Chapter 4

Robin had a gym dedicated to him, with a few machines dedicated to Beast Boy and Cyborg. Cyborg had an entire floor connected to the power and security of the tower to…do Cyborg things. Raven had her own meditation room, outside of her own actual room. Starfire had…well Starfire didn’t get anything, but my point still stands.

And what did I get?

Nothing. The only way for me to get stronger was to buy a rudimentary chemistry set with the money funded to me by the Justice League. And of course, this chemistry set that wouldn’t look out of place in a highschool classroom wasn’t really going to help me a whole lot.

But at the very least, it did help…somewhat.

So, plan pheromones failed. That was fine. There were other ways to become more attractive. Not that I wasn’t already attractive or needed a crutch, I just uh…

…Alright, so maybe I was interested in looking even more attractive. Who wasn’t? Besides, if I did make a fool proof way to make yourself more attractive, do you have any idea how ludicrously rich I could become?

Me neither. Maybe on some Bruce Wayne, Bill Gates, or Lex Luther type wealth. The kind of wealth that trickles down through the generations. Not that I’m planning on having kids anytime soon, but still.

Anyway, so my first idea was to create a sort of chemical substance that would adsorb the oils on someone’s face and get rid of acne. Could I actually do that? Hell if I know, but I wanted to try anyway.

My first series of experiments saw me using a pill in order to do that. Before shortly afterwards realizing that wouldn’t really do anything because it wouldn’t be applied to the face. So, it needed to be some sort of face mask instead.

Which would take a while, due to it not being a liquid but a solid. Thankfully its thinness shaved off some time. Even still, I was pretty tired after working on it for twenty-four hours straight. After putting it on my face and letting it sit for a couple of hours, I removed it.

To find my face rather smooth, and blemishes removed. It had been a total success.

At least until I realized I had just made a face mask that I could get at the nearest Walmart for about five bucks. W-well, at the very least it was much more effective than those things…probably…

Actually, I had no idea, nor did I really want to find out.

Which meant it was time to find a new plan. And that plan was to just walk around Titan’s Tower aimlessly until I thought of something else. Which is how I stumbled upon Starfire. Robin was apparently on some Justice League business, Raven was meditating, Cyborg was updating the security of the Tower, Beast Boy went into town for groceries.

So the only one left for her to ‘do the hanging out with’ was me.

…Maybe not getting my own chemistry set wasn’t such a bad thing after all?

At least, that’s what I thought until we started to hang out. And by hang out, I meant training in the Titan’s gym. Starfire didn’t look it, but she was strong. Absurdly strong. Like fuck off levels of strong.

At least Superman looked like he was built to knock someone into the fucking sun. Starfire’s arms were…not very muscly looking. That wasn’t to say she had noodle arms. She was pretty toned, and had the faint markings of a burgeoning six pack, but she didn’t have any like…popping out muscle. There were no bulges.

Though I will say her arms felt like fucking titanium when she let me feel them. Also, her skin was pretty smooth.

Starfire then proceeded to use Cyborg’s weight machine. Which was pretty much a massive hydraulic press machine. And of course was able to do well pretty easily and confidently. Which eventually saw her egging me on to start exercising as well.

She almost took off my head by tossing several hundred pounds of weights towards me. Thankfully I was able to dodge in time. After attempting to pick them up for several minutes, I eventually gave up. Instead deciding to just get on one of the treadmills.

Thankfully this one was much more my speed. Even still, after about fifteen minutes my body was slick with sweat and I was having a hard time catching my breath. Whereas Starfire was just having fun about the gym.

I might have been slender, but that didn’t exactly mean I had been in shape. The only thing that raised my spirits was the sole fact that Raven would probably be worse physically than me. Then again, she was able to dodge and jump pretty well…no wait, she could fly. That didn’t count.

Hmm…well, I’d have to think about that later. In order to keep my mind off the absolute agony my body was currently in, I asked Starfire some questions. About her planet, her home, and her family.

It was pretty interesting to learn about an alien planet and their culture. Though I did expect something more…alien. Foreign. Wait…was that racist against aliens? Alienist, for short? To just expect them to be extremely different and otherworldly from humanity?

I needed to think more about that. For now though I think I was going to catch my breath lying on the floor next to the treadmill in the fetal position. Starfire was worried about me for a second, until I assured her this was some human custom. Which lead her to also get into fetal position on the floor as well.

