#hex: kole

[bear-domain]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY @fanartandvents I LOVE UUUU /P

[rivaltierno]

Power Failure [Chapter 3]

A mishap during a fight with Katarou results in the team getting their powers swapped. Now, in an attempt to get their proper powers back, they have to get Katarou to cooperate with them, all while dealing with new abilities they don’t know how to use - and two teammates currently out of commission due to that. A retelling of Teen Titans Go! Issue #24 with Honorary Titans.

Written for Honorary Titan Fan Week 2020, Day 4: “With the Honoraries”

Word Count: 3,588

The team’s tower wasn’t really a tower. It was the top floor of an empty building that the Titans were paying utilities on. Usually this wasn’t a problem for them, since they each got their own room and had running water, but now that they had an unwanted house guest, it became a lot more awkward.

They couldn’t just leave Katarou in their wide-open living room-kitchen combo; Even if Jinx’s guess about him being significantly weaker without his necklace was true, the empty space would give him room to move around in, and they didn’t feel like dealing with him anymore than they already had to. They couldn’t lock him away in any of their rooms, either - he might break their stuff. So the only choice of action they had was to keep him in their medical bay, which was really just a back room with a spare bed and medical kit.

Gnarrk was sent off to lock the man in there and watch over him, with Jinx following behind him towards her room.

Fortunately, neither Hot Spot or Jericho needed immediate medical attention. Or at least, Hot Spot claimed that there was nothing that could be done for either of them.

“I had heat exhaustion for days when I first got my powers,” he explained. “This is just Jericho’s body trying to cope with my powers.” Noticing that his teammates were still looking at him, he quickly added on, “And I’m just reacting to not having them anymore, that’s all.”

“You don’t think your powers have anything to do with it?” Herald asked, directing the question at Kole.

Kole wasn’t much more help. “Dunno, maybe. I was a baby when my powers started so I can’t remember.”

Herald focused their attention back on Hot Spot. “I still think you should sit down with Jericho. Rest helps with stiffness, right?”

Jericho, for jems part, forced a thumbs up, if only because watching Hot Spot pace around was making jems dizziness worse. At least staying in one spot was helping with the nausea.

“I need to be alert in case Jericho gets new symptoms,” Hot Spot argued, only partially deflecting away from himself.

“He’s right,” Jinx agreed, returning with one of her old HIVE textbooks in one hand and Kataoru’s now-shattered necklace clutched in the other. “The rest of us will take care of our little problem.” She opened up the book to its bookmarked page. “This gem is literally a textbook Capture Gem. There are hundreds of them in the world. This one is just an imitation of the original, more powerful one-”

“Which is why Kataoru was only trying to take our powers instead of capturing us directly,” Hot Spot finished.

“Exactly. I think that’s why he needed to chant to use it, too. He doesn't have the natural magic skill necessary to use it properly.” Jinx then went into full leader mode. “Kole, you go back with Gnarrk and wait for Katarou to wake up. Once he does, get him to tell you what chant he was using, since we’ll need it to get our powers back. Herald and I will fix the gem in the meantime.”

“Your powers won’t be enough to override Katarou’s spell?” Herald asked. “Since he has no magic of his own?”

Jinx shook her head. “Once a spell has been started it must be completed. Oh, and before I forget-”. Closing the textbook and slipping it under her arm, she used her now-free hand to take an extra hairband out from her pocket and tossed it over to Jericho. “That should help with your bangs sticking to you. Now, let’s get to work.”

The other three Titans left towards their respective tasks, leaving Hot Spot and Jericho in the living room.

Jericho eagerly accepted the hairband. Je slipped it onto jems head, and then rewarded jemself for exerting that much effort by leaning backwards onto the couch, hoping that stretching out a bit would help with how sticky je was feeling due to the sweat.

Hot Spot continued to pace around. He knew that his teammates were right, that he risked the chance of hurting himself by walking on stiff joints. But he also knew himself, and that if he stayed still too long he would only start dwelling on what was upsetting him, let the cold feeling consume him. And nobody wanted that. So he walked instead.

Of course he made sure Jericho was all right, too. There was a legitimate risk of jem suddenly powering up again without jem causing it; Hot Spot remembered that well. There were no outward signs of that happening, no steam coming off jems body nor was jems skin reddening, so Hot Spot would have been content to leave it at that if he hadn't realized Jericho staring back at him.

Honestly, it hadn’t even bothered Jericho that Hot Spot was watching jem during his circuit around the couch - je was doing the exact same thing to him. There really wasn’t anything else to do. Je was going to start up a conversation about Hot Spot’s powers, since je assumed that’s what he was worrying about, but je got cut off before je even got jems hands in the air.

“You should roll up your sleeves,” Hot Spot suggested, avoiding eye contact. “It’ll help.” He then went off again, though his attempts to hurry just resulted in him dragging his legs a bit. He wasn’t in the right mindset to be having any important conversations at the moment, and frankly ‘I was staring at you to find minuscule changes in your appearance’ just made him sound like a creep.

Jericho return jems gaze to the ceiling, to try and ease Hot Spot’s discomfort. Je was secretly glad je wasn’t the only one that was having a bad time with the power swap, but that doesn’t mean je wanted to make it worse for him. Je did take his advice, though, unhooking the vambraces on jems arms and pushing up jems sleeves as high as they would go. It seemed to help, as it was more direct skin exposed to the air conditioning, but by the time the second sleeve was rolled up the exhaustion part of jems heat exhaustion kicked back in and je was back to square one. Je wondered if the rest of the team was doing any better.

