This is for a challenge on the forum: Young Justice Fanfiction Challenges from the lovely scarlett mist. I haven't written anything in a while because I've been so busy and I had no inspiration, but now that my volleyball season is over I found some inspiration I will be writing! Hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or anything else mentioned in this story except for my character Shane.
Warning: Some child abuse.
Red X crouched atop the expensive high-rise building and looked across the street at his target. This building was much more expensive and luxurious than the one he was currently crouching on. It was made entirely of reflective glass, the kind where you could see yourself as clearly as a mirror, but you could never look in. The street below was silent except for the lone car that cut through the darkness. No one was on the street at this late an hour because this was Gotham City and they probably valued their lives.
The young thief continued crouching on the rooftop, studying the other building with a quiet intensity, all the while blending in with the shadows. He had gone over the floor plans, the alarm codes, positions of the security cameras, and how long his target would be out. His target was the wealthy Hewbert Dunn, an entrepreneur that resulted to using hired thugs to get smaller companies to buy his stocks. This made Red X feel better about stealing twenty thousand dollars from this billionaire.
He paused for a moment to prep himself. X pulled out his grapple gun and checked to make sure it wouldn't fail him. He shoved it back into his steel belt and fixed his mask. His costume was a mixture of spandex and some kind of body armor; he was able to move freely, but he still had some protection against knives. His domino mask is red with white lenses. On his torso is an uneven red X covering half of his chest, hence his name. Inside the mask are infrared eye lenses so he can detect invisible security lasers. His hands are protected by black gloves with reinforced knuckles and steel-toed combat boots protect his feet. He had stolen the suit from a nameless branch of Wayne Enterprises that specialized in defense for the army. They probably still didn't know that the suit was missing.
The time had come. Red X took one last breath before whipping out his grapple gun and shooting it at the roof of his target building. He was already swinging halfway across the void within the same breath. This was his favorite part; the real reason why he did things that most people would consider illegal. He loved the exhilaration of having the ground rush up to meet him and then, with adrenaline pumping through his veins, having the rope go taught and having his momentum carry him to his destination.
The rooftop garden was dark and gloomy, all the lights were off. Still in the shadows, the young thief shoved his grapple gun back into his belt and pulled out a remote control looking device. He pushed a green button, waited four seconds and then pushed a red button near the top. Unbeknownst to any security guard watching the camera feeds, they were viewing a four second video loop, keeping the thief safe while he went about his work.
A branch snapped and he quickly rolled behind a bush, his heart thundering in his chest. A guard with a flashlight strolled by him looking bored. The guard was not in his information which made things complicated. Quickly before the guard could react, Red X shot forward and hit him upside the back of his head. The nameless guard crumpled to the ground and X gently dragged him to behind the bush that he was just hiding behind.
"Sorry," he whispered, feeling bad that he had taken the guard by surprise.
Quickly darting through the garden, he flipped on his infrared lenses to check to see if there were any more life-forms on this floor. There were none. He quietly opened the heavy glass door which the guard had so helpfully left unlocked. The thief closed it and turned around, eyes widening in excitement. Red security beams crisscrossed the room in front of him, the master bedroom, clearly visible without the aid of his infrared. According to his information, the room that housed his prize was one door over on the left.
Red X shut off his infrared, not needing them for this part of the job. Jumping up and down for a second to get his muscles loose, he jumped over the first beam and continued into a roll underneath the second one. Crouching, he did a front hand spring, twisting his body over two others and then tucking his legs to his chest as he landed in a roll underneath another laser. He gingerly untangled his legs from his arms and crawled underneath the last laser beam.
His heart was pounding in his chest and underneath his mask, Red X was smiling with excitement. This is what he craved; a mixture of adrenaline, excitement, and danger. Shaking himself to get himself focused, he peered at the keypad. The keypad was a standard four digit code that opened a heavy, steel door which was powered by electricity. If he made one mistake, the alarms would go off and he would be caught.
He carefully lifted the covering off of the keypad and looked for any hidden traps. Finding none, he silently entered the four digit combination that would let him claim his prize. He held his breath and waited as the code was processed and then sighed with relief as it was accepted and the door clicked open. Lightly pushing it open, his eyes widened with excitement again.
