Time is a Thief 6 - #423 - Chakra
Title: Time is a Thief 6
Fandom: BtVS/Teen Titans
Prompt: 423 - Chakra
Words: 2320
Warnings: Unbeta'd
Xander once read in Giles' books that everyone had the potential to do magic at a basic level, but fewer could actually become full blown practitioners. He had tested himself and was a little disappointed to find that he'd never be the Sorcerer Supreme, but he still had enough potential to be useful. He was determined to train that skill to within an inch of it's life and get the most possible out of it. Magic was a super-useful life hack and it could be a great ace in the hole against unsuspecting supes.
He thought he had a pretty decent grasp on the flow of vital energy within his body due to long hours with his shifu, meditating on his chakras. All he needed was instruction and practice in emitting it outside of his body in a useful and directed way without either: A - sending it to uselessly fizzle off into the air or B - accidentally killing himself by using up all of his energy, leaving none to keep him alive. In other words, he needed to learn spells and cantrips that he would be able to use even with his meager power levels. He used his newfound educational freedom to attend the basic, introductory level magic class. It had been out of his reach as a henchmen. Despite the disgust curling the lip of the head practitioner at his presence there was no comment made as he made himself comfortable in one of the seats at the back of the classroom. Obviously the Headmistress had held up her end of the bargain.
He made sure to arrive early for his first class, he wanted to get a good seat in one of the corners with his back against a wall, so he was surrounded on as few sides as possible. Being early also meant that he could better gauge the reactions to his presence as students filtered in one or two at a time. They were understandably surprised by his sudden attendance to their class in the middle of the term but no one approached him. They seemed nervous. He pulled out a communication device he had been working on for his engineering class. It listened to sounds too quiet for the human range and displayed any words it heard to its small screen. He pretended to be fiddling with the settings, aiming it at several different clusters of costumed gossipers and although the translation was nowhere near perfect he got a sense of what the whispered conversations were about. He put the device away and smirked, lounging back in his seat in obvious arrogance, trying to give the impression of a predator at rest.
They were talking about his lack of costume and speculating on who he was. As he was an unknown newbie, Xander had been prepared to have to fight for even a small bit of respect from the gossip mill, but for once things were going his way. The consensus seemed to be that he was like the Headmistress or the 'golden' trio. He was so powerful and dangerous that he didn't need a mask to hide his face because he could easily take care of anyone who crossed him. It was well known that only the most dangerous villains could afford to have their faces known. Xander smirked coldly at a young acolyte who was watching him curiously and she squeaked and turned away. She could have squished him like a bug, but so long as she didn't know that and feared his 'strength' she wouldn't even think of trying it. Neither would anyone else. It was the ultimate bluff.
The instructor attempted to humiliate him by inviting him to the front to help him demonstrate a spell for the class, but Xander politely and firmly refused. Hobbled by the Headmistress' orders to let the teen do what he wanted, the instructor reigned in his rage at being forced to back down from an uppity student and instead asked the class for volunteers. The way he'd backed off had the whole class whispering and seemed to confirm that the newcomer must be an untouchable Somebody if even the teachers were afraid to go against him.
For the most part Xander enjoyed the class, despite the instructor who seemed to be a prime example of the usually inaccurate cliche that teachers are people who could not use their skills competently in the real world. He was magically flashy and knew his stuff, but he didn't have any sense of presence. He was a petty, weak minded fool of a man who relied on theatrics to get respect. Not that Xander could point fingers over that. Some of the information they covered had been in Giles' books, but self-study couldn't hold a candle to face to face instruction. He could never risk attempting any practice in class or he would shatter his image of competence, but refusing classwork would continue to give him the illusion of power and being above it all. He could practice on his own in private, so that any backfires weren't as humiliating.
Halfway through their double-block the class was interrupted by a knock at the door. The instructor had worked himself into a rather volatile state by the disrespectful whispers and the irritation of Xander's presence at this point. He flung the door open with a twitch of his glowing hand and barked a sharp, mystically echoing, "WHAT!"