After a bit, I finally was able to stand up and get some water. Starfire kept following me around and constantly prodding me with questions. Questions about my own upbringing which I had been rather good at avoiding…until now.

Telling her I didn’t have a family didn’t seem to dissuade her from asking more questions like it would other people. It only made her more curious. And as someone who didn’t really care to dwell on the past, I didn’t really want to talk about it.

So, then I came up with an idea.

There was a device that young Tamaranean’s used to help them with their powers. As they are fueled by their emotions, some kids need a pick me up to do so. And that pick me up as described by Starfire sounded a lot like a hookah. And of course, I was also pretty curious about how alien biology reacts to some of the different drugs I produce.

So, the solution was obvious.

I told Starfire that we on earth had something like that, but that it wasn’t regarded as warmly on earth than it was on her planet. Something that she had trouble wrapping her brain around. Which lead me to believe that most drugs on her planet probably weren’t anything like ours.

After getting her to easily promise to keep the fact that I had said drugs in my room, I led her back to it. In the name of investigating whether or not they were similar to the drugs young kids on her planet took to help start using their powers.

Yeah, I had a collection of drugs already in my room. I didn’t really plan to use them myself really. If I wanted to get high that was about as easy as flipping a switch in my head. Making drugs was more of…just an insurance.

In case I was thrown on my ass outside the Titan’s Tower, I actually had something to trade and get money from. But if that never happened…well, I’d probably just get rid of them or something. Though testing their effects on alien physiology sounded pretty fun too.

Starfire floated around the room. Looking at everything before I got two joints from my small stash. I handed her one before starting to smoke the other. Mostly to just show her how to do it. Of course, the joint had pretty much no effect on me. My resistance to the stuff was high, and I didn’t make this stuff able to affect me very easily.

I also wasn’t a complete dickhead to Star. Which meant pretty much all the addictive qualities of the weed had been filtered out. Making it mostly just a bit of harmless fun. Though perhaps with a bit less kick to it than normal joints.

As Starfire started to smoke cannabis for the first time, to my surprise she quickly took in a deep drag before blowing a bit of it out without coughing. Hmm, maybe Tamaranean’s weren’t easily affected by this stuff?

I gave it a few more minutes to let it settle as Star was on already on her second joint. Burning through them pretty quickly. Until finally she hummed and paused.

“Hmm…I think…yes…I am started to feel great happiness! Yes, this does remind me of the Kanorphka back home, though it does taste and smell different.”

“Do you dislike it?”

I asked, genuinely curious of the flying alien’s personal tastes. Star took a few seconds to answer, taking another drag before answering. If she hadn’t told me beforehand that she hadn’t had any experience with drugs before, I would have assumed she was some sort of expert or hardcore addict.

“It tastes strange, but the smell is very nice. It is warm. Happy.”

Alright, maybe the weed had been affecting her more than she let on. Or she was just being Starfire. It was hard to tell.

After a few more minutes and all of my joints were used up, I came to a decision. Tamaranean’s were barely effect by smoking weed. If there was an effect, it was incredibly small and unnoticeable. Leading me to become even more interested in what could affect Starfire and not.

Though before I could test anymore drugs on Star, there was a knock at the door. Star immediately opened it, letting most of the smoke go out the room instead of the window. Which was probably fine, due to the modifications I made with it.

Beast Boy who was on the other side blinked a few times before coughing, and explaining that they were all planning on watching a movie tonight. Starfire was excited at this, and quickly went up top to join in on the discussion. Beast Boy coughed a few times before commenting on the smell.

“Jeez, why does it smell like a bunch of mints on fire?”

A modification that I made for most drugs. Who doesn’t like the smell of mints?

“Starfire blew up a Febreze can. Come on, let’s start heading up.”

Beast Boy and me talked for a bit before finally getting to the main living room and sitting on the big half circle couch. It was pretty roomy, and had just enough space for everyone to sit on it with some comfortable arm room. Starfire sat on my right next to Robin, while Beast Boy sat on my left and on the corner of the couch. Which he complained about due to the popcorn being a bit away from him.

The solution being to give him his own small bowl before finally starting the movie. He quickly devoured the popcorn before finally looking at the movie. I was also watching the movie for the first half hour as well. It was some sort of comedy about daily life for normal people.

But what was more interesting was Beast Boy’s reactions. He sniffed a bit before relaxing back into his seat. His eyes starting to glaze over a bit with a satisfied smile. At first, I thought he was just tired and was about to fall asleep, before I started to realize that he might have just gotten contact high from Starfire and me.

