#also we were robbed of cyborgs with accents

[rain-candles-jazz]

Whumpcember 2022 day3: storm

(i'm still not great at knowing what needs to be tagged, so hit me up if I missed smth)

tw: body modification/cybernetics, panic attack (sort of)

005 stepped outside the sliding metal doors before they had fully stopped. For the first time since his kidnapping, he saw the sky *grey and dour* and smelled fresh air *lifeless and residually smoky*. The landscape that greeted him was pockmarked and brown; the testing ground for weapons, he knew.

He recalled the words of one of the scientists performing his daily physical earlier that morning. "They've finally deemed you repaired enough for testing." 005 had remained silent as usual. He had long been used to being treated as a commodity. The verbiage used by those he met in this facility merely stated it outright.

The scientist had smiled, bitterly it seemed. "You'll have the opportunity to meet your..." he grimaced, searching for the right word. "Teammates," he settled on.

No more information had been given to him. What good was there of informing a weapon of personal details…

Now, 005 planted his boots firmly on the desolate earth, watching as grey dust flew away from under him.

He heard the sound of more metal doors sliding open next to him, and out of identical small bunkers emerged 3 other humans, all dressed in blue uniforms and black boots like him. He turned to observe them as they all stepped next to him.

Immediately, the grey-haired man looked up to him with an earnest smile. "You muzt be 005.” The accent was strong, but 005 couldn’t immediately place it.

The blonde woman next to the first man leaned out a bit to look at him as well. "A pleazure to meet you," she smiled. 005 was sure, this time, of the French accent. “I am 003. Zis is 004," she motioned to the grey-haired man who nodded. "And 002," she motioned to her other side, where a red-headed man glared.

"Yeah, hi," was his only response. A fellow American, 005 noted the familiar dialect.

In response, 005 merely lifted a large hand in greeting. "Hello. You're right. I'm 005." He had adjusted quickly to his new "name". The name he had been going by before this wasn't his real name either, so it hardly mattered now.

004 turned his gaze to the sky. "Looks like it may rain. You better be careful up there 002." He glanced over to the American, who scoffed at his concern.

A short blaring alarm rang out, and 005 looked around for its source, then noticed that this didn't phase the others in the slightest. As soon as the sound ended, they began walking forward into the wasteland. 005 followed.

It wasn't too long before 003 stopped, closing her eyes and putting a hand to her ear. 002 and 004 immediately stopped to look at her. "Missiles," she said softly. "There are many, still being launched."

A moment of silence. "Well that doesn't seem very creative," 002 put his hands on his hips, unconcerned.

"Maybe they want something simple, to test out our new comrade here," 004 motioned toward 005 with a tilt of his head.

"No, there are too many of zem... I don’t know if they’ve ever launched zis many at once…" 003's eyes were closed, as though envisioning the coming weapons. "002, go now..."

005 looked toward the distance and saw waves of trails of smoke in the sky, a hundred of them or more, heading right for them.

In response, 002 wordlessly took a few steps back, and leaped into the air, blazing jets propelling him into the sky from his feet.

005 gazed in amazement as 002 flew off like a comet, out towards the incoming missiles.

004 stepped in front of 003 and removed a white glove from his right hand to reveal a metallic replacement, an awful polished thing that looked to 005 like a facsimile of both a human hand and a gun.

004 held his hand in front of him and looked at it with a frown. He turned his head back to 003, who was looking at him expectantly. "Ready when you are," he said as he turned back around face the oncoming barrage.

003 turned back to 005, who was standing back awkwardly, staring dumbstruck as explosions starting echoing out in the sky around 002, as he darted around them like a hummingbird.

"005," she said, her soft voice in sharp contrast to the impending chaos. "We do not know what ze Black Ghost has done to you." 005 had to admit that he wasn't even sure himself. "We will not ask you to fight with us... you do what you feel is right."

"What ever else happens," 004 added without turning around. "Do not let them take your humanity."

With that, 003 began calling out coordinates of missiles 002 had been unable to intercept, and 004 fired his hand into that area, destroying bomb after bomb high in the air

005 was stunned,and he took another step backward, away from these strange people, away from these explosions and gunfire... these... tests??

"There’s just too many!" 003 yelled, crouching, both hands in a vice around her head.

"003! Focus on the closest ones!" 004 yelled, now firing wildly at the missiles that were close enough to see.

"002, no!" 003 exclaimed before an explosion that dwarfed the others rang out from the sky. 005 saw a pillar of smoke descending as what was surely 002's limp form plummeted toward the ground.

004 growled as a wall of missiles now dropped toward them, unabated. He continued firing all around without 003's direction. A bomb heading right toward them was nearly upon them when 004 hurriedly aimed and fired. The missile exploded, too close to the group. 004 and 003 were thrown back behind 005, both landing hard.

003, having been shielded by 004, sat up and wincing with mental pain, crawled the short distance to 004, who was unresponsive. The missiles kept falling around them, and 003 closed her eyes and tried to shield her friend with her own body as another seemed to fly directly toward them.

There was an explosion, but no pain, no concussing force or blinding light. 003 looked up to see 005, hands outstretched, eyes closed in expectation. Smoke was rising from his back. "005," she whispered in amazement. "You are a shield."

005 opened his eyes. He was alive... more than that, he was alright. He turned to face the remaining barrage and took a step forward. Another missile hit his chest, and though it pushed him backward a bit, he was standing and unhurt.

"Its almost over!" he heard 003 yell to him.

Without any more hesitation, 005 defended his teammates from the remainder of the missiles. He blocked them with his body and even punched a few right out of the air like flies. At last, the explosions fell silent, and 005 still stood, panting, but mostly unharmed.

003 stood up, 004 leaning an arm over her shoulders for support. They limped up to where he stood, gazing over the newly wrecked landscape. "005," came 003's soft voice again. "Thank you... for protecting us." 004 nodded in agreement.

005 dipped his head back silently in response, his face a mask of emotionlessness… he was quite unsure of how to process all this…

"Well," 004 grimaced as he spoke, regaining his footing and releasing 003's support. "I suppose we should go pick up 002." He gazed off in the direction 002 had landed.

They had only taken a few steps before 002 emerged from over a crater. He was burned and sparks flew from a leg before he fell flat on his face in front of them. 005 stepped up to his prone form. "Are you alright?"

002 gripped the dirt in front of him as another spark shot off from his legs. He gritted his teeth, and through them said, "I'm fine."

005 bent down and picked 002 up effortlessly, cradling his knees and shoulders in an arms carry. 002 was not pleased with this. "Hey! Put me down ya lummox!" He kicked his one functional leg in protest, but 005 was un-phased. As 004 and 003 smiled at 002's antics, 005 began carrying him back the base from which they had begun.

