``this conversation was dead on arrival`wind rider

[Jinx]

xx

Jinx was stealing. Again. It really should have came as no surprise to anyone, had they known her. After all, didn't they say old habits died hard? And anyway, it wasn't like she had any other means of income other than to take what she wanted. 'Atta girl, Jinx, rationalize. That'll make you feel better. Her self-directed bitter sarcasm did no good to make her feel any better, but it really didn't matter--Jinx skimmed a lonely line just barely above depression all the time, some metal berating really was normal for her. Sighing heavily, the sixteen year old messed absentmindedly with the choker around her neck. It was one of the only thing she carried around that she cared about, though for no particular reason as such as it was a force of habit to wear it and she would feel rather naked without it. It seemed that Jinx was just a creature of habit in all aspects, though maybe she proved herself wrong with her stealing. After all, she wasn't stupid--you don't hit up places in your own neighborhood, and you most certainly don't do the same place twice in a row. If you ever do go back, its as a legally paying patron or after things have calmed down. It wasn't really like getting arrested would be too bad of a thing for Jinx--the silly police underestimated her as some skinny pale teen girl with a love for shiny things. But then again, she no longer had the safety of a team, or anyone really, behind her, so she had to be careful. If by some freak bad luck on her part (ah ha ha, bad luck, the irony would be funny if it didn't hurt so much), the police knew about her being less than normal and detained her with special maneuvers, then, well...Nah, won't think about that, Jinx thought, though before she could properly push the thought away a worrying, yet slightly tantalizing one snuck in: Would it really be so bad to be in jail? At least you wouldn't have to steal your three square meals a day, or sleep in rundown buildings. Oh bother, she really needed to steal something, get the adrenaline pumping quickly, or she was gonna be in full-blown emo mood soon. Pssh, like that's too far from normal...NO, shut up Jinx!

Shaking her head and setting pink hair to moving, Jinx put her mind to work. It was easier to shoplift than it was to outright break into a store at night, and the thrill was greatly depleted in the act, but it was better than nothing. Now, what shiny thing should she nab, exactly? Curiously pink-hued irises scanned the shelves of pricy electronic merchanidise with the vague interest of a child who's taking a test and knows they should probably pay attention but don't want to in the least. She got a few looks from the normally-clad, humdrum, conforming shoppers, but hey, they just wrote her off as part of that dark gothic sub-culture and left her be. Thank God, the last thing she wanted was a verbal (or physical?!) confrontation to set back her plans of nabbing something. Stealing was more than something essential any more, Jinx had to admit to herself. The adrenaline rush, fleeting as it was, was the only thing that could get her blood pumping any more, make her feel alive. But even then, it was short-lived and Jinx some days felt it wasn't worth it. She even toyed with the idea of turning herself into the Teen Titans to be arrested, but she was far too proud for that even on her most downtrodden of days. Turning a corner, Jinx, as preoccupied as she was (not a good thing at all when you're scoping out things to steal!), ran into someone, letting out a sharp explitive curse word of choice, rubbing her side and narrowing cat-like eyes at whoever had invaded her personal space, though of course it was her fault probably. She was just too proud to admit it.

[Wind Rider]

He sighed as he walked the streets. Sure he has been out of the city of Jump plenty of times but today he just didn't feel like it. He could have just used his abilities to speed through and back in under an hour. But eh, why rush, the afternoon was ahead for him and the school day just ended too. Still, his brothers were sometimes lazy as heck. He didn't take the bus nor did he take a train. Walking seemed like the most enjoyable thing for him. He could see things, the happens of his surroundings at his pace and not at the speed of a bus nor train. If he ran, that would only be worse. That and he was sure nobody wanted a large breeze flowing through the city so randomly. His brothers both wanted this thing for their computers. What was it? He tried to remember what it was tapping his finger against his chin pretending to look intellectual,

Oh that's right, they wanted some more memory and HDD for their computers. Damn, couldn't they be happy with what they had.?

