A/N: I have no idea what has posessed me to write this. Not like I think its terrible or anything, but it could be better. And less morbid. Red X might seem a little OOC, but I kind of like this 'new' Red X. I mean, he's not a basket of roses or anything, but he's not the same theif you see in Teen Titans.
Yeah, well... Just something to 'announce' my return to a fanfiction area I never really gave a chance. Hello Teen Titans, meet poeticjustice8012.
For the world's most sucessful theif, Red X didn't have all that many conections. Sure, he could get some rare information here and there, and he knew what places were safe (enough) to rest for a night or two. But when it came down to it, the serious conections, those who could get you anything from some cheeper-then-usual drugs to a bomb able to blow a hole in the Statue of Liberty, Red X, well, lacked them. To say the least. He did his own thing; it wasn't like he was interested in stealing for anything big. All he wanted was the knowledge that he was the world's best (of course this could be disputed, but most people saw things his way sooner or later) theif.
And for Red X, that was fine. He didn't want (need had nothing to do with him stealing) to work for another. He didn't want any allies or informants or basically anyone he had to look out for. He didn't need them either, he was a one-man show. A traveling act of one; Red X versus the world. For Red X, having to be tied down and working with a team was a nightmare. He couldn't fathom how Robin (boy-wonder, second in X's mind to the greatest theif there ever was and will be, who couldn't quiet catch a demon of his own creating) managed it. How could someone with so much be tied down by so little? So Red X took steps to ensure he would never be tied down by a team. That he would never be hampered by anyone, let alone someone who couldn't even pull their own weight.
Red X took certain steps, and what he was doing now unraveled at least three of them. 'For the love of God... This is the last time I steal for hire, I swear...' Red X, recently contracted to obtain a rare chemical (right up there with the suit's power supply, only it was used in more devious exploits), was heading towards information central in Jump. No one, at least to his knowledge, could have the information he looked for, except this person. He had hacked countless computers, tapped into at least as many phones.
Nothing, nada, no information except the head director of the chemical company rumored to have unavailabum (or chemical X, a name Red X found humorous) liked his steak well-done as opposed to rare. So, after at least a week of searching and too much pressure from the man who had hired Red X, the theif (world-famous, independent to the end, and totally cocky and able to do everything) had given up going up and down dead ends. Heck, he might as well have gone out clubbing the entire week; he would have gotten the same amount of information.
So that was why said theif was currently outside in the cold (it wasn't raining quite yet, but it was close), looking for signs of life in what appeared to be an abandoned apartment building. 'Why would someone stay there? Isn't this informant supposed to be rich from bribes?' Red X was pondering the merits of staying in such a dump (his own personal area was quite comfortable, but not enough to arouse any second glances) when he saw what he was waiting for; a sign of life.
In this case, a bright flare of what could only be light jumping out of an otherwise (assumedly) cold and dark building. Red X shivered despite the suit (thank-you Robin, for the temperature control), jumping off the small rooftop he had been inhabiting and onto the concrete. Cracks wove through the pavement, creating an almost amusing pattern on the ground. There wasn't even any litter; the area was just the abandoned. No one came here except an almost desperate theif meeting with a supposedly all-knowing informant.
Yeah, just two people meeting. Like anyone would believe that story. Red X, right before entering through what used to be a door (and now was simply a neat hole in a wall), paused. He went over what he knew about the informant, what they would want from him. Money was the always-popular means to any end. Of course, it wouldn't be hard to 'find' a few million if need be. But Red X had delt with many people and been paid in many ways. A rare car. Maybe some information back. Sometimes it was as simple as a photograph of a place, or a way into this building or that. For Red X it wasn't hard, it wasn't even abnormal. It was all in a day's work.
The informant... For someone so infamous, they were pretty shadowy. All Red X had found was that they demanded the strangest things for information, and that they never met anywhere but the most decrepid places in Jump City. No, wait, there was one piece of information that came up in a police computer... They had been charged with underaged smoking. Yes, that was it. A strange piece of information that ran through X's head for most of the previous day. Why, of all the things in the world, had the informant allowed that to stay? They had erased everything else; picture, name, age, even when the arest had come up.
Shaking his head and deciding things would be clear once the meeting was over (Red X understood why an infamous person would delete their past, as he had several times), Red X entered the ground floor of the apartment. Nothing, no one else waiting. Was this person stupid or just sucidal? Remembering the light had come from the first floor from the ground, Red X turned towards the stairs (easily seen as they were right in front of the door). Walking silently up the spiral staircase, the first thing Red X noticed was a lack of any other person in the room. Then came the little speck of light from the couch, and the realization that the informant was lying down on a couch, back to the stairs.
This person, Red X decided, was beyond stupid, beyond sucidal. They were just begging for someone to come in and attack, for someone to come in and hurt them. Red X wondered what was the best way to introduce himself, to ask for information, when the person cleared their throat.