They walked in silence as 002's protests wound down, only punctuated by a roar of thunder.

003 looked up. "Ze rain is about to start."

About 30 seconds later, she was proven right. The bottom dropped out of the clouds, and 005 froze. He slowly lowered 002 down to his feet but stayed crouching.

"Hey, what's wrong?" 002 didn't move away. 004 and 003 watched in concern.

005 stared at the ground as if in a daze. Something wasn't right. He didn't know what the scientists had done to him, didn't know why explosions and high impact metal hadn't hurt him. All he knew now, was that each drop of water that touched his skin felt like a needle being driven clear to his bones.

He clenched his hands in front of himself as the pain continued, non-ending. He was a tough man - he needed to be, his whole life. He had been through a lot of pain, but this... this wasn't natural...

In spite of himself, he clenched his teeth and brought his hands to his chest, bending further down, attempting to shield as much of himself from the rain as possible.

"Somethings not right," 004 stepped next to 002 and knelt down. "005, what’s wrong?" he reached out to put a hand on 005's shoulder.

The overwhelming feeling of the cold needles was suddenly breached by a blunt burning on his shoulder. 005 jumped back from it with a gruff cry and landed on his rear.

004 looked confused. 002's face was contorted in worry. "What's going on with him?!"

003 stepped over to 005, who had settled into a fetal position on the ground, breathing hard. She reached for him, then thought better of it.

"It must be a reaction of some sort. We've all had them..." she looked back towards the other two who looked down in remembrance of their own experiences. "It must be his skin... ze rain is hurting him!" She looked around for anything to shield him but could find little in the bombed out wasteland.

Suddenly, the metal doors of their still far off metal bunkers opened, and groups of heavily armed and armored soldiers marched out towards them. 003 stood up in front of 005. 004 and 002 limped over and did likewise.

The soldiers quickly ran out to the group and surrounded them. "Time to go back home cyborgs," one said through a helmet.

"We will," replied 003 bravely. "But 005 is hurt. Pleaze be gentle with him!"

"Alright, alright," the lead soldier responded, a bit sarcastically and beckoned for them to walk toward their respective bunkers.

The group looked not like an elite group of humanoid weapons, but like a trio of drowned rats. 004 was in front, a mild swagger to his walking as the dizziness from his concussion had not yet abated. 002 walked slower behind him, a hopping limp attempting to alleviate any additional pain to his busted leg, which began again to crackle with sparks that caused him to pause and grimace with each one. 003 had only a mild headache to bear from the test, and she felt guilty enough about this to walk behind her comrades to ensure they got back to base. The soldiers didn't like the cyborgs to help each other when they were present, so she was doing all she was able.

The solders approached 005, who had his eyes clenched so tightly that he was weeping; it was barely noticeable in the downpour. One man reached down to grab 005 by the arm to haul him away, and 005 roared with pain. The three other cyborgs turned in alarm as 005 reared up and swung a colossal fist into the man's chest, flinging him backward.

A group of them now surged forward to pile on 005, who thrashed with each touch. "NO NO NO!" he yelled as men flew back from him with each tantrum.

003 trotted back to the scene but was too late to prevent the inevitable. A crackle of electricity poured out from a few of the soldiers' handheld weapons, made more dramatic by the unceasing rain. "NO!" she screamed, unable to stop any of it.

005 yelled even louder, falling to the ground hard. He growled with one last effort and all fell silent... except for the sound of raindrops on the earth. 005 had been shocked unconscious, which was painful and the default method for dealing with unruly cyborgs. 003 looked back to see 002 and 004 looking forlornly at the ground.

"Great," one soldier groaned. "Now we have to friggin' carry him back to base."

003 closed her eyes and turned back around to join the others in the march back to base. She looked over her shoulder one more time in sympathy toward 005. She felt very sorry that he had been roped into this predicament with them.

[fancoloredglasses]

The two 90s Sonic the Hedgehog series (like that wouldn’t be confusing)

[All images are owned by Sega and DIC animation. Please don’t sue or Roboticize me]

(Thanks to TheNawaf258)

One cannot understate the importance of the spiny mammal with the freakish blue spines and even more freakish speed that bust onto the scene when Sega introduced the Genesis in the early 90s. Before Sonic, a certain company whose mascot was a certain plumber ruled the home video game market. Now we had a contest!

In fact, Sonic’s popularity was so huge that in 1993 not one, but two animated series were created by DIC Animation! The first, The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, made the weekday syndicated circuit.

(Thanks to Choones The Train Driver)

The series follows Sonic (voiced by Jaleel White, who played Steve Urkel in Family Matters) and his best friend (introduced in the second Sonic game) Miles Prower (a play on “Miles per Hour”) AKA “Tails” (so nicknamed due to the fact that he has 2 tails that he can spin like a propeller, enabling him to fly) as they defend the planet Mobius from...

Dr. Robotnik and his primary cybernetic cohorts...

...Grounder (left) and Scratch.

The plots (and gags) are straight out of Looney Toons. The bad guys are complete idiots who are easily thwarted by Sonic and Tails.

This series was definitely designed with the under-10 crowd in mind. As I was easily double that in ‘93, I wasn’t overly impressed with the series. However, if you would like to watch the series, it’s available on Netflix.

If I was less than thrilled at Sonic’s impression of Bugs Bunny, what DIC produced for the Saturday morning crowd was the exact opposite!

(Thanks to 90sCartoonIntros)

Sonic the Hedgehog sets a vastly different tone than Adventures does, making it in my opinion vastly superior to its weekday version.

Jaleel White again voices Sonic (just to add to the confusion), but this time he’s one of the inner circle of a group of freedom fighting animals attempting to free Mobius from...

...Dr. Ivo Robotnik (voiced by Jim Cummings, whose voice credits are too numerous to list but is the voice of Winnie the Pooh (and Tigger too!) since the late 90s), who has transformed most of the world’s inhabitants into cyborgs enslaved to him. Alongside his robotic army, Robotnik has transformed Mobius into a dystopian hellscape. Unlike the weekday kiddie fare in which Robotnik was trying to take over Mobius, he has actually succeeded and is the evil overlord of the world! Yes, this version of Robotnik is actually menacing, as opposed to a fat, bald Yosemite Sam in the weekday version.

Assisting Sonic in his fight are...

Princess Sally Acorn (voiced by Kath Soucie, who voiced Phil and Lil in Rugrats), the leader of the Resistance and the closest thing to a love interest Saturday Morning fare could show.

Antoine Depardieu (voiced by Rob Paulsen, who voiced Yakko Warner in Animaniacs and Raphael in the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series), the incompetent comic relief who speaks in a stereotypically bad French accent and more than a little jealous of the attention Sonic gets from Sally.

