Questionable Values


Chapter 1: Return of the Thief

Across the bay from Titans Tower a man stood atop one of the taller buildings, surveying the sight before him. It was dusk and the sun had almost completed setting, its red rays reflecting off the water in an amazing display of natural beauty.

The man could feel the cool sea air blowing in and he felt invigorated. He sighed in anticipation of the task ahead of him. Breaking into Titans Tower once had been hard enough but to do it again, when they had undoubtedly upped their security significantly, would be near impossible.

A gust of cold ocean wind caused his cape to billow behind him but didn't have any other noticeable effect on the man. His features were hidden completely behind the white skull mask he wore. Its main purpose was to hide his face but as a bonus he thought it looked cool. The rest of his outfit was pretty plain. It was black with no decoration on it except for the large red X on his chest. The belt he wore was the same color as the rest of his suit and contained all the tools he would need for a job no matter what it was. He breathed a heavy sigh. It wasn't that he didn't like his own tools, he loved them and had used them on more occasions than he could remember, it was just that he had had so much fun using the Titans toys. Well that was why he was here, to get them back. He seriously doubted that they had destroyed it since they hadn't destroyed it the first time they had locked it up and besides, its core was Xinothium and not safely destroyed.

"This may not be the best idea I've ever had."

Talking out loud was a habit he had picked up some time ago, since he didn't really have anyone else to talk to.

By this time the sun had finished setting and the only light came from the city and the crescent moon. Titans Tower was dark now as well Except for one room near the top.

Red X decided that he might as well start heading over there now and wait for the Titans to drift into dreamland when he got there.

"I hope I'm as good as I think I am." He muttered to himself as he jumped off the building he had been perched on.

Inside the Tower the Titans had recently returned from chasing the Amazing Mumbo halfway across the city, and were sitting around the common room. Robin was looking at the scanner to see if there were any other problems that night while Starfire hovered behind him. Raven had immediately sat down at the table and had been reading a book ever since, not even paying the slightest attention to Beastboy and Cyborg. Beastboy had not had the best night and was looking rather upset for the usually cheery Titan. Cyborg on the other hand was enjoying Beastboys bad mood and was making fun of him.

"Dude what is the deal with that guy!" Beastboy shouted at no one in particular. "I swear every time we catch up with him he has a dozen new tricks to throw at us, and where the heck does he keep getting those magic wands!"

"You're just mad 'cause he kept pulling you out of his hat." Cyborg stated while grinning at Beastboy.

Beastboy fumed at him muttering darkly about stupid magicians and their hats.

Robin decided to offer his two cents into the conversation. "Beastboy has a point though, Mumbo has been rather active lately. I mean this is the third time this month we've had to track him down."

Starfire floated over to the others and stood next to Robin. "Robin is correct. The Mumbo has been most troublesome in the past month. Perhaps he has some larger goal that he is trying to achieve?"

Beastboy finally got over his frustration enough to contribute to the rest of the conversation. "But all the guy steals are jewels and cash."

"Yea I get the feeling this dude's just stealing things that he thinks are valuable." Cyborg said as he thought of all the money and priceless gems Mumbo had been ripping off lately.

Beastboy yawned and rubbed his eyes sleepily. "Well this conversation is thrilling but I think I'm gonna turn in for the night."

"I think that sounds like a good idea for all of us, get some sleep team and be ready for a tough training session tomorrow." Robin left them to go to their rooms and get some sleep.

"Figures Mr. Workaholic wouldn't let us have a day off." Beastboy grumbled as he made his way to his room.

The other Titans left to get some sleep and twenty minutes later all were sleeping soundly.

Titans Tower had many defenses and security measures to protect it while its inhabitants were sleeping or out defending the city, the former being the case at the moment. Red X stood on the top of the tower feeling rather proud of himself.

"I guess all those months of watching this place paid off."

He had been monitoring the place ever since his last encounter with the Titans when the obsessive Boy Wonder had managed to nab his belt from him. X resented being stolen from, even though he was able to appreciate the irony of the situation perfectly well.

"Well here goes nothing" X muttered as he slipped into the air vent and into the tower. He crawled through the narrow space stopping briefly to take a small rectangular device out of his belt. He pressed a few buttons on the device and then continued on his way through the vent. This little device was something he was particularly proud of, not that he had made it of course. He thought back to the night he had stolen it and a smug grin found its way onto his face. He had been looking at a science expo when it caught his eye. He had returned that night and made off with it with no trouble at all.

The function of this device was to obstruct all magnetic waves. He didn't know what it had originally been used for but he found that it was extremely useful for disrupting most modern security systems.

Red X noted with no small amount of satisfaction that his little toy was working like a charm. He knew that it wouldn't be enough to get him passed the security that the belt would be under though so he decided to take a little detour on his way there.