Jinx was standing in the hallway, looking humiliated. Even her perky pink hair-horns seemed to sag a bit and her mascara was reduced to day old smudges. She looked exhausted and upset. Xander wondered if she'd slept at all since the night before. He had been able to go straight to bed after the mission, but Headmistress Kane had looked like she was gearing up for a rant and the three baby villains wouldn't have been allowed to escape until she was satisfied. "The Headmistress wishes me to join your class."
There was a cruel gleam in the self proclaimed Grand Mage's eye as he realized that he hadn't missed his chance to humiliate someone this class period. "Oh, do tell. Why would such an accomplished mistress of magic such as yourself need such a basic class?"
Xander could see Jinx's hands bleach white with pressure where they were fisted at her sides. He wondered if she was trying to tamp down on anger or embarrassment. He figured it was anger when she met the petty, angry little man's eyes and spoke clearly. "The Headmistress feels that if I am going to make mistakes in the field and fail missions that have been assigned to me then I do not deserve the title of HIVE graduate and should be re-educated from the beginning."
There were snickers around the room as the little bastards delighted in her humiliation. Xander was begrudgingly impressed with her refusal to react to their taunting. Her skills actually did put her above these idiots, teacher included, in the way that he was pretending to be. They might delight in her downfall, but she would rise again quickly enough and he was very sure she'd never forget who had dared to laugh at her.
She silently stared down the weak mage's arrogant posturing until he shifted uncomfortably and covered himself by giving a grand and condescending gesture for her to take her seat. As if she was unable to see that there was only one seat open. The seat right next to Xander. She stalked down the aisle without making eye contact with any of the other magic users. Her eyes skated over his dark little corner before they shot back to him and narrowed.
She held her peace and waited until the 'Grand Mage' was sketching out a diagram in flashy holographic magic against the wall with his back to the class before she leaned over to hiss at him, "What the hell are you doing here?"
He grinned at her in amusement, "I am a student of the HIVE academy, where else would I be?"
"I thought you said that you didn't have any powers."
He dropped his grin, looking around to see if anyone was listening to their hissed conversation, "Everyone is capable of magic."
"Not enough to pass this class."
He noncommittally hummed his agreement. "How did you know it was me?"
"I recognized the 'amused at your pain and humiliation' look in your eyes from last night." She drawled flatly. "I'm not usually put in a position to see that look and it's only been a few hours since we last saw each other. It wasn't that hard."
The instructor turned around again and they were forced to break off their conversation. Xander felt her penetrating stare burning into the side of his head for the rest of the period and was mildly surprised that she rushed out the second class was over. He packed up his things slowly to avoid the crush of students exiting and sauntered out in his own time. He wasn't surprised at all to be dragged into a side corridor almost immediately. He could have snapped her wrist or thrown her, but he was curious what she would say.
"What do you want?" She demanded, pink hexfire flickering over her hand.
"I was about to ask you the same thing. I'm not the one dragging their peers into dark corridors. People might think we're doing unsavory things back here."
"We're villains. Everything we do is unsavory."
"Ah, that's where you're wrong. I'm not a villain. I'm a thief."
"They're the same thing!" She cried, exasperated.
"Not by half." He was getting tired of explaining this again and again. There was a very clear division in his mind. He didn't know why it was so difficult for others to grasp. It never occurred to him that his view of morality was unique to himself and the whole hero/villain dichotomy was seen differently by others. Then again most of the costumed set probably hadn't read as many comics as he had since they played right into all the worst tropes. With great power, and all that. It was unbelievable, but most people seemed to believe that Heroes were always good and Villains were always bad. Angel/Angelus had proven otherwise. No one could be trusted to always act one way or the other. People were more complicated than that. Maybe he needed to draw a graph for people. The Kinsey Scale of Morality. "Criminal, yes. Villain, no."
She stared at him incredulously, "Why are you even in this school then? If you have no powers and you don't want to be a villain."
"People without powers aren't powerless." Quicker than she could follow, he physically overpowered her and had her arms restrained safely pointed away from him. He he trapped her against the wall until she stopped struggling, "There are plenty of useful classes in this school that aren't 'Theory of Mayhem' or 'Death Threat Composition'. Heroes and cops don't care what your motivation is if you're on the wrong side of the law. I'm a survivor. I will do whatever it takes to thrive in ANY situation but just because I'm out for myself and society categorizes me as a villain, doesn't mean I have to accept or live up to the title."