Bunnie Rabbot (voiced by Christine Cavanaugh, whose many voice credits include Dexter in Dexter’s Laboratory and Chuckie in Rugrats), who is full of Southern charm and sass. She also had a run-in with Robotnik somewhere in her past, which resulted in her getting bionic legs and a bionic arm.

And of course you can’t have Sonic without Tails (voiced by Bradley Pierce, who voiced Chip in the animated Beauty and the Beast and played Peter in Jumanji) since they shared a video game together.

There is a definite edge, a sense of danger, and a small bit of body horror (when you consider there are living beings trapped within some of those robotic shells) to the series. If it was made with an older audience in mind, things could’ve been taken a bit farther, but it was the early 90s and Gargoyles and X-Men were still a few years away (and Batman: the Animated Series was still a new concept)

If you would like to watch an episode, it’s available on Roku.

As always, if you would like to see a particular episode reviewed, let me know!

[bloggerspam]

Well. Since you guys have so thoughtfully given me plot and lots of things to think about....(blame the HH server for the unexpected lore and ships in this one)

-----

"Oh! Yes. This is sensible." Starfire nods, as if that statement wasn't entirely baffling.

Dick wonders, not for the first time, if this new person of interest actually is alien in nature despite his earlier comment. 

"Our new friend is clearly still tired. He should be conserving energy, not expending it to force the food to submit. We shall ensure this meal is already subdued for him, yes?" Starfire floats up, heading over to Cyborg to look over the monitor on his arm as he orders pizza.

Dick shakes his head, fond as he watches his girlfriend pick out toppings, before facing their guest.

He still looks hesitant and flighty, though the only evidence showing is his eyes darting around towards the exits and his hands twitch whenever his gaze lands on Raven.

He's running from something, that much is clear. Is someone hunting him for his powers? Focus, Dick. He clears his throat.

"So....we never actually got your name." Dick softens his voice,

Their guest jolts, tilting his head as if thinking. "I...I guess I didn't." His voice is light, airy, but he does not reveal his name. Interesting.

That means he has an identity to be careful of. Definitely not an alien, then. A meta. He glances at Beastboy, and as silly as the green boy is, he understands the gravity of meta-trafficking. BB nods, entirely unsubtle. Dick rolls his eyes inwardly.

Thankfully their guest is avoiding looking directly at Raven, and as a result also not looking at the meta standing in front of her.

"Let's start easy," Dick says, changing the subject when the silence has dragged on. None of them mention that names are usually the easiest part. "Where are you from?"

Their guest shifts, clearly thinking of how to answer. “....I'm from the midwest. Accent not enough of a clue?" Their guest smiles nervously, still a little uneasy. 

"I mean, Rob over here probably knew. He knows everything." Beastboy cuts in, jabbing a thumb at Dick and rolling his eyes to show how impressed is by it, which is to say: none.

Dick scoffs. BB can pretend all he likes, Dick knows BB is impressed.

Their guest looks over at Dick, eyebrows raised, and he resists the urge to fidget as he's eyed thoughtfully. He's being measured, and Dick refuses to blush or be cowed. He thinks about their guest punching a Robot 5 times his size through a wall, about the flying, about him in the middle of a panic attack and still being able to disarm their security systems in fifteen seconds flat.

"Everything, huh?" Dick could swear his eyes flashed green, and he tried not to shiver. Instead of....all of that, Dick crosses his arms and raises a brow, smiling a bit sardonically. 

"Clearly not, hence the questions." He jokes, and is rewarded with a soft smile. Their guest relaxes at the gentle banter, leaning back into the sofa. The blanket wrapped around him slips, revealing his long line of his surprisingly muscled torso. 

Dick blinks. Where did that come from? He shakes his head, clearing his thoughts. 

“Okay, well. How are your injuries? We didn’t want to aggravate anything while you were asleep.” We weren’t sure if you would freak out from waking up in the medbay again is what he doesn’t say. 

Their guest blinks, closes his eyes, tilting his head back and forth as if taking stock. After a moment, those icy blue eyes open with another nervous smile. “I think I’ll be okay. The robots didn’t really hurt me, I was just…” He trails off, turning away and looking down. Dick can see a blush rising to his ears, and it spreads to his cheeks. The blush highlights a plethora of freckles Dick didn’t notice before. 

“You were just..?” Dick prompts, rapidly thinking of possible scenarios of a runaway meta. Each one was worse than the previous. 

“....I was just hungry. And sleep deprived.” Their guest finally mumbles, hunching down and re-wrapping himself in the blanket. 

There’s a beat of silence, before they all laugh at that. Much to the chagrin of their guest. 

“Well, it’s a great thing pizza’s on the way then.” Cyborg beams a rakish smile.

“And that you got a nap in.” Raven smirks, floating closer to the chair next to the sofa. BB follows, sitting on couch next to their guest.

Starfire is clapping gleefully, cheering about the pizzas and nap along with Beastboy. He feels a pang of guilt seeing her pretty smile and bright eyes. His girlfriend, the perfect girl, is right there and here he is, noticing some random guy. He’s not even gay! 

Well. He doesn’t think he’s gay at least. His girlfriend floats over to his side with a giggle and he feels his heart do a little stutter. Yeah, definitely not gay, he sighs dreamily in his mind. 

“So, like, seriously though, new guy. What’s your name? I can’t just keep calling you ‘dude,’ Raven says it’s rude.” Raven huffs but doesn’t deny it. Their guest seems to ponder that, untangling himself and, strangely enough, inspecting his own clothes and hands. 

He sighs, before looking at BB resignedly. “Weird question before that, what color is my hair and my eyes?” BB tilts his head like a puppy, but goes along with it anyway. 

“Uh, it’s black and blue buddy.” Their guest puts his face in his hands, groaning. Dick can hear him muttering you’ve done it now., dumbass which confuses them all. 

“It’s Danny. You can call me Danny.” Starfire squeals, does that cute little fist shaking thing she does when she’s excited.

“It is very nice to meet you, Friend Danny! And your fighting was most courageous.” Danny blushes then, looking wide-eyed at Starfire, that same admiration from earlier coloring his expressions. Dick leans back, smirking, because yeah—his girlfriend is awesome. 

“Thanks.” He coughs, clearly embarrassed, before blinking. “...Friend?” 

“Yes, friend! You are sure now, yes? I think you are the Cool, you think I am the Cool, and we will not keep you prisoner here! That was the only hesitation, correct?” Star asks, hopefully. Dick’s heart melts, and looking at Danny’s face,  he’s guessing his does too.

“...Right. Friends.” Danny fiddles with the blanket again, suddenly looking a little wistful, maybe even sad. 

“You are sad. Is it not a good thing? To be friends?” She asks, clearly noticing Danny’s melancholy. His head shoots up, panicked. 