Jinx and Herald were. The two of them were on the floor of her room, with Jinx explaining how she wanted her plan to go.

“It's said that binding magical objects to the magic itself will make it more likely to work with the user’s demands.” She held up the textbook page again. “If you use my powers while holding the shards together and saying this spell, the gem will come back together and you can control it easier. Now, summon my magic.”

Herald sat there for a minute, trying to figure out how to. They couldn’t even get their own powers to work instantaneously like that; they had always needed their horn to act as a conduit for them, and not only because it was considered too dangerous to open space rifts on one’s own. They tried imaging what Jinx’s powers were like. Evidentially that was all it took, as a hex shot out of their hand, tearing part of the necklace strap. They looked at the results, amazed. Jinx was able to have her powers work with just a thought and no outside steps? Herald would be envious if it didn’t make them feel so pathetic.

“No, no.” Jinx scolded. “You’re turning it into hexes. You need raw magic for this work.”

She was met with a blank stare. It clicked in her mind that of course they wouldn't know what she meant by that; the only reason she knew was because she had taken an Introduction to Magic class back at HIVE Academy. She tried to explain it in a simple-but-not-condescending manner, like how she would have wanted to hear it as a child. “Raw magic is what my powers are before I do anything with them. There should be a tingly feeling running through your body - bring that out.”

Those instructions were much clearer. Herald had noticed an almost electric feeling in their body, but it was faint enough they could ignore it. They imagined Jinx using her powers again, this time how she looked pre-battle, and immediately a soft, pink glow enveloped their hands. After briefly checking to see if Jinx was satisfied with this use of power, they then got to work putting the gem back together.

As Jinx watched them do so, she felt an emotion she was not expecting: envy. She was envious that they were able to use her powers in such a calm manner, especially since it seemed like their first time with magic in general. Sure, she appreciated them taking the situation seriously, but part of her wished that they had struggled just a bit more with them. She was horrified when her powers first developed, and many, many objects were destroyed in the process of figuring out what they could do. It almost seemed unfair how quickly someone else could adapt to them.

“Got it.” Herald held up the almost-fixed necklace. The gem shards fit neatly next to one another, but need the final bit of magic to be completed. “We ready?”

Jinx nodded. “Go ahead. The spell in bold.”

Herald put on the most authoritative voice they could muster. “Tcennoc Sdrahs Meg!”

The gem seemed to pull the magic directly into itself, and after a flash of light filled up the room, it was whole again.

“Not bad,” Herald complimented themself, admiring the necklace. After a few seconds, they looked back at Jinx and noticed she was stifling a laugh. They raised an eyebrow. “What are you laughin’ at?”

“Nothing, I’m just admiring your theatrics.” Jinx teased. “Very impressive.”

They frowned at her for a second to show his disagreement, but then relaxed again as they changed the subject. “You think Kataoru is awake yet?”

“I hope so,” she answered, standing up. “And I hope that Kole and Gnarrk have already gotten the chant we need out of him.”

Kataoru was still unconscious, and Kole and Gnarrk were bored waiting for him to wake up.

The most interesting thing they had done so far was use the extra bedsheets to tie Kataoru’s arms to the bed’s headrest so he couldn’t escape once he woke up.

Gnarrk leaned against the wall in frustration, wanting something to do. He felt left out of the day’s event, being the only one to escape getting his abilities swapped. That, and he didn’t know what to feel about Kole’s temporary powers. On the one hand, it made him smile that Kole was having such a good time running around and attempting to do jump kicks. On the other hand, the idea of Kole no longer needing him to fight made him feel empty inside, even if he knew that things would go back to normal soon enough.

Kole, unlike all of her teammates, was having no qualms about her current state. She was going to enjoy this while she could, and was even considering asking Herald to teach her and Gnarrk some techniques when everything was all over.

“Do you think I can walk on my hands now?” She asked aloud to keep Gnarrk in the loop. She easily got into a handstand position, but the moment she tried to move forward her arms began to shake. The answer was evidentially no. To avoid falling on the ground, Kole titled her body forward, until she was able to move into a somersault and back onto her feet.

Coincidentally, the moment she straightened back out, Kataoru began to shift around, groaning slightly.

Kole cheered at the development. “Finally! You remember our plan? Good Cop Bad Cop?”

Gnarrk indeed did remember, and hurried to the side of the bed, ready to wallop the man over the head at Kole’s command.

She positioned herself at the end of the bed, staring Kataoru down. After underestimating him before, she wasn’t making that mistake again.

Kataoru groggily opened his eyes and attempted to stretch out. His instincts kicked in the moment he realized he couldn’t. Looking around, he noticed that he was tied up with bedsheets, and that two Titans were watching his every move. He quickly figured that if he had enough time, he could wiggle his way out of the binds, even without his necklace. After that, all he had to do was escape the room.

He focused his attention to the end of the bed. “Cute mask, little girl. Is that meant to intimidate me?”

Kole ignored his statement. “We’ll make this easy for you, Kataoru. Tell us the chant you were using and we won’t fight you again.”

He scoffed. “Don’t make me laugh. You Titans only captured me because you got a lucky shot. You’d have to fight me for real to learn the spell.”

“Tell us the chant,” she repeated.

“You have to earn it. Show me you deserve to know.”

Kole held up a hand to prevent Gnarrk from acting. She didn’t want to rush it.  Instead, she gave the bed frame a firm kick, shaking it.