He frowned thinking of the ungrateful brats, you didn't see him going around buying new memory or added features for his laptop constantly. Oh who was he kidding, hell he was going to buy himself a Terabyte storage drive or external Hard Drive as some called it. Shit, he wouldn't be even thinking of getting this if not for his brothers insisting for that damn chip(s). Seemed as though he made it to the store they recommended. It was a cheap Electronic store a little ways out of town. THe breeze was nice though.
He entered the store getting what chips and circuitry they needed. He could have brought both boys computers here, but they said they had a friend who was a tech wiz. Eh good enough for him, less money. Speaking of which, he looked in his wallet to see if he had enough for that Terabyte. Damn he didn't, and he really wanted it. It was sitting there, all wrapped up nice and pretty on the shelf with some security thing on it. Hmm, plus it was behind a glass. He could probably steal it.....
No, no, no. He couldn't do that. He was a hero, a kid who was an ally of Justice, not the face of evil. He wouldn't become like his mother. But he stole minimal things all the time, like candy miscule devices for small storage devices and even games that stood freely on shelves. But this was bigger, this was behind a glass, a little harder to get though not like he couldn't accomplish it. He struggled with himself to just wait until he got more money for another day. Suddenly a thud could be heard as with unslightly words. He peered around the isle to see some girl on the floor. She seemed familiar somehow. He thought for a moment and it suddenly hit him. It was that girl part of the "HIVE 5" as they called themselves, the fools. What was a pathetic villain doing here.

"Yo baka, think you could curse any louder for people to hear." Yeah sure there was no need to say that, but a villain was a villain and he needed to watch her now.

[Jinx]

xx

Whoever Jinx had ran into departed quickly, catching sight of her angry glare and muttering a soft apology and fleeing the scene. An incident like that did absolutely no good for being incognito, and if she hadn't thought that to be enough to call off this stupid little risky trip, what happened next certainly made up her mind for her. It would appear that her incident had attracted attention from someone else, too, she found out. Some boy was snapping a smart-ass, insulting remark at her from across the way. What the hell? What did he think we was doing, messing with her? Fuck, I so didn't need this shit today. She thought with an internal groan and a narrowing of eyes. On her feet in a second with catlike agility, a part of her (the part still fighting for the "goodness", whatever what was left anyway) snuck in a quick mental sigh of temporary relief. It reasoned, Good, its not like we needed to steal anything really, a fight can get adrenaline going just as easily as stealing, and is more fun too. Again with the rationalization--she made herself sick! Look, you stupid voice, this is who I am, so you can just shut up and accept it.

Crossing the distance in a few long-leggeed movements that further emphasized Jinx's feline style of movement, the girl crossed her arms tightly over her chest, watching the boy closely. "If I'm not allowed to cuss then why are you allowed to insult some girl you don't even know? Didn't your momma teach you better than that?" (She was unaware of the irony of her last statement.) The voice was laced with annoyance and barely controlled anger. Now that Jinx thought about it, she didn't know this boy any more than he knew her. That could mean a few things. One, the most likely choice, was that he was just some punk kid who thought he was hot shit. Second, much less likely, was that he was some obscure new "hero" (or wanna-be, rather, as most of them were) who had done enough research to remember her days with the HIVE Five. Hell, if he knew that, maybe he even knew how she'd been good for a short while. For all she knew he was a new Teen Titan (even in her head the word was pronounced with a tinge of a sneer and a sickening feeling of longing). Wouldn't that have been lovely? Getting into a fight with one of them brought about conflicting interests. A love of a fight, a love of messing with them, but that horrible feeling that that was all she was good for, knowing she only wanted to fight them because she was drowning in jealousy and wanted to act on it. Ugh, spare me the psychoanalysis, I already know I'm fucked up. But whatever. No matter who or what he was (or thought he was, at least), he was in for the fight of his life. Never before had Jinx been as volatile, strong and dangerous as she was in the past few weeks and months. Too much raw emotion and no outlet for it, no reason for her to inhibit herself--what was it worth anyhow? Ah yes, hello my best friend, Mr. Adrenaline. So nice to see you. You're the only one who hasn't left me, she thought with a widening of her devilish smile, a positive sign that she was shifting from playful (but pissed) banter to her fighting stance soon. She was aware she looked rather manic in her anger and lust for the battle, but then again she hadn't been too sure of her sanity as of late anyhow. She was a fucking loon, for all she knew, or cared.

[Wind Rider]

He crossed his arms looking at her smugly. He didn't know why, but he felt a bit cocky for some reason. Better calm down before he does something he'll regret. Well, at least all his thoughts of even stealing went away....for now.