“No, no! It’s great! It’s awesome, I’ve always wanted to be your friend since–well, since I first saw the Titans on TV.” Danny scratches the back of his head, shy. “It’s just…well. I just miss my friends, is all.” His voice slowly loses volume, but they all hear it anyway. 

Before any of them can break the sudden awkward silence, the doorbell chimes and BB perks up into dog form before shooting off to no doubt grab the pizzas. 

Cyborg coughs then, drawing attention back to him. “So. Was it just Starfire that you wanted to be friends with?” Cy smirks, crossing his arms and waggling his eyebrows playfully.

Danny turns that fetching shade of red again, freckles once more making themselves known. He doesn’t answer, eyes darting to each Titan, before looking up to the ceiling with a groan. Everyone laughs at that again. 

“Boys.” Raven scoffs, though she’s smiling and clearly joking. 

“Listen. Listen. It’s not–it’s not what you think okay? I really like space. I’m the same way with Martain Manhunter, and even Superman. Wonder Woman too, but only because I know her—” He stutters a bit, “---her history as a warrior of Themyscira.” Strange. He was clearly about to say something else, but Dick can’t really fathom what. 

Just then, BB comes walking back in with an absurd amount of pizzas stacked in his arms. They all settle, crowded around the coffee table in chairs or sofas or on the floor in BB’s case. 

Danny is somehow squished on the sofa between him and his girlfriend, and Dick is somehow not even angry about it. 

Danny and Starfire are talking about Tamaran, and its culture and foods. Danny is rapt, asking question after question and taking each answer in stride. 

“So you absorb UV radiation? I wonder why your starbolts are green then…” Danny mumbles to himself as he stuffs another slice of pizza into his mouth. 

“What do you mean?” Cyborg cuts in, confused. 

“Well, If her physiology is dependent on UV radiation, it should be purple, or more precisely ultra-violet, hence UV.” Danny answers, absentmindedly as he is clearly deep in thought. 

“Aren’t her beams green because her eyes are green?” BB asks, he looks at his own green skin, wonderingly. That brings Danny up short. 

“...Huh. You know, that’s a good point. I guess that’s why Fruit Loop’s was pink…” He mumbles.

“Fruit Loop?” Raven asks, confusion clear on her usually stoic face. Danny flaps a hand at her, dismissive, but his body is tense as if he hadn’t meant to say that. 

“Don’t worry about it.” Dick would very much like to worry about it, but he’s not sure how to broach the subject without having Danny try and bolt. 

The TV program they’ve had running in the background for ambient noises suddenly starts obnoxiously singing, causing everyone to flinch. Cyborg shuffles the channels, before landing on the local news of yesterday’s incident.

“Oh hey! We’re on TV again!” BB cheers, fist pumping. Just then, a clip of a child fallen down on the ground plays, a robot about to step on them. Danny can be seen, running up out of nowhere and stopping the foot with one hand, he scoops the kid into his free arm, talking softly to the boy, before heaving the foot off. He runs off with the kid, before the scene cuts again to Danny jumping off a roof and punching a robot down into the ground, landing in a neat little crouch. He’s not even breathing hard. Dick shivers, watching text at the bottom scroll from left to right.

“A new super on the scene?” Raven reads, intrigued, and turns to Danny to clearly ask if he’s related. 

Except Danny is frozen, scared. His eyes are dilated, like he’s being hunted. He shoots up, patting himself down, and folding the blanket that was on his lap. 

“I–I gotta go. Sorry I can’t answer anymore questions.” Danny says, turning towards Raven. “Could you uh, let me out? It’s your magic, right? That’s preventing me?” 

Dick is standing, had shot up when Danny did out of vigilance and habit, and is just about to try and reassure Danny before he realizes he’s stuck. 

The pizzas are gone now, and he promised they weren’t gonna keep Danny from leaving. Shit. He looks over at Cyborg, who shrugs helplessly. He looks over at Starfire, but she’s already floating towards Danny, who is walking closer to Raven and holding out a hand to help her up from her chair–even though Raven could just float. 

“Perhaps we can help? You are…you are afraid, yes?” Starfire tries, but Danny ignores her. 

Raven looks at Dick, but he doesn’t…he doesn’t know what to do. They want to help, clearly they all want to help, but if Danny doesn’t want to…He nods at her, defeated. Raven takes a deep breath, but takes Danny’s hand anyway.

And then Danny’s eyes flash green at the same time Raven’s glow white. It was just a moment, but the brightness was unmistakable. Both of them gasp, Raven collapsing back and Danny stepping away. 

They stare at each other wide-eyed, but this time their expressions are of shock and bewilderment. 

“You….” Danny says, breathless. “How are you sane with that thing inside you?”

Raven tenses, but her stare doesn’t stray, “Who are you? He…he went quiet.” Her voice cracks, and black light flickers and snaps around her as she struggles to keep her powers at bay. 

Danny lunges forward, causing BB to defensively crouch up, but all Danny does is hold her hand again. The lights stop flickering, and she breathes a little calmer. 

There’s a long moment, where Danny searches her eyes. He dons a determined look, the same look he had when he saved that kid out on the street, fear long forgotten. 

“You’re one of mine. And I protect what’s mine.” He says solemnly, nonsensically. It should sound possessive, creepy even. But the weight of his words…Raven nods slowly, before catching herself. 

“I’m bound to him, by blood.” Raven shakes, “I’m…He’s…”

Danny looks furious now. “But you want him out. You want him gone. Your family, your real family, it’s them, isn’t it?” Danny sweeps an arm at the rest of the Titans, who have frozen in confusion. Raven slumps, eyes clenching tight. She shakily nods. 

Danny, permission granted, eyes her–darting from all over her body, before settling on the marking on her forehead. He looks at his free hand, flexing it and taking a deep breath. He places his palm over the mark, and Raven’s expression smooths out, almost trance-like, and both their eyes glow again. 

There’s another long moment, where they stay like that and the Titans—the Titan’s just watch. 

Danny growls, suddenly, voice almost inhuman and staticky. That anger is still there, but he smirks. 

“Shut the fuck up, old man. She’s mine before yours.” The last part is hissed, before the lights flare out, and they’re both breathing deeply. Danny even collapses on one of his knees. 

Raven is—Raven is crying. 

“Raven!” They all yell, suddenly snapped out of their own trance, and all frantically trying to figure out if Raven is okay. 

“He’s….he’s gone.” Raven whispers, can barely be heard. She looks up at Beastboy, forefront of the group with his hands on her shoulders in pure frantic worry. She smiles shakily at him, reaching for him into a hug. 

Beastboy holds her, softly asking, “Who?”

“Trigon.” 

Everyone is speechless at that. Trigon? Gone? Just like that?

Suddenly Raven jolts up, looking around before her gaze lands on Danny. 