The bedsheets tying Kataoru to the bed loosened slightly. He could work with that. “Is that all? I barely felt that.”

“You don’t want to feel anything else.”

“Try me.”

Another firm kick towards the bed shook it even harder. The bedsheets began to slip, but Kataoru grabbed onto them so it looked like they were still tied.

“Tell us the chant!” Kole huffed.

“Let me go and we can fight for it. Perhaps then you could actually do something to me.” He was ready to pounce the moment the two let their guard down.

She waved her hand. “Fine.”

Gnarrk reached towards the bedsheets, only to suddenly stop, grin, and slam his palm against the back of Kataoru’s head.

Kataoru yelped a bit and dropped the bedsheets to hold the back of his head. His arms were then pulled back and tied again.

Kole had a matching grin on her face. “Did you really think we’d fall for that? I guess you lost your smarts when you lost your strength.”

He cursed under his breath. “Perhaps that was a foolish plan.” His smug look soon return, however. “But I have endured far worse pain than this. If you want me to talk, you’ll need a new plan as well.”

Fortunately, Kole and Gnarrk didn’t have to come up with one.

“Is our friend playing nice in here?” Jinx asked, pushing open the door. “We’d like to get this over with.”

“Nope,” Kole answered. “Any suggestions?”

Jinx shut the door behind her. “Yeah, one.” She was the only one on the team who hadn’t got to try her new powers, and she might as well get a shot at it. She didn’t know what Kole and Gnarrk had already tried to get him to give up the chant, but clearly it needed to get forced out of him.

Herald knocked on the door. “Hey, what’s your plan in there, Jinx? Did Kole and Gnarrk get him to tell them the chant? Jinx?”

She didn’t answer, and instead went straight to Kataoru. She grabbed his shirt and pressed their faces together, glaring into his eyes.

All that seemed to do was unnerve the man, and he lost the bravado in his voice. “What are you doing?”

“Are you ... trying to possess him?” Kole also questioned.

“Yes,” Jinx hissed, looking away from Kataoru. “I'm just trying to remember how Jericho does it.” She had made sure to imagine herself taking over Kataoru’s mind, but that didn’t seem to do the trick. Did jems powers not work like hers?

“Je like ... falls into people’s bodies?” Kole offered, unsure of her advice.

Jinx thought it was useful, though. She had forgotten about the physical aspect of Jericho’s powers. She turned towards Kataoru again, and noticing how creeped out he looked, gave him a wide smile for maximum effect. She stared at him again, this time remembering that she, in her physical form, was possessing his entire body. It wouldn’t be just reading his mind.

She began to fade from view, and Katarou’s eyes became washed over in pink as she did.

The scene was quiet at first, as nobody involved really knew how to react. Then Kataoru began screaming and thrashing around.

Herald slammed open the door to figure out what was going on. They saw Gnarrk holding down Kataoru and Kole clutching onto the bed frame to stop it from shaking, but no Jinx. Their first instinct was to go towards the group, but they had barely entered the room when Jinx suddenly appeared again.

Kataoru’s eyes returned back to their normal color, but his body slumped over in exhaustion.

Jinx wasn’t doing any better, Her body and mind felt light, almost empty. Except for her eyes. Her eyes felt heavy, like they were pushing into her body and cracking it open. She stood perfectly still, giving no indiction that she knew where she was.

“Jinx...?” Herald asked quietly, coming up and placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Did you figure out the chant?” Kole hoped that being reminded of what she was doing would help bring her back to reality.

“Ciro ... Enyawd ... Vasarix.” Jinx breathed out. She then covered her eyes and started shrieking. She spun around and darted out of the room, knocking Herald’s hand off her shoulder in the process. She needed to find Jericho, now; The feeling in her eyes was just too much for her to bare. Even though she couldn’t see, she knew that the living room was a straight shot forward.

Hot Spot and Jericho were both startled by the screaming coming towards them.

Hot Spot, already up, went towards the noise and ended up holding onto Jinx’s shoulders to keep her steady after she ran into him. “What’s wrong Jinx? What happened?”

Jericho had a sinking feeling je knew exactly what she was panicking about, and ignoring how weak jems body felt, got up and dragged jemself to jems teammates. Je gently nudged Hot Spot aside and took Jinx’s hands away from her face.

Jinx’s eyes were wet and almost entirely red. Jericho softly, and unfortunately slowly, wiped one of them with jems thumb and showed her the results. It was just tears, but je knew perfectly well that she was concerned about it being blood. It also made perfect sense to jem that she was too disoriented to be able to notice that herself at the moment.

Herald and Kole, who had chased Jinx out of the room, slid to a stop at the sight of the three of them bunched up together.

Kole was about to say something to them, when she spotted Herald pulling something out of their pocket. “What are you doing?”

They held the necklace in the air. “I’m fixin’ this while we’re all in the same place. That’s why I told Gnarrk to stay behind, him bein’ here might throw off the spell.” Before Kole could object, they again mustered their most authoritative voice. “Ciro Enyawd Vasarix!”

A light engulfed the room. Unlike when the gem shattered, the spell didn’t knock out any of the Titans, so they were awake to feel like something was being ripped from their bodies, and then something different being shoved right back in. It was a strange feeling none of them liked, but at least it was over quickly.

Once it was, Herald put down the necklace and looked around. “Is everyone all right?”

“I am,” Hot Spot answered, his voice no longer defeated. He stepped back from Jinx and Jericho so he could admire his returned powers. The coldness and stiffness in his body were gone, replaced with a warm energy, and the higher his temperature went, the more his mood improved. He was thrilled.