"Train me and I'll teach you." She gasped, giving him pause.
"What?"
"You want to learn magic. I'm much better than that sorry excuse for a mage." He let her go and let her turn around to look him in the eye, backing away warily in case she started throwing magic at him. "You were right about my physical skills though. I've never been any good, it's why they teamed me up with Mammoth. He can take care of pretty much anyone we encounter. Teach me to move and fight like you do and I'll teach you to use whatever magic you have."
"Why should I?"
She grinned viciously, "Because otherwise I'll tell the whole school that you have no powers. How long do you think you can last with multiple squads of villains gunning for you?"
He floundered. He had started a file on her but, because he had been so detatched from the student body and it's members, the file was incomplete. The only embarrassing or damaging thing he knew about her was the failure against the Titans. The whole school already knew about that, so blackmailing her with it was impossible. He was stuck. He had nothing to hold over her and she was ready to expose him. She had no reason not to, with her recent humiliation she was hitting rock bottom. No matter how quickly she recovered, at this moment she had nothing to lose. She knew that she'd won and stared him down, waiting for his submission to her will. In that moment she reminded him of all the best bits of Queen C and Willow's resolve face and the steely look Buffy got in her eye that even Giles knew not to question. Finally, he ground out a gruff, "Fine"
"Great!" She pecked him on the cheek with exaggerated friendliness. "Don't look so sour, I'll go easy on you."
He watched her flounce off with her big goth boots clunking down the hall. They would be the first to go if she wanted any chance at stealth. He was furious with himself. He hadn't even managed to get through one day without someone figuring out who he was. With a huff, he sulked back to his room in defeat, collapsed face first into his bed and declared to his attentive robotic pet. "I hate people."
No one but Buzz and his ghosts saw the twitch of a smile that crossed his lips. Humans were by nature social creatures. No one could be completely alone forever. No matter what they thought they wanted.
-------------------------------
Note - This will NOT be Jinx/Xander. He needs a stable friendship before I start to build up a romance.
Fandom: BtVS/Teen Titans
Prompt: 423 - Chakra
Words: 2320
Warnings: Unbeta'd
Xander once read in Giles' books that everyone had the potential to do magic at a basic level, but fewer could actually become full blown practitioners. He had tested himself and was a little disappointed to find that he'd never be the Sorcerer Supreme, but he still had enough potential to be useful. He was determined to train that skill to within an inch of it's life and get the most possible out of it. Magic was a super-useful life hack and it could be a great ace in the hole against unsuspecting supes.
He thought he had a pretty decent grasp on the flow of vital energy within his body due to long hours with his shifu, meditating on his chakras. All he needed was instruction and practice in emitting it outside of his body in a useful and directed way without either: A - sending it to uselessly fizzle off into the air or B - accidentally killing himself by using up all of his energy, leaving none to keep him alive. In other words, he needed to learn spells and cantrips that he would be able to use even with his meager power levels. He used his newfound educational freedom to attend the basic, introductory level magic class. It had been out of his reach as a henchmen. Despite the disgust curling the lip of the head practitioner at his presence there was no comment made as he made himself comfortable in one of the seats at the back of the classroom. Obviously the Headmistress had held up her end of the bargain.
He made sure to arrive early for his first class, he wanted to get a good seat in one of the corners with his back against a wall, so he was surrounded on as few sides as possible. Being early also meant that he could better gauge the reactions to his presence as students filtered in one or two at a time. They were understandably surprised by his sudden attendance to their class in the middle of the term but no one approached him. They seemed nervous. He pulled out a communication device he had been working on for his engineering class. It listened to sounds too quiet for the human range and displayed any words it heard to its small screen. He pretended to be fiddling with the settings, aiming it at several different clusters of costumed gossipers and although the translation was nowhere near perfect he got a sense of what the whispered conversations were about. He put the device away and smirked, lounging back in his seat in obvious arrogance, trying to give the impression of a predator at rest.