"Actually my mother did teach me better. Things such as how do degrade little wannabe villains like you, " he mocked in a low voice looking down . He didn't want to alert anyone and he couldn't exactly yell out she was a villain. They would immediately call the cops on her and she hasn't did anything wrong. He hoped it stayed that way. Subconciously he snatched a bar and pocketed it thinking absolutely nothing of it. People started to look their way, He better end this quickly, but she did something odd. She started smiling wickedly. Though it was rather kind of sexy for her, he knew this meant trouble. He couldn't endanger all these innocent people, So feeling it was best to just keep her in check, he bent low towards her getting in her face.

"Listen, Ms. Jinx, I know all about you and you're little HIVE group. While I'm not exactly the Teen Titans, I still can kick your butt nonetheless, so just keep you're hands in your pocket or on your own money, alright.?"

[Jinx]

xx

Arms crossed firmly, Jinx raised an eye at his words. He was mocking her, and it was doing its job--she felt her fingers claw into fists. When being a villian was all you had to claim to your name, being called a wannabe really smarted. But whatever--getting blindly angry would do no good at the current moment, Jinx knew that, so she forced herself to bite her tongue (not literally, of course) and keep her hands to herself. For now. She remained silent until he snuck something into his own pocket, to which her eyebrows raised even higher. Who was this kid?!

His speech incensed her, but the pink-haired, evil beauty kept her cool. Her voice, when she replyed, did not carry anger like her words seemed to suggest they should have. No, instead there was disbelief, yes, but she sounded almost like she was trying not to burst into laughter. "You hypocritical little snake! You're not a goody-two-shoes, you just don't want me moving in on your area!" She actually let out a giggle, before leaning in, index finger slipping under his chin to lift his gaze to meet her own pink one, grinning maliciously. In a voice that still sounded rather amused, but also in one where the dangerous, very angry undertone could be not missed, "You're adorable, honey, but you need to get one thing straight. I. Work. Alone. No team, got it?" Her voice was so soft he probably wouldn't have been able to hear it if she wasn't leaning so close, smooth dangerous velvet venom evident behind her smile. She cocked an eyebrow, daring him to argue, before daring to blow a kiss and laugh in dark delight, spinning away on one toe in a perfect ballerina pirouette, letting her hand drop away from his face. Fine. She'd leave. Not like she needed anything out of here anyway. She was angry, yes, absolutely fucking pissed, but at the same time, she couldn't help but grin (in both a delighted and a manic way). Oh boy, some people just cracked her up!

[Wind Rider]

What the hell, was this little neko calling him a theif? No, no way she'd be calling him a thief. It should have been the other way around, He narrowed his eyes and attempted to sway away her hand like a nasty bug only for her to move it and started to twirl. Alright people were just looking at her now, in obvious confusion, but he was kind of angry forgetting why he even came here in the first place.

"Who the hell are you calling a thief you pink haired little banshee. If you knew what's good for you, you'd stop messing around and just get lost, before you get seriously hurt."

He meant every word of it, his voice a little dark sounding a little like the old day. If what she said was true, then she didn't have to worry about no tech geek trying to slap him with some techno mumbo crap.

"Since you have no team, I wouldn't exactly do anything rash if I were you." Yeah now he was acting smug again, but that woman pissed her off. Nobody was going to call him a thief....a villain. He wasn't going to sink that low, not again.

[Jinx]

xx

Mmm, so he was going to insult her and threaten her? My oh my, wasn't he a cocky one? It only made the girl's smile split wider--she loved a challenge, and maybe he'd actually get into a fight with her! Wouldn't that be grand? His threat didn't appear to phase her at all--she didn't so much as blink. In her voice that said she completely was enjoying every minute of this and was not scared at all--it was her favorite for annoying enemies, particularly boys, who found it quite unnerving and annoying when nothing they could do or say phased her--she replied, grinning with a devilish glint in her eye. "But why? Hm?" She faked a pout, like she was hurt. "I haven't done anything at alllll"--she trilled the last three words. "Go ahead, search me!" At this, the girl (obviously enjoying this immensely) spread her arms out straight at her sides, twirling once as if to indicate she was hiding nothing anywhere on her person. "Besides, I'm just an innocent shopper, and I don't think anyone would like it if you just hit me for no reason." She smiled sweetly. It was true--she hadn't done anything at all--he couldn't very well do anything. She hadn't stolen or anything. Yet. But hey, maybe she'd just find somewhere else to do that, where the wanna-be police weren't insulting her.