“I ... think I am,” Jinx agreed, though still hesitant. The sudden switch in powers left her still disoriented, but at least she wasn’t panicking anymore.

Jericho had also improved physically once je got jems powers back. Jems heat exhaustion was completely gone, and je could move without immediately weakening. To prove it, je took off the hairband Jinx had let jem use and handed it back to her.

“All of our clothes are back to normal too, so I guess that means it worked.” Kole chimed in. “All that’s left is to decide what to do with Kataoru.”

Herald thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. “I mean, we can't really take him to jail, can we? We did agree to fight him in the first place.”

“Drop him back off at the park,” Jinx suggested quickly, ready for this situation to be done with. “I think I scared him enough that he won’t try us again.”

There was a general agreement with this plan, so Herald shrugged again and went back to the medical bay.

Soon after, the group heard a fanfare echo throughout the building, and they knew that they would be able to put this all behind them in a couple of minutes. Maybe one day they might discuss everything they learned about themselves and each other like good teammates would, but at the moment, they weren’t in the mood to.

[fereality-indy]

As most know the Teen Titans is my favorite team in the DC universe and have been since the  Marv Wolfman and George Pérez era. Heck, I even somewhat based the Gravity Heroes off of them. 

Now I love the cartoon, but It seems that people (DC included) seem to think of them or Damien’s little brood as the Teen Titans. I know there is the Titans comic and the live-action Titans tv series, it still seems like they focus on the same Titans (Robin/Nightwing, Starfire, Beast Boy, & Raven). I’m not saying this is bad, they are easily my third favorite iteration of the team (the post Countdown team & the Atom’s team take the first two spots). I’m just reminding people that there are more Titans then those four.

=========================================================

First Row: Arsenal (Roy Harper), Tempest (Garth), Troia (Donna Troy), Kid Flash (Wally West), Nightwing (Dick Grayson), Omen (Lilith Clay). Hawk (Hank Hall), Dove (Don Hall), & Herald (Mal Duncan) Second Row: Aquagirl (Tula), Gnaark, Joker's Daughter (Duela Dent), Bumblebee (Karen Beecher), Beast Boy (Garfield Logan), Raven (Rachel Roth), Starfire (Koriand'r), Cyborg (Victor Stone), Protector (Jason Hart), & Terra (Tara Markov) Third Row: Jericho (Joseph Wilson), Kole (Kole Weathers), Red Hood (Jason Todd), Danny Chase, Phantasm (Ghost of Danny Chase/Spirits of Azarath/Arella), Pantha (Rosabelle Mendez), Red Star (Leonid Kovar), & Baby Wildebeest Fourth Row: Kid Flash (Bart Allen), Mirage (Miriam Delgado), Terra (Tara Markov - imposter?), Damage (Grant Emerson), Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner), Supergirl (Matrix/Linda Danvers), Ravager (Rose Wilson-Worth), Minion (Jarras Minion), Atom (Ray Palmer), & Argent (Toni Monetti) Fifth Row: Prysm (Audrey Spears), Risk (Cody Driscoll), Hot Spot (Isaiah Crockett), Fringe (Unknown), Captain Marvel Jr/CM3 (Freddy Freeman), Jesse Quick (Jesse Chambers), Red Robin (Tim Drake), Superboy (Conner Kent-Kon-El), Wonder Girl (Cassie Sandsmark), & Speedy (Mia Dearden) Sixth Row: Aquagirl (Lorena Marquez), Zatara (Zachary Zatara), Offspring (Luke O'Brien), Dove (Dawn Granger), Hawk (Holly Granger), Miss Martian (M'gann M'orzz/Megan Morse), Talon (Unknown), Powerboy (Unknown), Bombshell (Amy Allen), & Little Barda (Unknown) Seventh Row: Molecule (Unknown), Young Frankenstein (Unknown), Enigma (Unknown), Mas (Unknown), Menos (Unknown), Osiris (Amon Tomaz), Flamebird (Bette Kane), Proxy (Wendy Harris), Marvin Harris, Red Devil (Eddie Bloomberg), Supergirl (Kara Zor-El), Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes), & Static (Virgil Hawkins) Eigth Row: Kid Eternity (Christopher Freeman), Robin (Damien Wayne), Solstice (Kiran Singh), Golden Eagle (Charley Parker), Hero Cruz, Bushido (Ryuko Orsono), Anima (Courtney Mason), Lagoon Boy (Zero), Son Of Vulcan (Miguel "Mikey" Devante), & Skitter (Celine Marjorie Patterson) Ninth Row: Magenta (Frances Kane), Bunker (Miguel Jose Barragan), Chimera (Ra’ut L’lwer), Power Girl (Tanya Spears), Kid Flash (Wallace West), Aqualad (Jackson Hyde), Red Arrow (Emiko Queen), Djinn, Roundhouse (Billy Wu), Crush (Xiomara Rojas), & Steel (Natasha Irons)