He’s still on his knee, but he’s farther away than he was before. He’s clutching at his head with one hand, and using his other hand to keep himself up right by bracing it on the floor. 

He’s also heaving. He looks up when he feels everyone’s gaze on him.

“I….I might need another….nap….” He grits out, before his eyes roll into the back of his head and he passes out.

After being on the run for a long time, Danny somehow stumbles his way into the middle of a fight. This leads to him joining the Teen Titans (much to his confusion).

[thank-you-for-the-vampire-money]

RED DAWN (Part 1- The Red Skulls)

Series Summary: The world is taken over by the Zola Virus, infecting people and turning them into zombies.  You and your team join forces with the “Avengers” to find a way to stop the end of the world.

A/N: idk if this will be a one-shot series or a real series or a weird combination of both, but we’ll see

Steve x reader

Word count: 1377

Summary: You thought you were the only surviving humans left in Sokovia... guess not.

Warnings: end of the world, zombies, violence, gun use, mention injuries, standard apocalypse stuff

(GIF not mine)

    It was eerily quiet.  Normally there was at least the sounds of insects humming to fill the forest air.  But here, it was silent.  There were definitely some around here.  “Get ready, they’re probably waiting for us, we can't let them catch us off guard,” you whispered to your team, loading your machine gun and tossing the extra ammo back into your utility belt.

    Wanda’s hands twitched, sparking the eerie red glow from her fingertips as her brother, Pietro, got ready to run.

    Dr. Strange pulled out his shotgun and loaded in the shells as quietly as he could, handing some to Okoye.

“No thank you, guns are too primitive,” she whispered confidently, spinning her souped-up spear and getting into ready-position.

    A loud growling noise put you all on alert as you shot one of those infected, zombie freaks in the face.  It all happened so quickly, none of you were ready for the zombie about to attack Carol.

    She was quick to turn around, quickly blasting it through the neck with her advanced photon gun.  Blood exploded all over her clothes as she turned her face away.  Don't want to get infected with the Zola virus too, do you?

    “AMBUSH!” you cried, seeing the tons of other zombies surrounding your team.

    Everyone started shooting, aiming as well as they could for the head to kill them, despite the sudden jump into action.  Wanda was using her mutant powers to throw them off other team members and make them explode mid-air, Pietro using his super-speed to slice through zombies before any of the creatures had a chance to fight back.

    Okoye stabbed them through their faces, using the steel toes and spiked heels of her boots to crush their skulls.  Carol was right beside her, using her photon blaster to implode the zombies/ heads off.  Strange was by your back, using the sawed-off shotgun to shoot any Red Skulls that threatened to gang up on the other team members.

    “There’s too many!” Pietro screamed, chopping one’s head off with one swift swipe of a machete.

    “Keep going!  We have to kill these bastards!” Okoye replied, going over to help him.

    You took in the chaotic, wooded surroundings you all stood in, seeing the crowd of infected people circling around you, even climbing up the trees to jump and attack you.

    “(Y/N)!” Strange yelled as one pounced on you, knocking you prone.

    You tried to fight it off, but it’s mutated body was too strong.  You couldn’t chop his head off, it was right over your face, and if any of that blood got into your mouth or eyes, you’d get infected too.

    “Leave me behind!  I’ll be bait!  You go!” you screamed out to the others.  It was better one dead than all.   But your team didn’t listen; they weren’t going to leave a good man behind!

    Out of nowhere, the zombie attacking you was chopped in half at the waist, the two halves falling apart to the ground.  You looked up at your savior to see a man you didn’t recognize.  Tall, blond, only one eye, carrying an ax.

    “Need help?” he grinned, helping you up as he swung his ax to cut off the halved-zombie’s head.  “Always go for the head,” he smirked, continuing to decapitate the swarm.

    You grabbed your gun and started shooting, looking at the others to see that there were even more people you didn’t recognize had joined forces with you.

    A man was shooting them from within the trees, using a bow and arrow as he swiftly hopped from branch to branch like a monkey.  Another guy, in a techy-looking suit, was going around and blasting zombies as he flew like a jet.

    There was a huge, green man, smashing and snapping zombies in half like twigs- hopefully, that meant he was a good guy.

    A woman with bright red hair was shooting zombies in the face with her handguns, almost gracefully, like a ballerina,  There was also someone next to her.  It was a guy with a metal arm, shooting the freaks while calm as a cucumber as if he was on a relaxing bird watching trip.

    Then… then there was the clear leader of the group, shooting zombies with a handgun in one hand, and decapitating zombies with a shield with the other hand.  He used it like a frisbee, ninja star, flinging it across the sea of Red Skulls, mowing off their heads like grass.

    “You!  Blondie!  Shoot the shield!” the man shouted at Carol as he crouched behind the red, white, and blue hunk of metal, “EVERYBODY ELSE, CLEAR OUT!”.  His team started grabbing members of your team to get them out of the way.

    Carol revved up the reactor gun, taking aim, and shooting at the star design at the center of his shield, ready to sacrifice herself in the blast-zone.  But the man in the metal tech-suit swooped her off the ground before the photon charge hit the target.

     The man barely moved as the sheer force of the blast echoed off his shield, ricocheting around the forest in a fiery orange glow.  The gong-like sound pounded in your ears as you watched the zombies disintegrate into nothing but dust.

“Everyone okay?” The tech-suit dude asked, setting Carol back down on the ground, safe and sound.

“I think everyone is okay…” you nodded.  The man with the shield nodded in agreement.

The big, green dude shrunk down into a normal-sized dude, putting his glasses back on.  “That was the biggest swarm of Red Skulls I’ve ever seen!” he gasped, turning to you, “good thing we came in to help, otherwise you would have been minced meat!”.

“Thank you, we owe you our lives,” you said, subtly saluting the other team, “if you don’t mind, I’d like to know the names of my saviors,”.

The man with the shield stepped up.  “I’m Steve, that’s my second in command, Bucky, our engineer, Tony, our scientist, Bruce…” he listed, pointing to the metal suit, green dude, and cyborg arm dude.  He turned to the redhead, eyepatch guy, and bow and arrow dude.  “That’s our stealth, Natasha, brute force, Thor, and stealth’s best friend, Clint,”.

“You got a whole team here,” you nodded, impressed, “this is Wanda, Pietro, Carol, Okoye, and Dr. Strange,” you said, gesturing to your team, “and I’m (Y/N),”.

“Wait, is he a real doctor?” Bruce asked, pointing to Strange, “we need one bad- we haven’t been able to find one that isn’t dead or occupied with other camps,”.

You stopped for a moment, ignoring his question.  “Wait, wait, wait... camps?  What do you mean, 'camps'?” you gasped, shaking your head in disbelief.