After the movie, he was so out of it that I needed to drag him back to his room. Similar to me, the other Titan’s assumed it was that he was just tired and half asleep.

I was completely blindsided by Beast Boy’s room. How he had already gathered so much stuff-hell, how he had gathered so much filth was beyond me. Not only did trash litter the place and make it look like a pig sty, but literal bags of tied up trash were on one side of the room.

Christ…he lives like this?

I don’t know if it was possible to get roaches on a Tower surrounded by water, but if it was, Beast Boy would find a way to attract them. Ugh. Maybe I should analyze some bug repellent or killer later.

But there was just one more thing I needed to do before retiring to bed.

Make no mistake, I don’t intend to hurt Starfire with any drugs. Nor do I tend to abuse my power over her. That’s not what I was doing at all. I was simply genuinely curious about the effects on her species. See, Starfire was an ally. I owed her, and she owed me.

But not everyone was an ally. Some people were just like bugs. Scurrying to and fro from dirt to carpet. Attempting to live quietly and die peacefully. Other bugs however, had to make nuisances of themselves. Not satisfied with a safe and quiet life, they have to bug others. Make sure they know that this was their territory now, and that they planned on eating my food as their own.

For people like this…well, it wasn’t as if there was no saving them or anything. It was very, very rare for someone to be beyond being talked out of something. Humans were social animals after all. Our whole society was built on conversation and trade. On compromise.

That’s what I believed, anyway.

“Well now, I though Robin was the only one who was going to pay us a personal visit.”

Jinx stated, looking at me cattishly. Her hands and fingers were tied up together behind her in such a way as to prevent her casting. Though as the Titan’s weren’t monsters, she was allowed to move around in her cell. Both Gizmo and Mammoth were in cells as well, though they were a bit more spaced out so as to not group them all together.

Jinx confirmed my strong theory on Robin paying his own secret visits to the captured villains. Likely to find more information about that guy…uh, what was his name…Deadstroke? Deathpool?

It was something like that.

The point was, Robin didn’t report his visit to the other Titan’s. And if he didn’t report his visit, that meant I didn’t have too either. Turnabout was fair play after all.

“Sorry, I’ve had some other things to do. But for right now, you have my full attention.”

Jinx looked at me through the see through glass door as I made to open it. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion before hiding a small grin. Her cell wasn’t particularly big, but it wasn’t small enough to cause claustrophobia. It was just right.

Behind her was a small metal bed as she was given as few amenities as possible. Less potential for them to escape that way. The walls on either side of her were solid. Made of reinforced concrete and some other shit that pretty much helped served as one of the pillars holding up the entire Titan’s tower.

Nothing was getting through it. And if something did get through it, and a few other pillars, then the Tower would collapse on them. A lose/lose scenario.

As I finally stepped into Jinx’s cell she approached rather seductive like. Her face approached closely as she looked me up and down before commenting.

“You know, now that you’re all dressed up and in costume…you’re pretty cute.”

…I knew it!

Uh…not that I needed her to think I was attractive, nor did her saying so raise my self-confidence. Because that would be very lame. But it was nice to know that the problem wasn’t me exactly, it was just the situation and clothes.

Still, despite her very nice words, it wasn’t going to change anything.

“Yeah, pretty cute…for an idiot. Gizmo, now!”

She barked out, not breaking eye contact as she grinned evilly at me. In response I simply smiled and held her gaze. Several seconds passed as nothing happened. Causing her to frown and look away for a split second.

“Gizmo? Anytime would be great.”

“I don’t think he’ll be answering you.”

I finally answered, before brushing the back of my palm against her face. She didn’t react to the touch, but simply narrowed her eyes at my words.

“…What?”

The air filtration to these cells was very tight and controlled. In case of a villain who can manipulate things like that, I guess. However, they also helped me greatly whenever I wanted to talk one on one with someone in their cell. Say for instance, Jinx.

Then it was a simple matter of breathing some sleeping gas into the other chambers and waiting for them to fall asleep before approaching Jinx. But of course I had no intention of spelling out everything for her.

“Don’t worry, they aren’t dead or anything. Just asleep.”

She huffed at that.

“Well obviously. You’re a hero.”

Oh my. What a thing to take for granted. That heroes won’t ever go all out. Always pulling back, never killing, never harming. Always taking the moral high road in every situation.

Of course, most heroes were people too. And people were people. They got tired. Angry. Fed up. Confused. They made mistakes. They could go to far.

