Feeling a bit under the weather, guys. Still, the fandom expansion continues-now at a slightly slower rate.

Thanks go to GrimGrave for beta-ing this :3

Disclaimer: Do not own. Blah.

-In Pursuit of Bad Luck-

In the middle of a bay on a small, rocky island stood a tall, T-shaped tower. Now this in itself was unusual, but even more so were the building's inhabitants: four super-powered teens and their not-so-super-powered leader.

They called themselves, adequately enough, the Teen Titans.

There was...

... Beast Boy, the changeling. His incredible ability to take on any animal form that he wished made him a formidable foe in combat. He possessed a heart of gold, earnestly trusting in the good in people and wearing his heart on his sleeve. He also happened to be a vegetarian—likely due to the fact that he had been in the shoes of many of the creatures unfortunate enough to end up on a plate-much to the confusion of his best friend and tower-mate—

-Cyborg who, as his name suggested, was primarily composed of cybernetics. He was a genius, naturally talented in all things hands-on—especially when it came to technology. He was without a doubt a carnivore (top of the food chain, baby!)... thus creating a huge argument with his green ally every meal without fail. The signature Sonic Cannon built into his arm was of his own design-as was all of the technology that the team used to fight crime and keep their stronghold, well, strong.

... Robin, their enigmatic leader. Former sidekick of the legendary Batman, Robin was well-versed in all forms of hand-to-hand combat. It was he who benefitted the most from Cyborg's tinkering—his utility belt was stocked with all manner of hand-made, high tech gear. More often than not the young man kept to himself, though he was far from unfriendly.

... Starfire, the alien girl hailing from the distant planet of Tamaran. She was still learning the ways of the world and the strangeness of the human race with the help of her newfound friends and she was prone to odd behaviors and even odder statements. Still, she was one of the kindest most warm-hearted people one could meet and she was tame as a kitten despite her super strength and the ability to shoot Starbolts-bolts of energy imbued with the power of the stars—from her hands and eyes. She was the exact opposite of her sister, Blackfire, but that's a story for another time.

Last, but certainly not least, there was Raven, the psychokinetic empath. She was-

BOOM!

The purplette's eyes snapped open and, for a moment, there were four of them, all glowing an unholy crimson. Then she blinked and there were two indigo orbs over which perfectly arched eyebrows drew together. The explosion hadn't disturbed her seated, floating position above her bed, but the noise had broken her concentrated state of meditation and that was a no-no.

An alarm wailed—a precursor to the coming chaos—and the girl sighed, levitating across the room to her door and unfolding long legs before lowering herself gently to the carpet. As she reached for the access panel to the thick metal door, it slid open and a lanky, green-skinned teenager nearly crashed into her.

"Raven! Come quick-it's H.I.V.E!"

'Great...'

H.I.V.E—or the Hierarchy of International Vengeance and Extermination—had a penchant for wreaking havoc on Jump City—from burglary to hostage exchange to the desecration and destruction of city landmarks, they had done it all.

This time, it appeared their target was the Titan Tower, however, and if the urgency with which the security system was wailing was anything to go by, they were doing an excellent job of creating mayhem.

In fact—

Raven whirled away just as a hulking teen badly in need of a haircut smashed through the wall nearest her, belting out a war cry and continuing through another wall as though the thick concrete construction was mere cardboard.

She sighed and followed slowly in his wake, righting things with inky tendrils of her power as she went. The empath already had a pretty good idea of who their guests were and the best way to get rid of them.

They called themselves the H.I.V.E Five—a criminal organization bent on the destruction (not to mention disturbance) of all super hero groups. And, despite their name, there were essentially only three troublemakers at the heart of it all with the occasional guest appearance from another villain or villainess:

The boy who had just stampeded passed was known simply as Mammoth. He possessed super strength and a tolerance for pain that would make the average person cry and was thus the brute force of the team. He and Beastboy were usually butting heads (no, seriously) at this point, but the changeling was screaming and high-tailing it away from a midget held aloft by what appeared to be the metallic legs of an arachnid.