“Yeah, camps.  Y’know, none-zombified, communities sharing supplies and communicating with other camps? ” Tony explained, the suit opening for him to just casually step out.  He was a lot shorter than you thought he'd be.

“No, I know what camps are, but there’s one here in sokovia?” you asked, “we thought we were the only ones!  We were on our way up to France to see if we could find another group of survivors,”.

“We thought we were the only ones after the virus started here,” Wanda said, stepping out from behind her twelve-minute-older brother, “we were the only ones able to prepare ourselves,”.

“You mean you’ve been here since the infection started?  That was almost a year ago,” Bruce gasped, “how have you survived alone this long?  With only six people?”.

“Yo’ only have seven people,” Pietro pointed out, native Sokovian accent coming through.

“Well… we have more people at base… that’s why we need a doctor,” Bruce sighed, "can you help us?".

You paused to think for a moment.  Could you trust these people?  Bandit gangs were reported to have come south to raid empty towns, they could be tricking you to rob you blind.  “We’ll help you, in exchange for shelter as long as your patients are in Strange’s care,” you said.  That seemed like a fair deal.

“Stay as long as you like,” Steve nodded, signaling his group to lead the way, “our trucks are just up the hill, but be careful- if there was one swarm of Red Skulls, there’s definitely another one waiting to attack,”.

____________

TAGLIST: {feel free to ask to be on it}

[my-abibliophobia]

Favorite Teen Titans Cartoon Quotes

Raven: Thanks... my friends. Beast Boy: So we really are friends? Raven: Hmmm... (Nods yes) Beast Boy: Do you think I'm funny? Raven: ... Don't push it.

 (Beast Boy is standing outside Raven's room, reluctant to go in and apologize to her; he knocks once and very quietly) Beast Boy: Oh, well. Nobody's home. (Starts walking away whistling, runs into Cyborg) Cyborg: You might want to knock a little louder. (Cyborg bangs on Raven's door, causing it to break) Beast Boy: Now we both have to apologize.

 Starfire: (Puts down a hypnotized Beast Boy) I cannot awaken him. I have tried the tickling, all manners of bodily noises, and the word 'underpants'. I fear that this time his brain is lost forever! Raven: Beast boy had a brain? Beast Boy: (Wakes up and laughs) Ha ha!! Good one!! (Stops, glares) Dude! That's not funny! I totally have a brain!!! I just don't use it much....

 Raven: Beast Boy, don't make me send you to another dimension.

 (Starfire, Cyborg, Raven, & Robin are walking up alley towards Beast Boy) Robin: Careful, we don't want to hurt him. Raven: Speak for yourself!

 Beast Boy: Split up?! SPLIT UP?! DID YOU NOT SEE THE MOVIE?! When you split up, the monster hunts you down one at a time, starting with the good-looking, comic relief guy, ME!

 Starfire: Eeek! Someone's claws are on my grebnax! Beast Boy: Heh.. My bad.. Cyborg: There was a monster here, right? Robin: But where did it go? Starfire: And from where did it come from? Beast Boy: HELLO! Isn't it obvious?! The movie's cursed! Watching it opened a portal to another dimension! The monster came through the portal, now it's gonna hunt us down and eat us! AND I'M PROBABLY DELICIOUS!

 Beast Boy: Come on, Raven, you know I'm hilarious. I'm not gonna give up 'til you smile. Okay, why did the aardvark cross the road? Raven: To beat up the idiot telling jokes about him.(Cyborg, Robin, & Starfire laugh) Cyborg: Now THAT was funny.

 Beast Boy: (With a British accent) Smashing, love! Jolly good laugh... (He looks at the city skyline to see that it has been "Britainized," and screams) Oh, dear... I'm a Tommy, a limey, a Brit! Cyborg: Yo, Brit Boy, we could use a hand! Beast Boy: Right then, have at you! Raven: Could you please stop talking like that? Beast Boy: You're just jealous because I sound like a rock star.

 Cyborg: Chill out, y'all. The monster is just some dude in a costume. (Cyborg touches the monster) That's not some dude in a costume!

 Dr. Light: No one defeats Dr. Light! Raven: (Appearing behind him) Remember me? Dr. Light: (Looking terrified  I'd like to go to jail now, please. Raven: Next time you want to pick a place to rob, try and find one we can't see from our living room.

 Beast Boy: One fully, assembled Cyborg. Well, almost. (Cyborg is standing tall with all of his parts except his hands) Cyborg: Let's try to get the T-Ship flying. First, interlock the two pods. (Beast Boy just stands there dumbfounded) Roll them back together.

  Cyborg: I'll make this simple. Start by attaching the thermal coupler to the volt relay meter. Beast Boy: Um, could you make it more simpler?

 Cyborg: I've just gotta cross the conjoining wires with the transistor couplers, connect the oscillator to the main data port, and we're good to go. Beast Boy: Can't he ever just speak English?

 Cyborg: It's not rocket science. (Pause) Well, okay, maybe it is rocket science, but it's not that hard! Beast Boy: Look, it'd be a lot easier if you'd stop yelling at me in techno lingo!

 Robin: I don't think you understand. On our planet, "girlfriend" means -- Starfire: A female with whom you have a pleasant and special association, including the sharing of enjoyable recreation, and occasionally the buying of bountiful floral arrangements. Robin: ... Okay, maybe you do understand.

  Beast Boy: I hate to say it, but four-eyes has a point. My butt can't take much more kicking. Starfire: It can, and it will!

 Beast Boy: Okay, you're freaking me out here! The white robe and smile are weird enough, but hugs? Are you still... you? White Raven: Blue is still my favorite color, and don't get used to the smile, 'cause you're still not funny. Beast Boy: Huh? (Thinks for a moment, then hugs Raven) Raven! White Raven: Quit it.

 Cyborg: Mind telling me why you're always by yourself? Raven: You heard the kid. I don't exactly fit in. Cyborg: He's green, half of me is made of metal, and she's from space. You fit in just fine.

 Madame Rouge: Any final words? Beast Boy: (Sees the floor under her starting to crack) Yeah, I wouldn't stand there if I were you.

 Kid Flash: Sorry I'm late, I had to pick up a friend. (Jinx walks on screen; when she reaches the end of the stairs, Kid Flash looks at her and grins; she also smiles at him; the Hive Five freak out) Gizmo: You're with him?! Traitor! Kid Flash: You probably have some catching up to do. (Runs off to join the fight) Jinx: Nothing personal. (Attacks HIVE Five) Cyborg: Now, that was unexpected. (Control Freak nods; Cyborg punches him)

 Beast Boy: Dudes, check it out. (Freezes the Brain) Brain freeze! (Everyone groans)

[ipreferweird]

Reticent and Red in the Face

Jinx studied the monitor, drumming her fingertips against the arm of her chair as she thought of new attack formations. She had stared at the screen for so long that her own battle strategies began to look less like meaningful plans and instead coalesced into a giant mess of symbols. She closed her eyes for a moment, musing the idea of sleep when she felt it: a gust of wind alerting her of his presence.

