be the talk of the school.
He had lost his anonymity, ironic that it was the name name the Headmistress had given him. Knowing their obsession with alter egos, Anonymous would be the name on every tongue tomorrow. He would be front and center in the collective conscious of the school. Everyone would peel back the shadows in order to watch him, talk about him and size him up as a threat. Overnight he would go from being a nobody to being a contender in the school ranking free-for-all competition he didn’t even care about.
If he was lucky everyone would be looking for him in costume form and amongst the henchmen. He’d chuck the costume and would be joining the supe classes. They'd be looking for a costumed identity so he would use his face as his mask. He would hide 'Anonymous' behind 'X'. If he couldn’t have anonymity, then he’d have to build a reputation for being unapproachable and untouchable. He would need to change his tactics, but he could still swing this.
He sighed. People were so much work, it was exhausting. He couldn't remember why he used to like them so much. He fell asleep to Buzz's eerie yellow glow and dreamed of being hugged by ridiculous fuzzy sweaters and aloe-lime scented red hair.
Fandom: BtVS/Teen Titans
Prompt: 422 - Pyrrhic Victory
Words: 1597
Warnings: Unbeta'd, (Let me know if I misspell Adeline Kane, due to the fact that I love the actress Adelaide Kane, I keep screwing it up)
Jinx was curled up on the thinly padded bench in the corner of the cell she shared with her teammates. Mammoth and Gizmo were sleeping. She almost envied them that. Mammoth was so heavily sedated that he didn’t care that they’d been arrested and Gizmo, no matter how intelligent he was, still had the body of a child and crashed hard when he ran out of energy. Jinx was too miserable to sleep. Their first mission out and it was a total failure. They hadn’t even managed the disgrace of a hasty escape. They’d been handed over to the JCPD and her hands were encased in specially designed metal mitts that covered everything from the elbow down. She couldn’t shoot off a hex bolt unless she wanted her hands to be crushed when the metal warped. Gizmo was a whizz with technology, but these were old school manacles. She sighed deeply and buried her face in her knees.
“No~body, knows the trouble I’ve seen, no~body knows my sorrow….” The faux deep voice made her jump and look around. There was a face peering down at her from an air vent high on the wall over her head.
“Billy?” Jinx peered up at the familiar mask above her.
“Do I look like that narcissistic self-multiplying hick?”
“Yes.” Mammoth rumbled, one glazed and half lidded eye open and watching them.
“You are wearing his mask.” Jinx pointed out.
The unknown teen gave a dramatic pause, as if considering, “Point to the lady.”
“Who the crud is this suck-pirate?” Gizmo demanded grouchily, he hated being woken up before he’d gotten a full night’s sleep.
“The Headmistress sent me to retrieve you.”
“Yeah? …and what diptastic powers do you have that we don’t?”
“I don’t have any powers.”
“WHAT?!? I'm not getting rescued by some scuzzbucket hench-puke.” Gizmo grumbled, his whole face scrunching up in an attempt to look condescending. It didn’t work very well on a 10-year-old, he just looked like he was about to cry.
“Oh, were you planning on taking a relaxing time out in Belle Reve? ...or were you hoping Blackgate took minors, because nothing but max security is gonna keep you away from the headmistress’ punishment.”
Jinx couldn’t help fidgeting uncomfortably at that, “Is she angry?”
“She was showing actual emotion.”
The pink haired witch flinched. “We’re so dead.”
“Not my problem, I was just hired to escort you back.” He flipped gracefully out of the vent, landing silently on his toes and was followed by an oversized mechanical bee. “Buzz, tools.” The bee’s thorax popped open; it reached its six legs up into the cavity and produced a small bundle. The bee flew over and dropped its package into his waiting hand and he unrolled it into a set of delicate looking lock picks in various sizes and shapes. His fingers skimmed over the options and chose a few. It was the work of seconds for him to get her out of the cuffs. Jinx was impressed; she’d never seen someone handpick a lock so fast. Those with powers usually just blasted them off or manipulated them with magic. She rubbed the feeling back into her wrists and hands, taking comfort from letting her power spark freely over her fingertips.
“Buzz, adrenaline shot.” The bee produced a nasty looking hypodermic needle with a six inch tip. Their still unknown rescuer reached over and stabbed Mammoth directly in the chest, injecting the whole dose straight into his heart. Mammoth gasped and his eyes cleared and focused. He reached up and ripped the needle out of his chest, crushing it in his big meaty hand. He sat up and glared down at his unrepentant attacker. “Awake now?”
“Yes.” Mammoth growled in resentment, frowning even deeper as the smaller teen met his gaze and refused to back down.