"Gizmo," as he was called, was second only to Cyborg when it came to technological know-how. The brilliant mind within the shell of that big, bald head of his fueled an even bigger mouth that was prone to-

"C'mon, you mother fucking pussy! Fight me and die like the little shit you are!"

"NO!"

-violent episodes of swearing that would make the saltiest of pirates blush.

The empath sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, her powers lifting the hood of the blue cloak she usually wore up over her head as if to comfort her. "Let's get this over with," she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest as she strode passed Mammoth sitting on Robin, guffawing at Starfire's attempts to lift him (the laughter quickly stopped when she socked him right in the jaw and right through floor above them), and into the kitchen.

There, the third and final "house guest" was...

...

...

...

"... You're drinking my tea."

A tall, thin girl with shockingly pink hair twisted into two gravity-defying horns was sitting at the round kitchen table, booted feet propped up comfortably as she sipped from a tea cup that was part of a priceless set Raven had been given during their last trip to the aboriginal mountains of China. She smiled serenely. "You've actually got pretty good taste, Emo Kid."

She wasn't quite sure how to respond to that.

The Titan bristled. "Why are you here, Jinx?"

Wild pink eyes with narrowed, cat-like pupils flicked to the purplette and Jinx took her time draining the final dregs of the herbal brew in her cup before responding, "Weeeeeeellllllllll..."

A heartbeat later, she was somersaulting out of the way of a bolt of inky black energy that came hurtling at her as a result of her impromptu hostess losing patience. Without missing a beat, she twirled elegantly, her own chaotic powers lashing out in a bolt of fuchsia to deflect the cloud of sharp silverware that was lobbed in her direction.

"Get out."

"Are you always this pleasant with your guests?"

The answer to that question came in the form of thick chords of dark energy wrapping around the hexer's wrists, pinning her to the far wall with bruising force.

"Heh... Don't suppose you'll consider letting me have a do-over?"

Raven scoffed and one of the cupboards lining the walls opened, a new teacup emerging from it and floating over to where the teapot was sitting on the table. It dispensed steaming, sweet-smelling tea and vessel went to its owner, who sipped delicately from it.

"Not bad." It was said quietly, under her breath, but the pinkette heard it nonetheless.

"Whoa, was I just complimented by the Raven? The Mistress of Sullen?"

The coils tightened and Jinx found herself sailing through the air and into what appeared to be a gym of some sort; she bounced a few times on the scuffed linoleum floor before coming to a halt beside a giant... sparring robot?

She grinned, her powers stirring, and the behemoth rose to its feet, boxing gloved hands held up in front of its thick torso. The moment the empath came hovering through the doorway; she was grabbed and smashed through the nearest wall, leaving a trail of broken workout equipment in her wake. Raven wasn't down for long and she came lunging out of the newly-created gap, her eyes glowing an unearthly white—

The hexer released a startled yelp, raising her arms instinctively to shield herself from the caster's rage and her powers responded of their own volition, flooding the room with a wash of neon pink that forcibly ejected the purplette from her home through the newly created exit in the ceiling.

…

'Whoops!'

Jinx shaded wild eyes from the sunlight streaming in, smirking and remarking, "I've always wanted a sun roof." Her attention went to the doorway where her partners-in-crime now stood. "What?"

"Damn, Jinx, that demon chick is going to be mad as fuck when she comes roaring back in here to tear you a new asshole."

She grimaced at Gizmo's colourful language, but she disregarded it in favor of asking Mammoth, "Did you take care of the love birds?"

He nodded. "Out like a light."

"And the dynamic duo of idiocy?"

"Yeah, yeah. Don't treat me like a fuckin' kid. I took care of 'em."

This… was actually working. The pinkette grinned and the lights dimmed, their power sources crackling ominously.

"Okay, give me five minutes to do my thing. Thing you can handle her if she comes back?"

"Yup."

"Would ya hurry it up so we can get out of this dump?"

Jinx headed back through the kitchen and into the living room where the loft leading to the Titans' rooms waited. As she passed the dining table, the tea cup she had been using—and really the only thing left whole amongst the wreckage—cracked neatly in half with a fizzle of fuchsia.

Plan Alpha is a go.