They were talking about his lack of costume and speculating on who he was. As he was an unknown newbie, Xander had been prepared to have to fight for even a small bit of respect from the gossip mill, but for once things were going his way. The consensus seemed to be that he was like the Headmistress or the 'golden' trio. He was so powerful and dangerous that he didn't need a mask to hide his face because he could easily take care of anyone who crossed him. It was well known that only the most dangerous villains could afford to have their faces known. Xander smirked coldly at a young acolyte who was watching him curiously and she squeaked and turned away. She could have squished him like a bug, but so long as she didn't know that and feared his 'strength' she wouldn't even think of trying it. Neither would anyone else. It was the ultimate bluff.
The instructor attempted to humiliate him by inviting him to the front to help him demonstrate a spell for the class, but Xander politely and firmly refused. Hobbled by the Headmistress' orders to let the teen do what he wanted, the instructor reigned in his rage at being forced to back down from an uppity student and instead asked the class for volunteers. The way he'd backed off had the whole class whispering and seemed to confirm that the newcomer must be an untouchable Somebody if even the teachers were afraid to go against him.
For the most part Xander enjoyed the class, despite the instructor who seemed to be a prime example of the usually inaccurate cliche that teachers are people who could not use their skills competently in the real world. He was magically flashy and knew his stuff, but he didn't have any sense of presence. He was a petty, weak minded fool of a man who relied on theatrics to get respect. Not that Xander could point fingers over that. Some of the information they covered had been in Giles' books, but self-study couldn't hold a candle to face to face instruction. He could never risk attempting any practice in class or he would shatter his image of competence, but refusing classwork would continue to give him the illusion of power and being above it all. He could practice on his own in private, so that any backfires weren't as humiliating.
Halfway through their double-block the class was interrupted by a knock at the door. The instructor had worked himself into a rather volatile state by the disrespectful whispers and the irritation of Xander's presence at this point. He flung the door open with a twitch of his glowing hand and barked a sharp, mystically echoing, "WHAT!"
Jinx was standing in the hallway, looking humiliated. Even her perky pink hair-horns seemed to sag a bit and her mascara was reduced to day old smudges. She looked exhausted and upset. Xander wondered if she'd slept at all since the night before. He had been able to go straight to bed after the mission, but Headmistress Kane had looked like she was gearing up for a rant and the three baby villains wouldn't have been allowed to escape until she was satisfied. "The Headmistress wishes me to join your class."
There was a cruel gleam in the self proclaimed Grand Mage's eye as he realized that he hadn't missed his chance to humiliate someone this class period. "Oh, do tell. Why would such an accomplished mistress of magic such as yourself need such a basic class?"
Xander could see Jinx's hands bleach white with pressure where they were fisted at her sides. He wondered if she was trying to tamp down on anger or embarrassment. He figured it was anger when she met the petty, angry little man's eyes and spoke clearly. "The Headmistress feels that if I am going to make mistakes in the field and fail missions that have been assigned to me then I do not deserve the title of HIVE graduate and should be re-educated from the beginning."
There were snickers around the room as the little bastards delighted in her humiliation. Xander was begrudgingly impressed with her refusal to react to their taunting. Her skills actually did put her above these idiots, teacher included, in the way that he was pretending to be. They might delight in her downfall, but she would rise again quickly enough and he was very sure she'd never forget who had dared to laugh at her.
She silently stared down the weak mage's arrogant posturing until he shifted uncomfortably and covered himself by giving a grand and condescending gesture for her to take her seat. As if she was unable to see that there was only one seat open. The seat right next to Xander. She stalked down the aisle without making eye contact with any of the other magic users. Her eyes skated over his dark little corner before they shot back to him and narrowed.
She held her peace and waited until the 'Grand Mage' was sketching out a diagram in flashy holographic magic against the wall with his back to the class before she leaned over to hiss at him, "What the hell are you doing here?"
He grinned at her in amusement, "I am a student of the HIVE academy, where else would I be?"
"I thought you said that you didn't have any powers."
He dropped his grin, looking around to see if anyone was listening to their hissed conversation, "Everyone is capable of magic."
"Not enough to pass this class."
He noncommittally hummed his agreement. "How did you know it was me?"
