Mortal Author: Hello, this is JPalmerS.
All-Powerful Omniscient Editor: And this is his god, WistfulDread.
Author: Delusions of godhood aside, this is the first Teen Titans fic I have attempted and with luck won't be the last thing I write.
Editor: It's only a delusion if it can be proven false. Anywhoo, this is also my first stint as editor. My own form of community sentence.
Author: Oi...anyway. On to the warnings. Neither of us own the property rights to Teen Titans. We do this for our own enjoyment and don't get any money for it.
Editor: *Cough* Oh, yeah. Me neither. *Pockets his ill gotten gains*
Author: Oh you son of a - *Looks at the audience* Don't forget to leave criticism. *Gets the gun*
Editor: *Holding the clip* Remember, "WOW" and "MOAR" is reserved for those that will be roasted in the flames provided by other reviews.
/o/
The alarm had only gone off due to asingleunique security feature that, had it not just screwed him, he would take the time to appreciate. The skull masked thief chided that had he better estimated the system, perhaps he would not soon be found out. Taking the steel briefcase that held the equipment he needed, X moved toward the back exit of the facility, coming to a sudden halt once he saw the silhouette of five figures. The tone of his voice held both disdain and mocking cheerfulness, "Good to see I have some fans but sorry kids, no autographs tonight."
The group in question wasn'tamused, especially itsboy wonder. "Titans, go!" The challenge was issued and all the parties began the ritual dance.
Boy Wonder was the first to act, Bo Staff striking out with practiced ease. Unfortunately, the thief dodged and blocked with equal ease and Robin could just imagine X smirking under that mask all the while. "You can't keep this up X! Sooner or later, we'll catch you!"
X gripped the staff, competing in a minor tug-of-war with it before leaning in suddenly so that he would be nearly nose to nose with the hero. "It'll have to be later then. I got things to do." An outstretched leg and a roll were all that was needed to send the boy wonder flying back from him. Rolling to his feet, X grabbed the case only to be bombarded with star bolts from above, a cloud forming from the explosive qualities.
Starfire was waiting for the smoke to clear, looking around with glowing eyes, "Are we yet victorious?"
Her answer came in the shape of several X shaped shuriken that embedded in the ceiling above her only to explode and bring part of the roof down on the alien princess.
Red X didn't have time to wince in sympathy as he was once more under fire. Cyborg was taking careful aim, human eye showing his determination. The thief dodged each shot, keeping the brief case out of the range of fire, "Sure your warranty on that eye hasn't gone out, tin man?"
Cyborg smirked, "Nope, workin' fine. How 'bout yours?"
The eyes of Xs mask indicated confusion but was quickly replaced with something else as he was smashed from behind by a rather large green gorilla.
After sliding for what seemed like a few minutes, X ended up landing in the pile of rubble. Now, he'd complain if his head wasn't resting in a royal Tamaranian lap. Green eyes looked down to the skull mask while the thief proceeded to make himself comfortable, hands resting behind his head. "Always knew you had a soft spot for me, sweetie."
He tucked and rolled before her eye beams could do their damage. But, there was a new singe mark on his cape, and he noted a pair of holes in her skirt that shouldn't be there.
As the thief stood, he gave a low chuckle in his synthesized voice, "Careful, wouldn't want ya to give me anymore ideas."
The spinning back kick would have taken Xs head clean off had it not been for both the protective mask and his swift dodge. Boy Blunder was getting better, but he was also getting angrier.
X's synthesized voice chuckled again as he spoke, "Fun as it was to get her attention, I didn't ask for yours." He could hear the alien get ready to take him from behind but as her fist came in for the strike, X turned, shifting his stance and gripping her arm to use her momentum to send her flying into the boy blunder. "Guess I'll leave you two alone then."
X then moved quickly to get the case only to stop, looking around with wary glare. "Wait..." he counted off on his fingers only to find one finger still down, "...where's the witch?"
As if on cue, a pool of blackness flooded out from beneath the brief case. Rising from the depths of the shadows came Raven, her one hand taking the brief case and holding it close, her other hand resting on her hip. "Missing something...I mean, besides your own..." she looked the thief's stolen costume over, "...anything?"
There was a low chuckle from X, "Possession, fraction of the law, blah, blah, since when did any of that stop me?" His hand had risen to hurl an X at the dark sorceress. She readied for the ranged attack but the sudden lunge for the briefcase caught her off guard.