The ones that couldn’t…well, they were barely even people in my eyes. That wasn’t something to brag about. It was a sickness of the mind. To self-sacrifice so much, to take the moral high ground despite in doing so they’d be perpetuating a broken system…

What else could I call it but an illness?

Now I was many things. Selfish, cold, uncaring, dashingly handsome, and calculating. But there was one thing I wasn’t.

I wasn’t crazy.

“Right…I’m a hero.”

This time when my hand brushed by Jinx, my index finger tapped her mouth. Startling her as she jerked back. Instead of following her, I simply continued to stand near the doorway.

“W-what the hell was th-th-th-that?”

By the end of her sentence her words were starting to get slurred. Something she immediately noticed, if her alarmed look towards me was anything to go by. Before quickly getting angry and falling back onto her bed.

“What didsh you do?”

She asked me once again, causing me to smile lightly. My own hand was brought up my chin to cup it, while using my index finger to guard over my lips. To cover up whenever I’d smile.

Though considering how much angrier she got, I believe it didn’t work.

“I drugged you.”

“Noooo…”

Jinx commented, rolling her eyes as her body started to slowly shift. She was starting to have trouble keeping her balance. Even still, she attempted to cover it up.

“You know, I think I would have liked to have a power more straight forward, like super strength, or perhaps super speed. See, those can be easily trained. My power on the other hand?”

Jinx gave me a quizzical look. Perhaps she lost the ability to talk? No matter.

“Sure, I could train some acids and a few of the minor other things I can generate. But for the really useful stuff? The stuff that can only be tested on other people? Well, I need a guinea pig for that, don’t I?”

“Youuu canned do thish.”

Jinx responded her body finally falling back on the bed. Her breathing becoming slower and slower as her head turned forwards and backwards. How amusing.

“Oh, but I can. Who’s going to stop me? You? I don’t think so. Besides, even if you die of an overdose…well, a lot of criminals are junkies, right?”

Jinx’s eyes lit up with panic at that. Of course, the threat was completely empty, as I didn’t intend on killing anyone. Not unless I was actually pushed to. Not to mention how obvious it would be that a supervillain under lock and key of the Titan’s Tower had OD…somehow.

No, that was just a threat to get under her skin. To get inside her head. Though I had been completely honest earlier in that I needed a guinea pig. Gizmo was a good bit too young, and Mammoth was a massive behemoth of a man. Jinx? Well, she was just the right size.

Perhaps if she had been just a bit more receptive to the idea of working with me…well, that time has come and passed, hasn’t it?

Though she really didn’t have much to worry about. I knew well enough when to pull back, and when to go forward with drugs. Even when I was testing them out. And if things get bad enough, I can always detox and flush the drugs from her system. Though I plan on doing that several times in order to get a fresh start on each experiment.

By the end of it, she might or might not remember the experience, but as the drugs would be purged from her system, there wasn’t really any proof. Which of course meant the Justice League and Titan’s wouldn’t be suspicious of me. Not only that, but none of the cameras were situated inside the cell rooms. Likely due to…privacy concerns.

There was however a camera outside the cells. And I was in one. I chose this exact position to show that while the gate to this cell was open, I was constantly standing in front of it. If I ever disappeared for a second, I would be right back at the entrance in the next moment.

That was mostly to show that I wasn’t engaging in more…illicit activities, with captured villains. It wasn’t like most villains were going to beg for a heroes help about being mistreated. Hell, in Gotham this might as well be a fucking five-star resort compared to some of the prisons they got in there.

Especially that shithole Arkham.

Now…back to Jinx. I had already tested LSD on her…hmm…while I was very, VERY familiar with cocaine, meth, and a shit ton of opioids due to the government, there were still drugs I was only passing familiar with.

Hmm, perhaps some practice with Ecstasy would be helpful. Maybe further studying of benzodiazepines like Ambien and Valium. Xanax was pretty popular back at juvie, so research on that could wait.

Honestly, she was getting a pretty good bargain, considering they had been actually trying to kill us. It would be exceedingly easy to simply argue that fair’s fair. So, the fact that all I’m doing is just drugging them up was rather favorable trade off.

Though I doubt she’d say the same.

Some people chaffed against any and all perceived losses. These were the worst types of people to do business with.

Ick, I sounded like Ethan for a second there.

Alright, she seemed to be coming to. Which meant it was time to continue my studies. Perhaps next time I could bring a set of headphones down here so I at least have something to listen to…