Reserve/Honorary - Characters who have either been offered membership in the past or are close allies of members of the Teen Titans who could be called to assist in an emergency. Firtst Row: Spoiler (Stephanie Brown), Misfit (Charlotte "Charlie" Gage-Radcliffe), Secret (Greta Hayes), Empress (Anita Fite), Traci 13 (Traci Thirteen), Arrowette (Cissie King-Jones), Black Alice, Terra (Atlee), Teen Lantern, Amethyst (Amy Winston), & Jinny Hex Second Row: Superboy (Jonathon Kent), Zan, Jayna, Stargirl (Courtney Whitmore), Thunder (Gan Williams), Lightning (Tavis Williams), Thunder (Anissa Pierce), Lightning (Jennifer Pierce), Snapper Carr, Chris King, Ray (Raymond C. "Ray" Terril), Jakeem Thunder, & the Pointmen (Blockade, Blank Slate, Gray Lady, Groundswell, Serpenteen, & Short Cut)

[loubuggins]

Raven’s Revenge

Chapter 4: The Newcomer

~#~#~

The ground lit up in flames and the sky darkened with ash. The heat from the fires burned his skin and the sulfur in the air scorched his lungs. His eyes narrow as he tried to focus his hazy gaze on his target. Then a vicious cough sent him doubling over as he choked on the polluted air.

"Robin, Robin, Robin." Her demonic voice tisked as he heard her step towards him. He forced himself to look up only to see a wave of the black magic crash into his weak body and wrap around him like a snake. He struggled under the pressure of the coil for a moment, but his head soon fell to a slump as he accepted his fate.

"You and I could have had it all, you know." The monstrous woman teased as she flicked her wrist, causing the coil of magic to tighten and forcing her captive to look her in the eye. Her skin was as red as blood and was only covered by the few strands that remained of her black leotard. Her hair was a flowing white mess that surrounded two curved horns.

"I offered you wealth, power, everything you could have ever wanted." She continued as she finished her stride toward his limb body. "But you refused me." With that, she extended a clawed hand and grasped the boy's cheeks. She sank her claws into his skin and squeezed his jaw. He cried out in pain, but could only stare back into her blazing eyes.

"Now...you shall be punished." Two obsidian magic coils rose to her side, and like snakes about to strike they pulled back before launching at full speed toward his chest.

"AHHH!" The Tyrant leader screamed as he shot up out of the arms of his Tamerian lover. Frantically, his blue eyes scanned around the dimly light bedroom as his mind raced to catch up to him. Beside him, he heard a low moan, followed by some stirring.

"Robin?" The alien woman questioned, her voice tired, yet laced with concern. Having processed his surrounding, the young criminal reached over a gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"I'm alright babe, just a nightmare. Go back to sleep." He reassured her and waited as she gave a small nod of her head and did as she was told. Once he was sure she had fallen back into her slumber, he moved out of the bed and quietly left the room.

~#~#~

"Are we there yet?" A raspy voice asked in her mind as she trudged through the ice-cold forest floor. She mentally growled as she sent a frustrated glare over to the green snowy owl that flew just a few feet above her.

"Ask me that again, and I'll make you my lunch."

The fluffy creature flew ahead to a nearby tree limb and landed gracefully in front of her. His large, round eyes and his narrow beak somehow still mimicked a smirk. "Is that a promise?" He thought back to her.

The demoness stopped in her tracks and narrowed her eyes at the coy fowl, but then the corner of her lips twitched up in an unexpected smirk. With another step forward, she reached out and gently stroked the soft plumage on the owl's neck. Gar flinched at first but then relaxed into her touch. The cloaked woman leaned closer, her lips now hovering over his feathered head. "Oh my pet, if you find me the dagger, I promise to reward you...handsomely."

The bird cooed at her offer and with a flap of his wings, he flew up and ahead, leaving the sorceress alone to enjoy the peace and quiet. She continued her trek on foot, gracefully maneuvering her way past the trees and undergrowth. The ground was damp with melted ice, making her steps silent as she searched for the castle she had only heard about in passing. Her feet ached from the cold and from being overused, and she longed to be able to use her magic to teleport them to their desired location or to at least allow herself to hover over the wet brush. Unfortunately, her powers had limitations, keeping her from transporting to a place she does not know and forcing her to conserve her energy or else face whatever challenge awaits ahead in a weakened state.

"Soon, I will destroy this cursed human body and will never know weakness again." She hissed under her breath. Not a moment after, she froze in her tracks, her crimson eyes widening in surprise. In one fluid motion, she twisted her body and extended her now glowing hand, but before she could release her magic, a blue blur shot back at her and encased her hand in a solid crystal. The force of this new power knocked the demoness back, but she quickly regained her stance. She glared at her entrapped hand with a mixture of annoyance and curiosity.

"Hm." She huffed with only mild interest. "Neat little trick, dear, but I'm afraid it will only get you so far." Raven raised her other hand, but again she was stopped by another crystal hex wrapping around her hand. This time the sorceress let out a frustrated growl.

"Very well. It seems we'll have to do this the hard way." Her red eyes began to glow a dark black and out of her body came a large, obsidian raven. With a loud caw, the raven flew from her body and headed straight into the trees. Another blast of blue magic was thrown at it, but the crystal ball only fazed right through it. Raven smirked as she heard a pathetic screech from the trees and watched her soul-self devour her attacker in darkness. The raven circled back around and dropped the younger girl on the ground before diving back into its host's body.

The new girl was small in stature, with short pink hair, strange pink antennas, and a peculiar long-sleeved shirt and skirt. Judging her on her appearance she seemed like any other foolish human that had dared to cross Raven's path, but the evil empath could sense a great deal of power and strength bubbling inside of her. This made the cunning villainess think before delivering her punishment.