In a voice low and sweet, she leaned in again, grinning ear to ear, looking like she was having the best time of her life. And indeed she hadn't had this much fun in a while. Messing with people was so deliciously fun. "Rash? Okay, first off sweetie, I'm always rash. So there." She stuck her tongue out and waggled it teasingly at him before continuing, eyes glinting. "Second off, your threats don't mean a thing to me. You'll find that I'm a new type of villian sweetie, one who's so much more dangerous than most. Simply because I just don't care. Fight me, then lock me up. I. Don't. Care." An odd thing to say in a very sweet voice, like speaking to a particularly cute child. And it was true--being a renegade who didn't care about her fate at the time, she was very dangerous. She knew Kid Flash would not be happy with her at all but he...No, don't think about that. She thought as a physical twang of pain shot through her heart and radiated down into her stomach. Some hurts were too raw to touch right now, and besides she didn't want to wreck the mood.

[Wind Rider]

All eyes were on the two of them, some of them cringing at the fact that the girl willingly called her a villain. No way could such a sweet looking cutie like her could be a villain. Of course, they weren't so sure anymore as they can practically feel the darkness coming from the boy as he looked moderately pissed. Could his scowl get any deeper. He in turned was getting more angry by the second. Before, he wasn't taking her so seriously seeing as she was a pathetic HIVE student, but he couldn't take the fact that she was knowingly taunting him. He thought about the bystanders for a moment before flipping them off. She twirled and he quickly reached for his swords on his hip expecting something. Nothing happened. And....was that smiling getting bigger? No longer containing himself he practically ran at her, all logic through the roof lunging a fist at her head on.

"You little baka banshee, I'll teach you who to f*** with."

He was going to poor all his power into this attack to shut her dirty mouth up.

[Jinx]

xx

The quickly gathering crowd watched the pair of teens like it was a very heated tennis match, which was just fine with Jinx--when she wasn't sneaking, she absolutely thrived on attention. Especially if she could use it to her advantage, which she usually found a way to do. Hell, today it wouldn't be hard--to their innocent eyes, any attack on her looked completely unprovoked. Even with her back turned to him, it was fairly easy to tell when he was making a move to attack her--not only did the crowd gasp and in some cases scream in surprise and horror, but he also was one of those stupid kids who yelled every time he attacked. What the hell was this, Dragon Ball Z?

Twirling on her toe, the picturesque ballerina again, Jinx leapt up out of the way of his attack. As she twisted in the air, doing a round off back handspring out of the way, the annoyingly taunting smile still in place on her pink lips. Straightening up and waggling her finger chastisingly at him: "See, there you go, losing your temper and doing something rash. Any one of these nice people could call the police on you for attempted assault. We've got witnesses." It was at this point that she wiggled her fingers in a wave at the crowd (as if he didn't know what the word witnesses meant), smiling sweetly before replacing her hands on her hips.

[Wind Rider]

She dodged with a round off back handspring. He recognized it as there was a gymnastic team in his school who did stuff like this. A lttle too late he tried push up wind to soften the fall but hit the floor hard rolling until he landed a foot away from her, his face flat on the floor. Groggily he pushed himself up only to see her as he massaged his aching forehead in pain. He growled at what she said, she was right. Everyone looked anxious and if he had hit her, there would be no reason for the police to come and take him away. What the hell was he thinking. Though she was after all a wanted criminal so there would be no reason as to why his reasons weren't justified. He was still angry at her, though he couldn't help but notice she actually looked kind of sexy in that pose. Nonetheless he was angry still and in spite, he blew a large gust of wind at her legs a little above her clown boots as he thought they were, strong enough to push her down. He lifted himself up, and bowed continually, to everyone in the surrounding crowd.

"Gomen, Gomen," he continually said as they looked kind of confused. Though most of them assumed i meant sorry and him continually bowing had to mean he was from Asia. After expressing his apologies, he glared at the pink haired neko. This wasn't over, not by a long shot.