“Did you have to stab him in the chest?” Jinx asked, peeking from between her fingers and relaxing when she saw that the needle had been put away.
“It’s not like an epi-pen to the thigh would have helped much.” He pulled out a different selection of tools and headed towards the cell door.
“We’ll take it from here.” Jinx hated feeling like a damsel in distress and sent a hex bolt whizzing past his head to blow the lock out. The door blasted open, off of its hinges and bounced off the opposing wall with an almighty clang. She cringed a bit at the sound. He just turned to look at her in amusement.
“This is why I was sent to get you out. You supes can’t do anything quietly.”
“Screw quiet, I want out.” Gizmo complained.
“You’re just lucky that I brought knockout gas with me and dosed the guards on my way in. You’d be sitting ducks otherwise.” He gestured pointedly at Mammoth who was wavering on his feet, the adrenaline barely fighting off the pharmacy they’d emptied into his veins. “I would think you'd want to avoid using your powers indoors and dropping another building on yourself tonight… but as I’m just a lowly henchman I’ll follow your lead.”
He bowed mockingly, “Ladies and children first.”
Jinx turned up her nose at his slight on her mistakes and stalked out of the cell, fists clenched and back ramrod straight. Gizmo tried to kick the teen in his shins but was easily evaded. Mammoth was doing all he could to stay upright and put one foot in front of the other. They continued on in that fashion, Jinx leading the way with Gizmo stomping after her, Mammoth swaying and weaving, leaving divots in the walls where he had bounced off and pulling up the rear was their rescuer. He radiated mocking amusement, like he was a babysitter keeping his eye on the kids as they went on an 'adventure'.
The back of Jinx’s neck prickled with awareness of his presence and gaze, even though his steps didn’t make much sound. She found herself constantly glancing into reflective surfaces and turning to check that he was still there. He moved like a phantom, and she had the feeling that he’d disappear if she took her eye off him for too long. Gizmo made them track down his fried Tech-Pak before they could leave, but they made it back to the HIVE Academy without any mishaps. Jinx found her pace slowing as they approached the Headmistress' office, her indignant stride away from the unknown threat behind her was hindered by the knowledge of the danger ahead of her. With a mocking smile at her faltering confidence, the self proclaimed henchman took the lead again and brought them before the Headmistress.
"That will be all, Anonymous, you may leave."
He sketched a passable but very sarcastic curtsey, dipping his head as he lifted an invisible skirt. With one last grin and flash of mocking brown eyes in Jinx's direction he was gone and they were alone in a room with a fire breathing dragon-lady. Jinx didn't know what the Headmistress' powers were, but she desperately hoped fire breathing wasn't one of them.
She almost wanted 'Anonymous' back. Her eyes narrowed in consideration as she thought of the new kid. He seemed familiar, but she hadn't ever spent any time getting to know the henchmen before. They were fodder, not friends or allies. She may have to re-evaluate that assessment.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Xander flopped back on his bed as Buzz returned to his place on the wallscreen. "Buzz, start a folder for Missions on the server and download all files about tonight's mission into it. Create a digital blueprint of the JCPD and add the footage to the database as well, update files on Jinx, Gizmo and Mammoth."
The robo-bug obediently started whirring and glowing as it compiled and sorted data.
"Buzz, do a general search, connections between 'Adeline Kane' and 'Slade'."
The bug beeped acknowledgement and continued processing.
Xander evaluated his night. His first mission was a success, almost pathetically so. He didn't even feel challenged enough to be proud of it. Now that he had time, he mulled over the deal he had made with the Headmistress. At first it could be considered a victory, but it felt hollow. Having saved the most gossiped about members of HIVE from their failure, he would be the talk of the school.
He had lost his anonymity, ironic that it was the name name the Headmistress had given him. Knowing their obsession with alter egos, Anonymous would be the name on every tongue tomorrow. He would be front and center in the collective conscious of the school. Everyone would peel back the shadows in order to watch him, talk about him and size him up as a threat. Overnight he would go from being a nobody to being a contender in the school ranking free-for-all competition he didn’t even care about.
If he was lucky everyone would be looking for him in costume form and amongst the henchmen. He’d chuck the costume and would be joining the supe classes. They'd be looking for a costumed identity so he would use his face as his mask. He would hide 'Anonymous' behind 'X'. If he couldn’t have anonymity, then he’d have to build a reputation for being unapproachable and untouchable. He would need to change his tactics, but he could still swing this.
He sighed. People were so much work, it was exhausting. He couldn't remember why he used to like them so much. He fell asleep to Buzz's eerie yellow glow and dreamed of being hugged by ridiculous fuzzy sweaters and aloe-lime scented red hair.