“So I take it that 'Evil never sleeps' is more than just an expression for you bad guys,” Kid Flash said, and Jinx didn’t have to open her eyes to know that he had that irritating grin plastered on his face.

“You guessed it.” She replied a moment later, her eyes fluttering open after deciding that ignoring him wouldn't make him leave any faster. "Now you know our big secret: After becoming a level three villain, you no longer need to sleep."

"Too time consuming?" he asked, tilting his head.

"No," she replied, giving a small yawn. "It's just not evil enough."

He chuckled, happy to see that he had caught her in one of the rare moments that she wasn't annoyed by everyone else's existence—his in particular.

"In that case, you guys have it great," he said, leaning against the wall. "All we get after level three is a pat on the back and a golden star from Batman."

She snickered at the thought of the Dark Knight carrying around something as cheery as a sticker when she caught a glimpse of red in her peripheral vision.

"A rose," she said, slipping it out of her hair. "And its red," she deadpanned as she placed it on her lap. "What a surprise."

"You don’t like red?" He asked, running a hand self-consciously through his hair.

“No,” The villainess said quickly, shaking her head. “I don’t have a problem with red— “Well that’s good to hear,” Kid Flash said, letting go a sigh of relief. “But, just to clarify: you’re tired of roses?”

She closed her eyes again. “Slow on the uptake as ever, Flash. Yes, I’m tired of the roses.”

There was a fleeting moment of silence, and next thing Jinx knew, she felt a familiar breeze; Kid Flash was gone just as quick as he had come. The only indication that he hadn't been a hallucination brought on by lack of sleep wasn't the red rose, but instead the bright red apple that had been left in its place.

The next day she found a red crayon outside her room and a poem that had been written crudely with it. This crayon is red This paper is white We’d make a cute couple You know I’m right! --your favorite speedster, KF Taking a pink marker from her art set, Jinx sat down and wrote a poem in reply. You’re an idiot That poem was dumb, too Enter my room again And I’ll murder you —Your greatest enemy, Jinx She wordlessly slipped it under the door and went about her day. Another week went by full of strawberries, cherries, and cupcakes with red icing. Jinx didn’t mind though, and neither did the boys on her team. No one questioned where the boxes of goodies had come from, and no one seemed to care who sent them. It was, after all, more food for the team—and they didn’t even have to steal it, which everyone agreed was a plus. A few days after the red gifts started appearing, she and the rest of the Hive Five had surprisingly pulled off a successful bank robbery. As they rounded the street corner, Jinx heard the wailing siren of a police cruiser, cursing as she saw its blaring red lights. Jinx continued to swear as her pink eyes scanned for their parked getaway car. When she finally found the spot, she unleashed a piercing scream of frustration; instead of their getaway car, the only thing there was a small, red toy truck. “Mammoth,” She ordered, rubbing her temples. “Find a vehicle for Gizmo to hotwire. Now.” He nodded, being prompted to move quickly by the angry pink sparks that flickered around her frame. “Not that one!” she growled a second later, and he placed the toy truck back on the pavement before moving towards a yellow SUV.  

The day after the Hive Five broke out of Jump City Jail, someone set off the security system when they approached their doorstep. “I think it’s one of those cruddy Titans,” Gizmo shrieked, pulling up their live security cameras. Jinx perked up, leaning towards the screen as she expected to see a familiar face. But she sagged back against the wall once the image showed, cursing herself for the twinge of disappointment she felt when she didn’t see Kid Flash. This one was also a redheaded guy, but he sported a larger frame, an athletic build, and a focused expression that Jinx was sure she’d never catch the cocky speedster wearingl

He was obviously a hero, judging by the way he carried himself—shoulders back and head held high. The possibility of the Titans delivering an attack on their home base sent them into a frenzied panic, and the sound of the hero knocking on their steel door only worsened it and prompted them to take defensive stances.  Billy multiplied, Mammoth picked up a couch and prepared to hurl it; surprise or not, they were all ready to attack first. “Quiet, idiots,” Jinx muttered, readying her hexes as she approached the door. “I don’t think he’d ruin a surprise attack by knocking.” “What are you, crazy?” Gizmo shrieked, waving his arms. “You can’t let a hero in—“ With a press of a button, the door slid open, and the hero in question was standing before them. “Hello,” he said, giving a slight wave of his hand and prompting her expression to furtherly harden. If anything, his greeting had confirmed their worst suspicions: He was definitely a hero. “Are you, Jinx?” He asked, his cordial Russian accent not fitting his appearance. Jinx raised an eyebrow. “That depends, who’s asking?”

“My name is Red Star,” he said, extending a gloved hand, only for it to awkwardly fall back to his side when Jinx failed to shake it. Ignoring his hand wasn’t an act of impoliteness on Jinx’s part—at least not purposely—she was too busy realizing why the speeding idiot had sent this Titan to her base.   Red Star. Of course.

Red Star cleared his throat, removing a small box from behind his back. “I have a package from—”

“—from Kid Flash,” Jinx deadpanned, taking the red box and examining its yellow bow. “I Figured.”

She almost closed the door, but instead did something so uncharacteristic it frightened her onlooking team. “Um, thanks Red Star,” she said, the words tasting foreign on her tongue. Afterwards followed another awkward pause as Jinx racked her brain for a ‘nice’ way to end their encounter. “I’m going to go now,” she said at last, closing the door in his face as she took the—surprisingly—neatly wrapped box to her room. “Sorry that we asked you to look after Jump on such a short notice,” Robin said, sighing before adding, “Again.”

“Usually we don’t call for so many favors,” Robin said, running a last minute check on their security system. “But the Brotherhood’s been forcing us to travel all around the globe, and I don’t like leaving the city unmonitored— “

“It’s cool Robin, I wasn’t doing anything important.” Kid Flash said, rummaging through their refrigerator as if he was at home. “That is, unless you consider cleaning out the Justice League’s fridge important.”

Cyborg shook his head, “I still can’t believe you cleaned out our entire fridge during your last stay. You even ate Starfire’s weird Tamaranean Lortmog stuff.”

“It actually wasn’t that bad,” Kid Flash said, then in afterthought adding, “That is, after you pick out the crawling parts—“

“Well, thanks again KF,” Robin interjected, not wanting to hear about the monstrosity that was Starfire’s cooking. “Remember to check the security system periodically and to feed Silkie twice a day.” Robin paused. “Also, please keep your flirting to a minimum while you’re in Jump. And especially don’t flirt with the villains.”

Kid Flash’s eyebrows scrunch upward. “Why would I do that?”