X hopped out of the vent and landed silently in one of the towers many hallways. He quickly took stock of his surroundings. He had been in the tower before but if he remembered correctly all the halls looked something like this so he had no idea where he was. He did however know where he needed to be so he set out to find it.

Stalking silently though the halls Red X looked at each of the doors, searching for the one that he was looking for. After what seemed like hours to the thief he came across a door with the word "Cyborg" written on it. "At least it wasn't a pain in the ass to find." He muttered sarcastically as he opened the door and stepped inside.

The room was dimly lit from the glowing of the many computer screens scattered across the walls of the room. Cyborg himself was lying flat on his back on a table in the center of the room. Red X noted that a cord led from some of the computers against one of the walls to the back of the table Cyborg was lying on. Guess he doesn't really sleep like a normal person, X thought to himself careful not to actually speak. He made his way over to one of the terminals and accessed the security systems. I love it when I'm right, this guy IS in charge of the Towers security. Looking through the files he had accessed he found out where the belt was being stored. X then shut down all the security measures around the belt and shut the computer back down. He was halfway to the door when a thought occurred to him. They're going to figure out it was me when they find out the belts gone so I might as well have a little fun. The thief couldn't resist the thought of mocking Robin some once he was done here. He went to the smaller table next to the one that Cyborg was sleeping on and took his Titans communicator. On his way out he turned and whispered back into the room, "Sweet dreams, and thanks for the toy." He then left the room, chuckling quietly to himself.

Having found the location of the vault the belt was in Red X quickly made his way there. He felt a rush he had only experienced once before, the last time he had snuck his way into Titans Tower and stolen the suit he was currently wearing. This feeling was the reason he had become a thief. It was a feeling he couldn't get doing anything else, and the only reason he stole in the first place was for the thrill that came with forcing your way in and taking something that didn't belong to you. There was also the danger of getting caught and that only added to the thrill of it all

While reminiscing about his lifestyle and his reasons he found he had made it to the vault entrance. With all the security systems turned off he was able to walk right in and take his prize. "Piece of Cake." Red X smiled happily under his skull mask as he grabbed the belt and strapped it around his waist above his other belt. He breathed a sigh of relief. He had it now. The suit could now perform at its full potential. Red X smiled again under his mask and used his middle fingers to press a point in his palms. Instantly the X shaped blades appeared on the back of his hands. He pressed another point on his palm and the blades started spinning. "Sweet." He deactivated the blades and closed the vault.

Red X ran swiftly and silently through the halls of Titans Tower. He ran until he was in the Titans living room. He looked around one last time. "It's almost a shame I didn't get to see that kid, I would've liked to have played with him a little bit now that I got my belt back." He looked at the Titans communicator in his belt and smiled. "Guess I'll just give him a call in the morning." X pressed a button on the belt and disappeared.

The sun was just rising and its first rays spread over Jump City. Robin was just starting to wake up in his room. He got out of his bed and grabbed one of his many uniforms out of the closet. After dressing and grabbing his communicator he headed for the kitchen to make himself some breakfast before Cyborg and Beastboy could wake up and start their tofu versus real eggs and meat debate. After fixing himself some toast he sat down at the table and frowned. "Something just doesn't feel right." He muttered. He shook his head trying to clear his mind of negative thoughts and started to eat. He was interrupted shortly after by the familiar beeping of his Titan communicator. He quickly grabbed it off the table and flipped it open.

"What's the problem?" He said as he raced to wake the other Titans.

"Hey chuckles how ya been?"

Robin's eyes narrowed and he managed to hiss out a reply. "Red X. Why are you on this line?"

"Easy there kid I just wanted to say hi, it has been awhile you know."

Robin couldn't keep the anger out of his voice as he stopped moving, his quest to wake the others forgotten. "I'm not in the mood for games X. Tell me where you are and what you really want!"

X smiled. "Sorry I don't feel like getting caught today but as for the reason I called I just wanted to say thanks for letting me have the belt back."

Robin just stood there dumbfounded. Red X had somehow managed to get the belt back? Without saying anything he ran to the vault where he kept the belt. When he arrived he was shocked to find the doors unlocked. He ran inside and threw open the safe containing the belt.

"NO!" He yelled and pounded his fists against the wall.

"So thanks. Oh and by the way your robot friend is gonna need a new communicator. Later kid."

"No wait!" Robin shouted but X had already signed off.

Robin fell to the ground and let out a cry of frustration at having let his enemy get the best of him and allowing one of his most dangerous weapons to once again slip out of his control.

A/N

Yay the first chapter of my very first fanfiction ever. I'm pretty happy with it but I hope you'll tell me what you think. At this point I'm not certain where I'll take the story but I'm thinking about and I'm willing to take suggestions. I'm also considering some pairings but I don't know what they would be yet.

Also expect some variations from the show because I need to change it for the story (obviously) and because I can't always remember exactly what happened. So anyway I hope you enjoyed it. I'll try to update soon. Please Read&Review!