"I recognized the 'amused at your pain and humiliation' look in your eyes from last night." She drawled flatly. "I'm not usually put in a position to see that look and it's only been a few hours since we last saw each other. It wasn't that hard."
The instructor turned around again and they were forced to break off their conversation. Xander felt her penetrating stare burning into the side of his head for the rest of the period and was mildly surprised that she rushed out the second class was over. He packed up his things slowly to avoid the crush of students exiting and sauntered out in his own time. He wasn't surprised at all to be dragged into a side corridor almost immediately. He could have snapped her wrist or thrown her, but he was curious what she would say.
"What do you want?" She demanded, pink hexfire flickering over her hand.
"I was about to ask you the same thing. I'm not the one dragging their peers into dark corridors. People might think we're doing unsavory things back here."
"We're villains. Everything we do is unsavory."
"Ah, that's where you're wrong. I'm not a villain. I'm a thief."
"They're the same thing!" She cried, exasperated.
"Not by half." He was getting tired of explaining this again and again. There was a very clear division in his mind. He didn't know why it was so difficult for others to grasp. It never occurred to him that his view of morality was unique to himself and the whole hero/villain dichotomy was seen differently by others. Then again most of the costumed set probably hadn't read as many comics as he had since they played right into all the worst tropes. With great power, and all that. It was unbelievable, but most people seemed to believe that Heroes were always good and Villains were always bad. Angel/Angelus had proven otherwise. No one could be trusted to always act one way or the other. People were more complicated than that. Maybe he needed to draw a graph for people. The Kinsey Scale of Morality. "Criminal, yes. Villain, no."
She stared at him incredulously, "Why are you even in this school then? If you have no powers and you don't want to be a villain."
"People without powers aren't powerless." Quicker than she could follow, he physically overpowered her and had her arms restrained safely pointed away from him. He he trapped her against the wall until she stopped struggling, "There are plenty of useful classes in this school that aren't 'Theory of Mayhem' or 'Death Threat Composition'. Heroes and cops don't care what your motivation is if you're on the wrong side of the law. I'm a survivor. I will do whatever it takes to thrive in ANY situation but just because I'm out for myself and society categorizes me as a villain, doesn't mean I have to accept or live up to the title."
"Train me and I'll teach you." She gasped, giving him pause.
"What?"
"You want to learn magic. I'm much better than that sorry excuse for a mage." He let her go and let her turn around to look him in the eye, backing away warily in case she started throwing magic at him. "You were right about my physical skills though. I've never been any good, it's why they teamed me up with Mammoth. He can take care of pretty much anyone we encounter. Teach me to move and fight like you do and I'll teach you to use whatever magic you have."
"Why should I?"
She grinned viciously, "Because otherwise I'll tell the whole school that you have no powers. How long do you think you can last with multiple squads of villains gunning for you?"
He floundered. He had started a file on her but, because he had been so detatched from the student body and it's members, the file was incomplete. The only embarrassing or damaging thing he knew about her was the failure against the Titans. The whole school already knew about that, so blackmailing her with it was impossible. He was stuck. He had nothing to hold over her and she was ready to expose him. She had no reason not to, with her recent humiliation she was hitting rock bottom. No matter how quickly she recovered, at this moment she had nothing to lose. She knew that she'd won and stared him down, waiting for his submission to her will. In that moment she reminded him of all the best bits of Queen C and Willow's resolve face and the steely look Buffy got in her eye that even Giles knew not to question. Finally, he ground out a gruff, "Fine"
"Great!" She pecked him on the cheek with exaggerated friendliness. "Don't look so sour, I'll go easy on you."
He watched her flounce off with her big goth boots clunking down the hall. They would be the first to go if she wanted any chance at stealth. He was furious with himself. He hadn't even managed to get through one day without someone figuring out who he was. With a huff, he sulked back to his room in defeat, collapsed face first into his bed and declared to his attentive robotic pet. "I hate people."
No one but Buzz and his ghosts saw the twitch of a smile that crossed his lips. Humans were by nature social creatures. No one could be completely alone forever. No matter what they thought they wanted.
-------------------------------
Note - This will NOT be Jinx/Xander. He needs a stable friendship before I start to build up a romance.