“Maybe because tons of them are around our age and you’re you?” Robin suggested. “The Flashes are as famous for their flirtatious natures as they are for their speed.” Kid Flash rolled his eyes. “And the entire Bat family is known for their fixation with clowns and brooding. Seriously Robin, I’ve got this.” Robin frowned, noticing that Kid Flash didn’t promise to not flirt with criminals, but instead of pressing the matter, he placed a box into Kid Flash’s hands.

“This arrived on the doorstep for you earlier today,” He said, crossing his arms. “It didn’t have a sender label.” “Rob, come on dude,” Beastboy said, sticking his head in the doorway. “We’re gonna be late for Spain.” “By the way,” Robin said, turning before he left. “If that box has any puppets in it, burn them.” And with that he and his team left without another word or explanation.

Kid Flash flipped the box over, curious as to who would send him a gift. He decided it was probably from a fan, and hastily began tearing off the crudely wrapped decorative paper. A quick glance at the contents revealed the sender, and in a blur of red and yellow he was dashing towards the Hive Base.

���Really?” Kid Flash asked, eyebrow raised as he held Jinx’s gift—if you could even call it that. “A pink wet floor sign?”

“Think of it as a memento of the great times we’ve spent together,” Jinx said, fighting the upward tug she felt the corners of her lips give as she watched his stunned expression.

“Oh yeah,” said Kid Flash, smacking his forehead in mock realization. “I forgot how much I enjoyed the concussion you gave me the last time you had one these.”

“Luckily for me,” Kid Flash said, rummaging through the box, “The next time it happens we can have matching hair.” He waved the box of pink hair dye she gave him for emphasis.

“I figured that would be your favorite part of the gift,” Jinx said, twirling one of loose strands that fell from her horned hairstyle with a smirk. “I mean, pink is a great color, after all.“

“I’ll admit that it’s a nice color,” Kid Flash said, opting to examine the dye before his admirative stare at her hair became too obvious. “But red’s better.”

“No, it’s not.”

“It’s the color of sunsets,” Kid Flash pointed out. “And they’re pretty cool. “You mean boring,” Jinx corrected. “, and overrated.”

“Tulips are red,” Kid Flash said, and, as if to prove his point, he pulled one out of what seemed like thin air.

Kid Flash: Fastest boy alive, bane to her existence, bearer of flowers.

“Too bad that I’m allergic,” Jinx said, wilting the flower with a flick of her hand. “To both them and your pick-up lines.”

“Funny you should say that,” Kid Flash said, his blue eyes sparkling mischievously as his smirk grew even larger. “Because your cheeks turn pretty red when you hear them.”

Jinx tilted her head and quirked an eyebrow in reply, which only seemed to prompt Kid Flash to keep talking. “Everyone knows that super speed makes speedsters fast,” He said, taking on a wistful tone that Jinx wasn’t accustomed to hearing. “But everyone forgets that it also makes everything else seem to slow down. It’s kind of strange when the fastest cars are brought to crawl and every drop of rain hits the ground in slow motion.”

“But the best part,” he said, closing the distance between them. “Is what you notice about the people.” Jinx realized all too late what he was suggesting, and immediately froze. She forced herself to show no signs of any emotion other indifference in hopes that he’d drop the subject altogether. But even she noticed the subtle change in her stoniness, and she swore inwardly because that meant that Kid Flash had saw it too. “You notice when the when the corners of their lips begin to tug upwards into a smile,” Kid Flash said, his own smirk widening as if in demonstration. “And the moment that their glances last a millisecond too long. You notice the way their eyes dilate and light up when they see something—or someone—they like.” “And you definitely notice when their cheeks redden the moment they begin to blush—kind of like yours are right now.” He said, nonchalantly pointing an accusing finger at Jinx.   She didn’t need super speed to see what he had pointed out; Jinx had felt the blush spreading against her will the moment he had stepped close. She decided then and there what she would do: After knocking Kid Flash out cold with a quick hex to the temple, she’d drag him far away, update the security system, and pretend they’d never met—all of which was far easier than giving him the satisfaction of admitting her attraction. But before she could do any of that, a breeze snapped her back to her senses. Kid Flash had stepped away, and was once again leaning on the wall, nonchalantly examining his glove as if he had been there the whole time. “But then again, you did say you were allergic to tulips,” he said, his tone smug as ever. “It could be an allergic reaction, I guess.”

Jinx narrowed her eyes. “What was your point, again?” “That everyone loves red,” he said in a singsong voice. “Your cheeks just happened to be an example.”

“Well I don’t love red,” Jinx declared. “A month of your gifts has made me realize how much I despise the color.”

“Is that so?”

“It is,” she coolly replied, and began counting off with her fingers.

“I hate red apples, red cars, and worst of all, redheads,” she said, not skipping a beat as Kid Flash feigned a hurt expression.

“Pink is an all-around better color. It’s powerful, its’ fashionable, it’s—“

“—delicate,” Kid Flash finished, and Jinx looked up to see him reading from the screen of his communicator. “—and empathetic. Known for representing a lack of power, pink is typically categorized as a sensitive color.” He read, not trying to hide his delight as Jinx’s confusion gave way to irritation.

“Unlike red, its more brash and exciting counterpart, pink is calm, non-threatening, and passive— “ He was cut off as she pulled him into a kiss, his usually cluttered mind going blank the moment her mouth met his. Jinx’s heart fluttered against her ribcage and Kid Flash felt his nearly stop as he focused on one amazing, undeniable fact: he was kissing Jinx. The soft lips that touched his, the cheek that he was caressing—they belonged to a villainess. It was wrong, and Robin would kill him for it later, but he couldn’t bring himself to care since right then, in that moment, it felt right. “How’s that for passive? “Jinx asked, grinning as she pulled away. The pink eyes that held his gaze had a sense of unsureness that didn’t fit her bold actions and tone, and before he could answer her question the familiar ring of his communicator filled the air.   He silenced it and searched for signs of uncertainty, longing, or anything , but instead all he found was the unperturbed, cool gaze that everyone knew Jinx for.

“Looks like you’ve got some hero duties to tend to,” she said. “Yeah,” he replied, not attempting to hide his dismay at the communicator’s timing. “I’ll see you later?” He asked, cursing himself for the blatant hopefulness in his tone.

Jinx shrugged. “You know where to find me.” Moments after Kid Flash left, Seemore came, muttering curses about how he had saw the stupid hero and that he had ‘told Gizmo to update their defense system’ after his last break-in.

“Are you ok Jinx?” he asks, stopping mid ramble as he frowned in concern. “Your face is all red.”

She absentmindedly raised a hand to her cheek, feeling its warmth and ghosting over the spot that Kid Flash had touched mere moments before.

“Allergic reaction,” she mumbled, closing the door without another word.