[Jinx]

xx

He fell flat on his face upon missing her, which was more than Jinx could have ever hoped for. Oh man, that was priceless, like something out of a movie! None of the people she'd ever fought had actually botched an attack that badly! Jinx couldn't help but giggle behind her hand, before collapsing into full-blown laughs, doubling over to hold her laughter. It may not have even been that funny, it was just that it had been so long since she'd actually had some fun that didn't involve something illegal, and this was ridiculously, unpredictably, amazingly fun. God, what was wrong with her that she felt fighting was fun?! Oh well, it didn't matter.

Straightening up and wiping tears of mirth away from her eyes with the back of her hand, Jinx giggled once before sobering up into just smiling at him. "Oh boy, you're not even good at this!" She grinned, but it was at that point that his stupid strong gust of wind hit her. The girl lost her balance, falling on her butt and bursting into laughter again. Someone from the crowd was broken out of his stunned surprise at this whole odd scene and rushed up to offer his hand, giving her opponent a dirty look, but Jinx waved him away with a smile and a flirty wink. Hopping to her feet and dusting herself off, she tilted her head to the side to study him like a particularly interesting piece of artwork. He was a fun one to toy with, that much was sure. She was looking forward to running into him again some time in the near future (although she was sure he didn't share the sentiment).

[Wind Rider]

He laughed as the girl fell on her butt. How was that you little prick? But of course, somebody just had to come to her aid to help her up only to walk away with hearts in his eyes. What a flirt this woman was. Didn't they know, she was Jinx, a HIVE Operative, a wanted (not so much) criminal of Jump City, an obvious villain. No all they saw was some girl who pretended to be innocent and sway the crowd. God, he hated villains. Once she got up, he felt her odd stare upon him and shivered a bit. Why the hell was the woman checking him out. Was she really a pervert or something? He went with the latter and after regaining his composure, decided to break the silence, voice now returning to it's impassive state.

"Oi, neko, any reason you are looking at me like that or aren't saying anything. Finally admitting that you're a worthless criminal not worthy of recognition or are you going to continue to sway the public mass here."

Unexpectedly immedietely, the crowd booed him throwing various things (most notably food, rotten or otherwise) at him calling him a jerk and no respect for a poor innocent girl. He growled further and stalked out the building, pretty sure the girl would follow. He was going to get his, he was sure.

[Jinx]

xx

He laughed at her, but that really was irrelevant to Jinx at this point because she had the crowd on her side and they did not seem to like this boy at all anyhow. You win some you lose some, she thought, feeling her smirk widen even more. Today was turning out to be a very good day, which was needless to say an odd way to respond to being threatened with arrest and attacked by some strange random boy who thought he was a hero. Hmph, whatever, it was irrelevant to Jinx--a good time was a good time, no matter where it came from.

When she spoke, her voice was light and airy, filled with odd delight at this scene. "Oh, you think you're so clever, throwing insults. And anyhow, it wouldn't appear that I need to sway the public masses any more, dearheart. They already love me." A wide sweep of the surrounding crowd proved this point, but she narrowed her eyes at them as they started getting a bit rowdy and uncouth. "Come on now guys, just 'cause you don't like the guy doesn't mean you have to be mean. Let's be ladies and gentleman, yes?" She fixed a beatific smile on her face before turning back to the boy (who's name she did not know--that bothered her), smiling as if to see, look what I can do. Imagine what happens if I turn them against you. It was true--Jinx was eerily gifted at swaying people, using them, and it made her even more dangerous than her reckless abandon and lack of care about what happened to her. Well, maybe not more dangerous, but close.

When the boy ducked his head and started to leave, Jinx allowed herself to get annoyed once again--that was no fun! He wasn't just allowed to leave whenever he wanted to! She decided when their game was over, he was only a player. Wiggling her fingers in a flirty goodbye wave to the crowd (people were so funny sometimes!), she bounded after the boy (as she knew he knew she would), light on her step like a ballerina with the lithe movements of a kitten. Outside, darkness was falling. Leaning up against the side of the store, Jinx spoke again, her voice still carrying remnants of her honeyed tone, though not much more. "I only think its fair I know your name, for next time we meet, dear one. Would you at least grant me that?" She asked, arms crossed lightly, smiling softly and watching him from under hooded eyes. If he said no, then well, maybe she'd let herself get angry again, like she'd stifled inside. Maybe she'd even get lucky and be able to use the "self defense" excuse again.