He gripped the handle, followed by bashing his shoulder into Raven's smaller figure. Had she been a civilian rather than a Titan, he'd probably have the case and be off, instead of rolling on the ground in a struggle over it.
In a contest of agility X doubted he'd ever admit to losing. When Raven gained the upper hand with a pin that had her straddling his legs, he might have considered losing for only a moment. She had one arm raised channeling the dark powers that were pinning X's own and both had a solid grip on the handle of the briefcase. A hint of triumph slunk into her raspy monotone, her eyes glowing in the shadows of her hood. "Maybe you should think of doing the smart thing for once and surrender now."
"Think again," was the growled response. The movement of his legs was the empath's only warning to the change that would occur. Lifting his legs, X snagged the cloak of the heroine just at the base of the neck, giving a sudden pull. Her concentration on the spell was broken the moment her breath seized and her body dropped. Red X capitalized easily and moved with her, shifting his legs from under her, to quickly to straddle her stomach, assisting in keeping the air from her lungs.
He lifted his weight only enough to allow her shallow breaths so as not to suffocate her, only then noticing her hood had come down.
Even stunned, the empath seemed to glare holes into Red X, her violet eyes showing her displeasure at the close proximity of the skull masked thief. "Get. Off!"
The low chuckle returned to his synthesized voice as he leaned in close to the dark girl, "With face like yours in a position like this, I think I could really enjoy the experience."
His next memory was that of lying in a pile of broken crates, looking up at the ceiling of the ware house as the steel briefcase came crashing into his face. The after image of four unblinking red eyes would haunt him for weeks to come. He coughed softly, "Maybe not."
Almost painfully he stood in the unstable wreckage with the steel case in hand, rubbing his head before making a quick dash to the main exit.
In his haste to get out with the goods, he neglected to watch for the green ram that slammed him into another group of crates. The changeling shifted back to human form laughing all the while, "Sorry, but I couldn't help butting in."
The laughter quickly died as a large X came from the debris and stuck Beast Boy to the ground. The green teen tried in vein to shift into various forms to break from the goop only getting more entangled in the process. "Awww DUDE! Now I know how I'm gonna go bald!"
Red X didn't give the younger Titan much attention as he tried to escape but was once more stopped when he saw the exit was blocked by Cyborg. His weapon was ready to fire in a moments notice, "Best give back what you stole X. You aren't Robin so I don't have a problem with hurtin' ya."
"Trust me, the feeling's mutual." X made to throw an attack but the larger teen was faster on the draw. Problem is that was what the thief counted on it. Instead of activating an attack, X disappeared only to reappear next to the new hole in the wall. The smirk could be heard in the man's voice as he looked to Cyborg, "Thanks for the new door." And out he went.
The large teen was rather dumbfounded as the thief left rather suddenly. Robin was already at the hole in the wall barking orders, "Cyborg! Starfire! Help Beast Boy. Raven, with me!" The cloak clad goth followed after the leader leaving the other two to get their friend free.
The two went through the alleys of the docks, the empath flying right behind the boy wonder. As they came to a T intersection, Robin pointed down the left then ran right. Raven watched him a moment before flying in the opposite direction of the leader.
At the next intersection Raven stopped and looked in each of the three directions. Her cloak settled around her, concealing her body as she focused her senses to find him. "Azarath Metrion Zin…" She never finished as the hand closed over her mouth and her hand pulled behind her back in a simple joint lock.
The synthesized voice chuckled in her ear, "You must be lonely. I give you one compliment and you're already chasing after me." With out hesitation he ran her into the wall, her free hand reaching out to brace against it so she wouldn't get hurt too badly by the impact. "Little tip, though I'm sure you get this often, get shorter magic words."
If looks could kill, X would be in the same level of Hell as her father. Her weight shifted a bit as she kept glaring, causing Xs masculinity sense to tingle. With a look down and a quick hop backwards the thief narrowly avoided getting a hit in a very sensitive place. The look he gave her was nearly as cold as her own. "Hey watch it! Some of us actually want to have a few little bastards running around!"
The young woman's scowl slowly turned to an evil smirk as she watched him, "You know, I hear Xinothium causes sterility, so you can't blame me if it happens."
His eyes widened a bit before looking to the belt in question. There was a pause before he realized, "Wait, that's not tr-". Red X found his body encased in black energy, keeping him in place before pinning him to the opposite wall.