"Who are you!" The strange girl hollered, interrupting her thoughts. Raven sneered at the girl's fake bravery and used her magic to break the crystals still trapping her hands. The crystals shattered into millions of pieces and fell into the dirt in between them. The surprised and horrified look the girl gave her filled her with glee. "How-how did you…"

"I'm a demon child, it will take more than your fancy party trick to overcome me."

With her eyes and hands glowing once again, two snake-like coils peaked out of the darkness under her cloak and slithered toward the frightened girl. Her own eyes glowed a dark blue as she held up her fist in preparation to strike back, but before a fight could ensue, the excited cawing of an owl stole their attention. The emerald-feathered bird flew at full speed to the demoness, his ora overflowing with happiness. He came toward Raven and lapped around her head as he chirped his good news.

His chatter and joy nauseated the empath, so she ordered him to return to his human form. Oblivious to their unexpected guest, the changeling circled back around and shifted back to his boyish body just before his talons hit the ground.

"I found it, Raven! I found the castle!" He exclaimed as he jumped up and down on his hands and feet, much like an ape.

A pleased grin spread across her face, but from the corner of her eye, she caught the other girl's concerned expression.

"You know about the castle, don't you?" She accused as she returned her gaze over to the stranger.

"Woah, who's she?" Gar asked as he glared at the girl and took up a defensive posture.

Raven narrowed her gaze. "I'm beginning to want to know myself." Without further hesitation, a coil of black magic shot out from beneath her cloak and tangled around the girl. The geomancer squirmed and gasped for air as the magic coil constricted her chest.

"Answer his question! Who are you and why are you here?" Raven demanded as she allowed the coil to ease back just enough to let the girl speak.

"Filthy demon!" The girl spat instead, earning a snarl from the changeling, but the insult had no effect on its target. Realizing she had no other way out of this, the girl ended her struggling and sighed in defeat.

"My name is Kole. I live here. That is all you need to know."

With a satisfied smirk, the demoness retracted the coil back into the darkness of her cloak and the girl fell to the ground, sucking in the precious life-giving air. Backing off she said with a taunt, "We'll see about that, Kole."

Then she turned to her companion with a blank expression. "You found the castle?"

The lime-skinned boy nodded his head vigorously. "Very good." She commended, then approached him. The boy looked at her curiously for a moment, but then lowered his head in submission as she reached out her hands and cupped the sides of his head. She focused her mind on his and used her magic to see through his memories. Once she knew where to go, she released him and waved her hand, opening a portal.

"Let's get going shall we?" She commented as she headed towards the portal. "Gar, keep an eye on our guest, will you?"

A deep-throated growl was her only response as he shifted into a snarling wolf and kept his eyes locked on the other pink-haired female. The fallen girl only glared at the agitated canine, but slowly rose up and followed Raven into the portal.

~#~#~

Robin carried a medium-sized plastic bowl in his hand, filled with various herbs and powders. He used his power of stealth to sneak through the dark halls of the Tyrants East Tower, taking care not to wake the slumbering occupants. He made his way towards a door labeled "PRIVATE" and wiggled one of his hands-free so that he could punch in the passcode. A little green light flashed over the button box and the door slid open with ease. The tyrant leader slipped inside and the door slide shut behind him. Feeling secure, the young man laid out the ingredients in his arms onto the floor in the center of the room. He went to the wall and flicked on the lights then went back over to his pile, where he knelt down and hovered over the bowl. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a wrinkled slip of paper with a dead language scribbled on it. Finally, he went about pouring the ingredients into the bowl. Once all the herbs and powders were properly mixed, he grabbed a steak knife he borrowed from the kitchen as well, and with a shaky grip held it over his outstretched palm. He mumbled the words written on the paper, then in one quick motion slid the knife over his skin, piercing it and causing drops of hot blood to drip from his hand and into the bowl. Only a moment went by before the temperature in the room fell significantly and the lights above him flickered eerily.

Then behind him, he heard a familiar pop and he turned to see a man-like creature staring back at him with dead, crimson eyes and an expensive suit. The newcomer titled his head and with a toothy smirk and opened his mouth and said with a thick British accent, "You rang?"

~#~#~

Chapter 1 ~  Chapter 2  ~ Chapter 3

[gaybaconprincess]

Jinx flirts with Kole while in battle.

[This was also very fun. I love fight scenes, I love this couple. Also, I imagine Jinx fights a lot like Ty Lee from Avatar, no idea why.]

Jinx punched, Kole dodged. Jinx dodged, Kole punched. Jinx would hex, Kole would crystallize.

Needless to say, fights between Kole and Jinx were always a treat when Titans North came across the HIVE Five. Both girls were extremely experienced fighters, and they both had similar fighting techniques as well. They were both lithe and acrobatic and it took forever just to land a hit on each other. Physically, that is. Jinx certainly hits on Kole more than should be necessary during battle.

“Oh, I was wondering when you would show up sweetheart.” Jinx said in a playful voice as she got into a fighting position and formed hexes around her fingers.

“I’m not your sweetheart! And you’re gonna be sorry for trashing that mall, those people didn’t do anything to you!” Kole hissed venomously. She took superheroing much more seriously than Jinx took villaining, it was quite comical actually.

Kole suddenly charged at Jinx with a crystallized hand, and Jinx easily jumped up and used Kole’s head as a pedestal, launching herself forward in the air before doing a somersault and landing gracefully in a crouch with her hex ready arms behind her.

“You’re running out of practice.” Jinx commented snarkily as Kole glared up at where she’d landed on the roof of a car.

