Those Darn Dogooders

1

Jinx

"UNGH!"

Ow. That hurt. I didn't know Kyd Wykyyd could hit this hard. I hate fighting him…I hate fighting my friends. Even if they are idiots.

But I have to. This isn't training, or practice, this is self defense. And I'm losing.

I'm holding back. I don't want to use my powers…because I know that I can hurt them. Seemore is the only one who isn't fighting me. It actually looks like he's trying to convince Billy Numerous to go back to the HQ and play a video game, or something. I think Seemore has a crush on me. Idiot. He should know-I'm bad luck. Getting mixed up with me is bad luck.

Then I hear myself groan as Gizmo pulls out a tricky-looking new gadget that I haven't seen yet. He aims it at me, as Mammoth holds me down. Maybe they're smarter-or at least better fighters-than I thought.

…..Nah. On second thought, they're not. I didn't underestimate them. How do I know? Because Mammoth just tripped over one of the many Billy Numerous clones, dropped me, and started fighting the clone instead. Dolt.

It didn't give me enough time to run for it or anything, though.

But the gadget….that'll probably hurt-it looks like he's shooting electricity at me-

"AGHHHH!"

Never mind. I know exactly what that machine is. I've seen it before, I've even used it before, on him….on Kid Flash. Level-4 restriction power. It hurts a lot. I'm…sorry, Kid Flash. If I had known it would've hurt this much, I…..I wouldn't have used it on you. I told you I'm a villain. Born and bred. But…if I had a choice, I wouldn't have used it on you. I hope you realize that.

Gizmo intensified the pain, pushing the knob to level 6.

Gotta-use-powers-can't concentrate- hurts so much—"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Kid Flash

I'm on my way back to Jump City, to visit Jinx. Maybe leave her another rose. Chicks dig that kinda thing. And, whether she'll admit it or not, Jinx thinks I'm sweet. I can just tell.

But, that's the thing. She'll never admit it. She refuses to believe that she can change the direction of her life. She has more potential and strength than she knows. She doesn't think she has a choice. "I'm bad luck," she told me. "Being good was never an option for me." But it is. Jinx is incredible, and cool, and beautiful-she just doesn't know it. And she doesn't know that she likes me. Not yet, anyway.

In the 15 seconds it took me to explain that, I just made it all the way from Star City to Jump, which is a considerable feat, seeing as they're about 4 states away. Score one for the Fastest Boy Alive!

But, on the road to the newly reconstructed Hive 5 HQ that I'm about to trash again, I see someone getting beaten up in an alley-by the Hive 5. It'll be cool to take 'em all out. They're idiots, so it's pretty funny to see how they try to stop me. I just hope I won't have to take her down, too.

I don't see her with them. But the person they're beating up is a girl. Well, actually, they're not beating her up. She's caught in some sort of blue-glowy thingy. She's struggling, and bad, and it looks like that level-4 containment unit thingy Jinx used on me once. That hurt a lot. So I hope that that's not what they're using on her. Then, just as I arrive, the girl screams and passes out. O.K., totally unfair to the girl. What losers the Hive Five are.

I like big entrances sometimes. They're fun. "Never fear, Kid Flash is he-Jinx?" ...Or at least they're fun until the girl you like is being kicked around by her former teammates.

Wow, I'm stupid. That was Jinx getting electrocuted! They're gonna pay now. The little bald kid with wings looks at me and yells "get him!" His squeaky voice is annoying, so I take him out first.

"Didn't your mommy teach you to never hit a girl?" I grab his little gadget-thingy and dismantle it in about ¼ of a second. Then I quickly proceed to bring down everyone else-that wizard guy who doesn't talk, Mammoth, Billy Numerous, and Seemore.

Except, Seemore wasn't that bad. Just as I was about to push him into a dumpster and lock it (I swear, it's the only way to deal with criminals), he said to me, "…Take care of Jinx. She didn't choose to change sides, she chose you. There's a difference." And he looked really sincere, too, so I decided to go easy on him and let him go back to his HQ. I think I got off lucky, this time, because they were too distracted with Jinx to really try to fight me. Not that I couldn't have taken them, though. It really is in their best interest, that they didn't fight. Wouldn't want to embarrass them.

As I head towards Jinx, the rest of the guys take off-without so much as a "This isn't over yet!" There's just no courtesy these days.

Anyway, Jinx is down, and she doesn't look too hot. So I pick her up and run straight back to my place, where I can keep an eye on her. Star City is big, and things can get pretty crazy there, but I have a feeling that it'll be good to get her out of Jump for a while.