Glittering gems and diamonds sitting atop gold bricks covered the shelves. Red X couldn't use any of that though because people would get suspicious if they found a teenager fencing a rock worth one million dollars. He headed straight to the back cabinet which, if his information was correct, held the green. He opened the drawer with a click and unceremoniously grabbed the twenty dollar bills and stuffed them into a burlap sack he found in the corner.
Feeling satisfied that the bag felt heavy enough, he tied the top shut and kicked the drawer closed with his foot. X made for his getaway, shutting the door behind him with a dull clang. His only problem left was the security beams that he had to get himself and the bag through, without setting any off.
The beams ceased to be an issue when they suddenly shut off as the lights turned on and a loud click sounded behind his head. Startled, the thief whirled around and to his surprise he found a mean looking guard pointing a gun at his head.
"Don't move," he barked out, his voice sounded like he had one too many cigarettes in his lifetime. X shifted his body so it would look like he was shifting the burlap bag, but he also moved his free hand to the back of his belt where his favorite pocket was located. The guard took a firm step forward and Red X could tell that this one would not go down as easily as the guard in the garden had.
"No, thanks," Red X said, smirking with determination underneath the mask. He brought the object he was looking for from behind his back and with a well practiced flick of his wrist, the throwing star flew out and connected with the guards hands, making him drop the gun. After dropping the bag stuffed with money, X was on him in a flash, sideswiping him with a powerful kick. The guard fell to the floor, but quickly rolled over and came at Red X with fists flying. One blow glanced off his shoulder, adding to the already full collection of bruises he had. The thief bobbed and weaved, sending a few jabs to his attackers face before tensing his leg muscles and jumping over the guard.
Mid jump, Red X grabbed the guard's shoulders and flipped him over and ended the fight with a well aimed punch to the temple. Satisfied with his fighting ability, he grabbed the sack and made for the exit. He kicked open the door to the garden and ran through the trees and bushes. In the darkness, it seemed as if their branches were trying to lean out and catch him. Jerking out the grapple gun again, he shot it on the rooftop he was on before.
He swung out through the air and was reminded why he loved stealing from the rich. He landed on the rooftop and took off running. He still wasn't sure how that guard caught him. Maybe he got suspicious when his buddy didn't radio back? Did the cameras not play the four second loop? Was he too loud? Red X didn't find this minor detail important enough to hinder his escape so he kept on running, keeping to the shadows.
He didn't expect the black rope that wrapped around his legs. He flailed and fell to the rooftop gracelessly. His prize slid across the roof and landed at the edge. He heard a creepy laughter echo and saw the shadow of a person on the building next to his. He reached towards his x-shaped throwing star and started to cut through the ropes.
"I'm guessing that the money in the sack isn't yours by the way you were running," a strange, young voice asked as it dropped down from the roof. Red X's eyes opened in surprise as he saw the red, black, and yellow figure step out of the shadows. The thief mentally cursed himself as Robin the Boy Wonder began to talk again. He was in big trouble if he had to fight Robin and the Batman at the same time, but the older vigilante did not seem to be a problem because he was no where to be found. That didn't mean anything, though.
"I'll just ask once that you give up the chase and turn yourself in so I don't have to beat you up," the teenager said, amiably. X cut through the ropes and did a back handspring to get to his feet.
"Sorry, kid. No can do and isn't it past your bedtime?" Red X asked, his voice sarcastic. He nonchalantly moved towards his bag while keeping his eyes focused on Robin. Still no sign of the bat.
"Har har," Robin fake laughed. "Like I haven't heard that one before. Last chance because I really want to kick your butt right now." He shifted himself into an aggressive stance. Instead of answering Red X threw a X-shuriken at him and followed it through with a kick. Robin did a back flip, avoiding both attacks and countered, sending a birdarang back at the young thief. This fight was going to be more interesting than any other he had ever had. Red X twisted out of the way at the last second and blocked a punch.
"So, what's your name? Is it something lame like Red Mask?" Robin asked barely out of breath.
Red X blocked a jab to his stomach before replying,"You're one to talk. Robin, seriously? Did your mom name you that? The name's X, by the way. Red X ." Robin didn't reply to that, but just gritted his teeth and fought with an angry intensity. The thief was taken by surprise.
They kept going, twisting, blocking, punching, kicking, and showing off the occasional acrobatic move. They were pretty evenly matched, but Robin soon got the upper hand. He had X pinned underneath him, struggling.
"Where's daddy bats, kiddo?" He growled. He lashed out with his knee and grunting, Robin rolled off of him.