The sorceress just watched him with a slight smirk on her face, hand outstretched and encased in black, her eyes glowing white. "Boys always lose sight of everything in protection of the dominant brain."
Raven reached up and tapped her brooch, her voice once more taking its neutral raspy tone, "Robin, I've got him." The boy wonders reply couldn't be more elated as it transmitted back, "Good work Raven. I'll be there shortly." With that she closed the com link and looked to Red X. "So what now smart guy?"
Red X glared at her for a moment before sighing, "Well where to start?" He actually seemed to consider the young gothic woman before him. "I don't regret taking this suit, where my life is going or even making a nuisance of myself when it comes to you hero-types. I have to admit, it's actually fun to play tag with the Kid too. Though let's be honest, and yes I can be honest once in a while." Suffice it to say, she didn't believe him. Without preamble he continued, "I did have a few things here I wanted to do before I moved on to other challenges."
Raven just watched him with a skeptical glare, wondering why Robin was taking his sweet time. She just shook her head, her mental voice telling volumes of her disdain for villains and their penitent for monologues. "And what could that be? Steal some priceless work of art? Get away with what ever you stole tonight? Or is it you wish you could've gotten to Starfire before Robin?" There was almost a hint of envy in her voice at the mention of the happy couple. That she entered her own monologue was never brought up.
The silence that followed felt deafening. Red X watched her, almost unsure what to say before speaking. "But, I don't like art. You haven't put me in jail yet. And I really don't want her, Iit's just to bait the Kid."
Raven watched him warily, waiting for him to speak and wondering where Robin was. Then her patience finally ended, "So what did you want?"
The smirk was evident in his voice, "I'm not yelling it to you across the alley. Come closer and I'll tell you." He looked down to the energy trapping him, "It's not like I'm going anywhere."
The empath seemed wary but decided to take her chances. She refocused her will to keep the spell in place before moving closer. She kept him against the wall as she moved to within a few feet of him, tilting her head toward him and impatiently intoned, "I'm waiting."
Red X leaned in a bit as best he could, considering his predicament. "Closer."
Raven scowled but moved closer, now able to speak softly with no else able to hear, her patience long gone, "What ever you want to say, say it quickly."
X looked into the depths of her violet eyes a moment, knowing she couldn't see his before leaning in to whisper softly, "What if all I wanted was a glimpse of some pretty girl who never smiles? To make her smile such a way that no one could ever duplicate it?"
Before Raven could even begin to process that statement and the emotion she could feel from the thief at such short distance, she was startled by the sudden voice of her leader, "Raven! What's going on?"
The suddenness of her leader and the words of the thief were enough for her to drop both her guard and the spell. X landed clean on his feet, glancing at each of the two heroes. He didn't hesitate long before grabbing the case and with a knowing smirk in his voice he gave a two finger salute to Robin. "That's my cue."
With a sudden press of a button, the thief was gone, leaving two Titans with a lot of questions.
/o/
The screen playing the fiasco paused just as the thief vanished. With darkness and shadow all around, the screen provided the only source of light.
"I hope you understand why I'm showing you this."
The voice held authority like few others. It made it clear that there would be a correct answer only and anything less would have consequences.
"You want us to know their strengths before you let us have our fun, right?" A distinctly female voice replied with a rather musical quality. She sounded almost bored from the showing, but kept her voice respectful despite it.
"Indeed. I've had difficulties when dealing with this particular group of heroes and I don't want anything to go wrong."
A deep growling sound came from near the female voice's origin, but was soon silenced. The female spoke up again, taking on a sharper quality with each word. "I don't see there being a lot of problems so long as you make sure we know what to expect. I don't want to get into a fight just to find out later that I wasn't expected to win."
The man's silhouette was seen as he moved from his former position, his hands held behind his back in a relaxed manner. The chuckle he emitted would have seemed friendly if not for the undercurrent of malice. "My dear, the game was fun while it lasted but it's time to up the stakes. I don't expect you to lose." His face turned to look at the two Titans still shown on the terminal, "I expect you to obey."
The low, inhuman growl coming from the shadows showed it's opinion of that expectation before the screen went black.
/o/
Arthor: That's the first part. Next chapter should be out relatively soon.
Editor: Relative as in compared to the lifespan of a solar system.