[Wind Rider]

He growled as he heard her "seductive" voice. God this girl was a prick. Couldn't she have just attempted to just try and rob the store, he saves the day and everything is right with the world. What was so hard about that. Damn, she really was pathetic if she couldn't do that going low to the point of taunts. And now after all that humiliation, she was asking for her name. He turned around, a dark look plastered on his face and stomped towards her. He wasn't sure if there was a crowd gathering or not, he only hoped not. They seemed to be a big problem for him.

"What the hell is you're problem. After turning the whole store against me, humiliating me, you want to know my name. And for what, so you can announce my name to the populace of this town for forever ridicule. Just what is you're deal you IDIOT FELINE!"

God he didn't understand villains at all. They drive you mad with their mischief, and then by the end of the day, they decide to get random on you're ass. Totally not worth it. That damn crowd better not be around.

[Jinx]

xx

Oh dear, he was shouting again. To Jinx, shouting was about the most uncouth way to try to hurt someone verbally. It just meant you were desperate and could't think of anything better to say, so you said it really loud in hopes that it sounded impressive. (It didn't.) It wasn't his decibel that made her want to flinch--it was what he said. Nothing he had said, in fact, had escaped Jinx. She was a master actress, but one thing had particularly stuck with her. That word. Worthless. There was a part of her that was stronger than she could imagine, and it was hopeful. This was the part that said I'm not worthless, said it conviction. But the rest of her...Well, she wasn't so sure. All she could keep seeing were specific examples as to just how worthless she was. Her mother, the shadowy face of the man, her father, who'd left upon the news of the pregnancy--he'd known even when she was a fetus just how much she'd amount to. The Teen Titans, who laughed about her, she just knew it. Her own (ex) team. Madame Rouge. And the coup' de etat, the biggest hurt of all--a boy with blue eyes who had been nice about it, hadn't outright said it, but surely had meant it when he'd said she couldn't come with him when he left. Worthless. Worthless. Worthless. Jinx's heart felt cold. She knew she should say something, so she did.

Her voice no longer carried the jaunty happiness and glee at ridicule from before. It was partly cold, partly defensive, partly drained, but mostly sad. "Is that what you think?" Her voice nearly broke, but as a cover she made herself get angry, or at least sound like it. Her hands were shaking, which to someone who didn't know her might think it meant she was angry, but that wasn't the case. When she was angry, she was calm. When she was upset, she was visual about it. "You think I'm that cold-hearted? You need to get one thing straight. I do things out of necessity. I may have fun in the heat of the moment, but I don't pick fights for no reason, I don't steal things I don't need, and I'm not outright hurtful. If I was, don't you think I would have just let the crowd tear you apart in there?" She was breathing hard, in another sign of "anger", but in reality, she felt very delicate, breakable, like she was going to snap and burst into tears. That just wouldn't do--she was stronger than all that! She hadn't cried in...how long? Since she'd said goodbye to Wally...The metaphorical knife of longing twisted in her gut, and Jinx made herself bite her lip to not cry. Dammit dammit dammit! Her lips choked out, without her consent: "I'm not worthless." She sounded like a small child about to burst into tears (which she was trying desperately not to do), someone about to get in trouble who was weakly defending themselves. She needed so much to say that and feel it be true, but more than that, she needed this boy to know that. Why? Why did she care what this jerk of a kid thought? It bothered her that she cared, but the fact was that she did, and she couldn't very well turn around now. She was wimpy, upset, maybe even worthless, but she didn't regret much. Maybe I'm bipolar. Or....tri-polar? She thought, knowing he thought her stark raving mad for her mood swings and banter. Hell, she probably was stark raving mad. Oh well--labels hadn't bothered her (on the surface) before. What was one more? She had her arms crossed over her chest again, but not in anger or a show of attitude anymore--it was more of an unconscious movement, because her chest hurt so bad right now she felt she'd fall apart if she didn't hold herself together somehow. She couldn't look at him--he'd see how close she was to crying, and he'd just call her weak. So instead she looked off to the side, the rising moon casting her profile in porcelain white, biting hard on her lip to not burst out with something else she didn't want--some words she'd only want to take back, or god forbid, even tears.