"Hello X. I'm glad you decided to come. I thought you would not." The voice was calm, a perfect monotone with a hint of carelessness. But it wasn't rough, it wasn't deep. It was smooth and controlled. A woman? No, the figure (the dim room was easily pierced by the mask's filters) was too small. This was an interesting turn of events. In all honesty, Red X hadn't expected to be dealing with a woman, let alone a teenaged girl. "I am older then I look X, and I doubt you would risk the information you seek by hurting me anyway." The informant said suddenly, as if reading Red X's mind. Shifting his position so he was leaning on a rusty railing, Red X replied, voice changed beyond recognition.
"Huh. Well I'm not surprised you know who I am, and I'm not surprised you seem used to all of this. So then, if you know everything, what do I want to know?" Red X's mouth, under the mask, twitched in a smile. Or a smirk. The figure didn't reply for a moment, and Red X could barely make out a tendril of smoke leaving their mouth, but the light burned brighter for a moment which helped. The pause didn't last longer then a moment though, and the flame soon became a small dot again.
"You're looking for a certain chemical... Unavailabum, or chemical 'X', as it is aptly named... Do tell, if you know, what this chemical is used for?" It was a test, Red X was certain about it. But why? Why would the informant want him to answer anything? Well, it wasn't like Red had anything too loose. So the theif replied, if a little careful of how he worded his reply.
"I know its used in some science experiment someone's running in Steel City. Something about clean energy?" Red X replied, his voice struggling to be in a monotone like the informant's. Truthfully, Red wasn't quite sure. Unavailabum wasn't a very common chemical, to say the least. How was he supposed to know what it was used for? And, a part of his mind asked, did he want to know? The informant took their time replying now, taking several breaths of smoky air and puffing out several clouds of dark gray smoke.
"... Hm. I should have expected that whoever hired you wouldn't give you the full details." The informant stood up, getting off the couch easily. Red X could, with the nightvision granted him by his mask, make out dark hair and pale skin, bright eyes that seemed to gleam. And yet it was all covered by a smoky sheen, granted by what could only be the smoke comming from the posion the elder teen was holding. Red X was not a big fan of drugs, or of anything that really could damage yourself. He didn't even drink. He was glad that his mask had a filter; he had no wish to breath in the smoke.
Yet the 19 (or 20, or a small 21 year-old) didn't look like your average smoking drug-addict. Sure, she could use some more flesh and less of a bone-and-skin look, but she managed to make it look like she just didn't eat much. Mentally sighing, Red X motioned for the informant to continue. He didn't have all day after all.
"Its used to make bombs, usually. Sometimes chemical X can be put into certain substances and make them so much more addicting... Or, by itself, it can become so radioactive that even being near it can kill you. Certain steps are taken by the authorities to protect what little has been created, and some don't even know about it. But people like you and me always have there way... Do you still want to know where you can 'find' some?" The informant was smirking, Red X could tell. Puffing out another cloud of smoke like it was nothing, the flame burst into light and then out again.
Red X found himself hesitating. Was it so bad to give someone a chemical to blow another up? Or was it going to be used by a rich dealer to destroy even more lives? How many people would be killed by his actions? Red X was a theif, a good, heartless, cold, theif. But he hasn't a killer. He drew the line somewhere. But the money... Three million on completion. Enough to keep him busy for a while, shifting it through his various bank accounts, keeping the cops away from it. Enough to give a nice enough sum to a charity or two. Was it worth it?
"No... Heh. You do your homework." Red X said, flipping himself over so he was balanced on the rail, ignoring the groaning protest that came from the old metal. The informant smiled, but Red X wasn't sure if it was for real. A hint of a smirk played along their lips too, and their eyes were as distant and cold as before.
"I like to tell people what they're getting themselves into." Red X found himself really looking at the informant. She was 19, he decided. Old enough to have the ability to move around without too much suspicion going around, young enough so the cops wouldn't think twice about her. But then, one thing remained at the back of Red's mind...
"Why did you leave it up?" Red knew he didn't have to say what, if the informant was as good as she was supposed to be she would know. Now her face was blank, like a white piece of paper but not nearly as pure. A flash of hesitance ran across the girl's face, and Red X found himself wondering if he should just leave. 'I shouldn't have brought it up, I should go now.' He thought, but he didn't move. "I looked everywhere for information on you... And yet you leave up a simple arest? And that's it too. No name, face, or even basic looks." Anothing wave of smoke, another cloud blocking her face.
"You do your homework too, X." Turning away from him, all Red X could see was her back. She was wearing all black, and it was too dark in the room for him to make out any details. It must be getting late, or maybe the rain was closer then before. Either way he should be leaving. So, right before he flipped over and teleported away, the informant added something. "Its a little quirk of mine, smoking. Its a way to get away from everything, anything... Much like how you steal to get away from the world, Ja- Red X."
She had nearly used his fake name, the one that was in the biggest fear of being conected to him. Damn. But even that didn't stop his hand from hitting his teleporter, and he was gone. The last thing he saw? A hand throwing something to the ground and a foot stamping on it, the room going completely dark.