“And you’re running out of time!” Kole yelled as she ran for Jinx again, who met her halfway as they began going at each other again. Kole would punch and swing as much as she wanted, but Jinx blocked and dodged every single one. People often forgot that she was the star student of HIVE academy, but Kole didn’t care.

“Geez, do you heroes like, have a course on one-liners and snarky replies? If so I’m afraid you may need to retake it, my dear.” Jinx said nonchalantly as she continued dodging every single one of Kole’s attacks with her hands behind her back. Suddenly, Jinx appeared behind Kole and kicked her legs out from under her. Before the girl hit the ground, Jinx kicked her again and caused her to crash into the side of the car. This, of course, didn’t faze Kole in the slightest. She got up like nothing had happened, ready to fight some more like the survivor she was.

“I personally think you should try a new angle with your lines.” Jinx commented.

“Oh yeah? What did you have in mind? Ancient curses?” Kole said snarkily as she crystallized both of her arms like weapons.

“Hm, I do have a few in mind.” Jinx said as she sped at Kole with great speed, not even giving the crystal girl enough time to try to block any attack she pulled.

Except Jinx didn’t attack, she wrapped one arm around Kole’s waist, the other holding her hand and pulling her closer to Jinx as if they were dancing a tango. In her surprise, Kole was unfocused and her hands de-crystallized.

“Are you tired? Because sweetie, you’ve been running through my mind all day.” Jinx said with a sweet and charming smile, very uncharacteristic for her unless she were around Kole.

Suddenly, Kole smirked and Jinx groaned painfully as she was flung back a few feet, Kole having re-crystallized the hand Jinx left alone and punching her hard in the stomach.

“Ugh, you’re stronger than you look.” Jinx said with a cough as she groggily stood up from where Kole had tossed her.

“Thanks, I get that a lot.” Kole said with a smirk and a fighting stance.

“Let’s find your weak spot, shall we?” Jinx said, her eyes glowing pink.

“Not today, little witch.” A russian voice said strongly from somewhere behind Jinx. Before Jinx knew what was happening she was tossed high in the air, the fear in her body erasing her hexes for a moment as she yelled off her head.

When Jinx finally started falling down, she fell right into the waiting arms of Kole, holding the witch girl bridal style. It was more than a little funny, considering Kole was a bit shorter than most, and especially shorter than Jinx, yet was easily capable of carrying her around like a babydoll.

“My hero!” Jinx said as she laid a hand on her head forlornly, making a scene. Before Jinx could stop it, someone was behind her and cuffing her wrists together.

“What, no! I demand a rematch!” Jinx yelled, three seconds away from blasting the policeman that had cuffed her into sweet oblivion.

Jinx was suddenly stopped, both hex and heart, when she felt Kole press a small kiss to her cheek.

“Don’t worry sweetheart, knowing you you’ll bust out of jail simply to fight me again.” Kole remarked, all of Titans North giggling at how Jinx was still frozen in place.

“You bet I will Kole-die locks.” Jinx remarked as she was dragged into the police car. The last Kole saw of her was a flirty wink, and the last Jinx saw of Kole was her rolling eyes and unseeable blush.

[rivaltierno]

Power Failure [Chapter 1]

A mishap during a fight with Katarou results in the team getting their powers swapped. Now, in an attempt to get their proper powers back, they have to get Katarou to cooperate with them, all while dealing with new abilities they don’t know how to use - and two teammates currently out of commission due to that. A retelling of Teen Titans Go! Issue #24 with Honorary Titans. 

Written for Honorary Titan Fan Week 2020, Day 4: “With the Honoraries”

Word Count: 1,560

It didn’t seem like that serious of a fight. Katarou came up to the newly-formed team after a press conference and demanded they fight him. None of them had heard of him, but Titans East had told them stories of civilians not trusting them to be “real Titans” at first and wanting to see “proof” of their skills, so the team agreed that must be what the man wanted. 

With the rest of their team ushering away any remaining civilians, Herald held out a hand towards Katarou. “What kind of fight are you hopin’ for?”

Katarou clutched onto their hand, not even shaking it. “Three turns. You may strike first.”

Herald pulled away, unnerved by his actions. They briefly considered turning down his offer, but decided against it. They had a feeling he would fight him anyway, or worse, take his rage out on another civilian. “Right.”

Fortunately enough, the press conference had taken place at the local park, so they had enough empty space to battle in. It even gave the rest of the team a place to sit down and watch the fun.

“Make your move, Titan!” Kataoru taunted, opposite of the group. “I’m waiting.”

As much as they wanted to, Herald knew they couldn't just kick him in the face and be done with it - superheroes don’t beat up civilians. So they decided to just knock him off his feet instead.

They darted forward, and then dropped down and swung their legs towards Kataoru’s ankles.

Kataoru jumped over their attack, and grinned as he watched them go immediately into another spin to try again. Too easy. His reflexes were faster, and with just one hand, he grabbed their ankle to stop them in their tracks.

Before Herald could fully realize what was happening, they had been hoisted into the air upright, like a twisted cheerleading routine. Unable to break free from Kataoru’s grip, they instead focused their energy on staying balanced as possible, knowing that something would break if their body went one way and their leg the other. 

Kataoru kept grinning. “My turn.” He clamped his other hand on Herald’s ankle and began spinning them around. It was much smaller circle than Herald had been in earlier, just to increase the likelihood of giving them whiplash.

Their teammates decided to get involved at that point. While the other four stayed behind to come up with a plan, Gnarrk dashed towards the fight, planning to free Herald from Kataoru’s grasp.