"He had other business to take care of," he said with a hint of underlying emotion that X couldn't identify. Disappointment? Bitterness? They stayed glaring at each other, trying to anticipate the other's next move. After a few beats of tense silence, they both reached for their shuriken/birdarang at the same time. Robin threw it at the bag containing X's money and Red X threw his at Robin making him fall backwards out of the way. The bag tumbled off the roof and Red X saw his chance at escape. While Robin was still rolling out of the way of his shuriken, he bounded towards the edge.
"Well it's been an honor, bird boy, but I'm afraid it's getting late and I have to run," he said giving a mock salute. He twisted and dove off of the roof. Red X ripped out his grappling gun as he fell headfirst after his money. The wind ripped through his shaggy hair, half blinding him. He counted down the seconds until impact.
Three, the bag was right in front of him.
Two, his fingertips brushed against it and he shot off a line.
Three, the ground was coming up fast and he could see the cracks on the sidewalk.
Then his line snagged and pulled tight. It carried him out of sight into the darkness of the night with the bag clutched tightly in his fist, a few bills fluttering in the breeze. The Boy Wonder ran to the edge of the building and looked down. He found nothing , save for the few bills drifting along. He grabbed one in his fist.
"Who is Red X?" Robin asked himself quietly. He didn't notice the figure in the distance, holding up the binoculars that the mysterious figure had used to watch the entire fight and the young thief's heist. The person in question smiled to itself before disappearing into the night.
Red X climbed in through his bedroom window and flopped down on his bed. He tore his mask off and ran a hand through his windblown, blonde hair. He sighed with contentment. He made off with a little over twenty grand, he didn't get caught, and had the most evenly matched fight he's ever had with the Robin, partner to the Batman. This was probably the best heist he had ever pulled and that list went all the way back to the first grade, when he first stole a piece of candy from the teacher's desk when she was in the bathroom.
He listened to the sounds of his dingy two bedroom house and he could faintly hear the TV on downstairs turned to wrestling. That was a bad sign; it meant his father was drinking. He quickly pulled off his costume, stuffed it in a locked box underneath his bed along with the money, and put on some pajama pants. His room was small and contained an even smaller bed, a dresser with a mirror and a rolling chair. He had tried to paint the walls and to put up posters, but the air still had a depressed feeling to it.
He sat in his grimy chair and looked in the mirror to assess the damage done to his body. He wasn't overly muscular, but he wasn't skinny. He was lean with a thin layer of muscles underneath the skin, the kind of lean that only a kid from the slums could get. His shaggy blonde hair made him look like a surfer even though he had never touched a surfboard in his life. His eyes were a shocking green that hid all of his emotions and made you wonder what he was thinking about. He had one jagged scar from his right eyebrow to his hair line from where his father had drank a little too much and thought that he could play baseball with beer bottles. The only ugly thing about him was the assortment of bruises and scars that covered most of his body below the neck. Some of them were from his night gig, others were from home.
Sighing he pushed away from the mirror and stood up to turn off the light. Tomorrow or rather today, since it was one in the morning, was the last day of school before Thanksgiving break and he had five tests that he didn't study for. He also had to pay the bills that his unemployed father couldn't pay with the money he earned tonight and give the rest away to charities. He was a frequent donater to the Red Cross Foundation, Susan G. Komen For the Cure, and SADD charities. He felt that it was better to give the money to people that would use it to help other rather than to buy ten Porsches that you would never drive.
He was just about to climb into to bed when his father thundered up the stairs yelling, "Shane!" He flung the door open, which hit the wall leaving a crack.
"You! Boy!" His very drunk father yelled at him. The young thief cringed in fear at his father. "We're out of beer! You drank it all didn't you?" His father was slurring which was a very, very bad sign.
"N-no, Dad. I didn't drink any," he stammered. His father responded with a backhand that caught the boy on the chin and spun him around. He yelped in pain and surprise.
"You ungrateful boy! I'll teach you to mess with me," his father roared, bearing down on him. The thief didn't fight back. He took the beating without any protest.
This boy steals from billionaires, he beat Robin the Boy Wonder in hand-to-hand combat, he gives thousands of dollars to charities.
His name is Shane Harris and at night he goes by Red X.
R&R! Tell me if you like it, hate it, want me to add something, or if you can guess who the mysterious figure is.