Unfortunately for him, Kataoru was faster. He flung Herald towards him, and laughed when Gnarrk, clearly not prepared to catch them, was unable to bear the momentum and was also flung back a few feet.

This caused Kole to abandon the group discussion and rush over to see if the two of them were hurt. She was relieved to see that Gnarrk barely had any scratches, and Herald could sit up with minimal dizziness. She still had to help them fully get up, though. 

“Clearly a direct attack isn’t going to work,” Jinx hissed, internally berating herself for not taking the fight more seriously in the first place. “But-”

“I’m waiting for your next move!” Kataoru began taunting again. “Unless you want to admit defeat.” “But,” she started again, “I wonder if he can hit someone that isn't directly in front of him. I’m going to attack from behind while you two distract him. Just, don’t run up and punch him.” With that, Jinx went off, not sticking around to see if either of her remaining teammates had disagreements. 

Jericho did have disagreements, however, for je had the same plan as Jinx. Je wasn’t going to stick around and be a distraction, but did sign jems plan to Hot Spot before also running off, albeit in the opposite direction. “I’m sneaking up on him. Good luck.”

This left Hot Spot to be the one to distract Kataoru. He grumbled slightly, but still marched forward to the man. He supposed he should have expected this to happen, given that he and Jinx were the only ones on the team that didn’t need to be up-close-and-personal to fight. 

“Your teammates ran like cowards,” Kataoru sneered. “You think you alone can defeat me?”

“Depends if you have other tricks up your sleeve,” Hot Spot replied. “You’ll find that you can’t throw me around.” He began to form a small fireball - easier to aim than full fire blasts, and could be dragged out for however long it took his teammates to enact their plans. He hoped it would be soon, whoever it was.

Kataoru wasn’t a patient man, and did not appreicate Hot Spot taking his time to take his turn. “If you insist on standing there, then I will take my turn first. Be prepared.” He jumped into the air and landed back down in the same spot, the ground shaking on impact. Part of it cracked underneath him, and he placed a foot on one particular crack.

Hot Spot stumbled slightly, but easily balanced himself again, the fire ball he was creating not affected in the slightest. Out of the side of his eye, he could see Jinx nearby, ready to strike. A smug look spread across his face. “Is that all you got?”

“Nope.” Kataoru stomped down on the crack, and a large chunk of earth flew upwards, accompanied by a shriek. 

Jinx’s hexes went flying as she was thrown into the air. The first few crashed in front of her, so when she landed back on the ground, she fell into a dust ball. She coughed and began trying to get dirt out of her eyes.

The rest of her hexes hit Hot Spot. The magic made him recoil back, his fire ball flying out to the side. 

Jericho had snuck up on the fight just in time to narrowly avoid a fire ball scorching jem. Je twirled on jems heels, only to bump into Kataoru while doing so. In the first lucky moment of the fight, it seemed that he was content to just laugh at jem, giving jem the opportunity to keeping going past him towards Jinx.

“Friendly fire,” Kataoru continued laughing. “A waste of a turn.” He then turned and ran towards one of the hills in the park. He wanted to see all six of his opponents at once for is next move, and being above them would do the trick.

“Hey!” Hot Spot shouted, running after him. “Get back here!” It didn’t take long for him to catch up, but it did bother him that he now had to look up to see the man. “Hiding up there, huh? Who’s the coward now, Kataoru?”

Kataoru didn’t respond verbally, and instead simply pulled out the necklace from under his shirt. He held it up so it gleamed in the sunlight, in hopes of showing off just how powerful of a tool it was. And lucky for him, he was showing it to the one Titan on the team who actually knew what it was.

Hot Spot instinctively took a step back from it. “How did you...?”

“How did he what?” Jinx asked as she and Jericho came up behind him.

“That necklace,” he responded, more concerned with warning his teammates than replying, “It can trap people inside of it and steal their powers. That must be why-”

“I’m so powerful?” Kataoru finished, his menacing grin returning to his face. “And with all of your powers, I’ll be even stronger. I was hoping you all would be more impressive, but power is power. Now if the rest of your little group would arrive...”

“Hold on, Kataoru!” Kole shouted, she and Herald finally rejoining the team. Gnarrk was not with them. “We still have our final turn!”

With that statement, Herald opened up a portal above Kataoru’s head. And then nothing else happened.

The rest of the team first eyed the empty portal, then nervously looked over at Herald and Kole, wondering what they had been planning this entire time.

Kataoru, for his part, again laughed at them. “Now that your little performance is over, I’ll take my final turn.” He lifted the necklace even higher into the air, and his lips began to move.

Nobody could hear what he was saying, because it was drowned out by Gnarrk dropping out of the portal, screaming the whole way down.

Gnarrk grabbed onto Kataoru and pulled him down the hill, away from the rest of the Titans, not realizing that the necklace slipped out of his hand. However, he did realize that the man was significantly weaker once he hit the ground, easily crumpling under Gnarrk’s metahuman strength. 

“My necklace...!” Kataoru choked out. There was no way he could win a fight, now. But that wasn’t his only plan. “You’ll want to check on your friends, caveman.” His sneer was less prominent with a hand pressing on his chest, but it was still there. “Who knows what happened to them since you interrupted my chant?”

Gnarrk snarled and swiftly punched him across the face, knocking him out. He watched him for a second to make sure he didn't move, then looked over to the hill separating him and the rest of his team. Anxiety washed over him as he started climbing it, not knowing what he was going to see on the other side.