Author's Note: I haven't done fic in while, and this is the my first one with superheros. I'm a gigantic Batman fan and I love Teen Titans tv series, so I'm hoping I did good. R & R please
Historian's Note: Takes place after 'Trouble in Tokyo' movie
With a flick of a wrist, the tiny flame of a short stick match lite up the dark street corner as well as the thug's stoic face. With his cigarette smoldering softly, the man turned to his partner as he fiddled with the detonator and cursed the other low-life to put it down. They were both anxious from the long night of setting explosives across a number of local businesses, with the cops still swarming the area trying to find them all. City Hall received a letter as to exactly what the punks were intending with those bombs if there were not paid by midnight that night. It was hard to be honest in Gotham, especially when crime was so easy.
But it isn't about going the easy way, Batman silently thought as he gazed at the two thugs through this binoculars. He tracked them across the city and had disabled nearly ever bomb the crooks had laid, the police having taken care of the rest. All that was left was these two buffoons for the Dark Knight to clean off the streets. Ever since Bruce Wayne watched his parents be mercilessly slain before his eyes, by slime as pathetic as these two would-be's, he knew his path was not to be an easy one. As he mused to himself, It isn't about the easy way...but about the righteous one!
Setting aside his binoculars, Batman retrieved his grapple gun from his utility belt and fired a line into the building across from him. The Dark Knight jumped from his perch and swooped down, nearly touching the asphalt by inches. His swing turned him back upwards, flinging Batman a good two stories high among the buildings. It was here he decide to let go. Dropping down with the fury of an eagle on it's prey, the Dark Knight slammed his outstretched legs into the smoking thug's face. Before his partner had time to blink at the scene, a midnight black hand grabbed the scum before the scruff of his neck and throw him against the brick wall behind them. Batman leaned in close, only a breath away from the crook's face, as he pulled the man up wall by his coat.
"You caused me a busy night, worm" The Dark Knight whispered in a scruffy voice. From their closeness, though, to the punk Batman spoke like the cracking of thunder, "I'll give you one chance to tell me where you got those explosives..."
"I..I..!" The low-life's word stuck in his throat as he stared into Batman's fiery eyes. He knew this close his mask, his symbol, did little to terrorize criminals, so the Dark Knight focus every bit of anger and wrath into his glare when integrating in such a proximity. A tiny shake from Batman returned the thug's voice, "I wasn' suppose' to know!"
"That isn't an answer"
"I remember...! They were talkin' in the other room..I was pretendin' to be asleep! And then...the kid just came and left them!"
"What kid!" Batman could see the sweat pour from the crook's face, feel his body quiver under his hands. He could have made this scum confess his deepest, darkest secrets, but he only wanted to know one thing.
"I never got 'a good look at him...! He wore 'a mask with skull...black costume...the shadows just stuck to him!"
"He never used his name?" The Dark Knight need to know if there was new player in town. All the signs pointed to one: Small-timers sending ransom demands right to City Hall, using high yield explosives like semtex. It was devoid of any unusual gimmicks that his regular rogues use, so there was someone new was in town.
"He said it once. It was-"
Before the thug could finish his statement, the apartment building across the way erupted in white hot flames, as a loud boom washed over the whole neighborhood. Burning debris rain all around Batman as he watched structure collapse with a horrid look. The Dark Knight released his grip on the crook, who simply stared with aw at inferno, too stunned to try for a getaway. Regaining his composure, Batman left the stupefied thug and his unconscious partner to race to the scene of the explosion. Had he missed one the bombs? He took a quick look at his watch underneath his glove and saw that it was indeed a minute pass twelve, pass the low-lifes' deadline for ransom payment.
As Batman skidded to a halt in front of what remained of the apartment building, now just a pile of burning rubble, he caught sight of a darkly dressed individual. The flames cast an orange glow over him, his black costume and cape, as well as his mask. The Dark Knight glared at the gray skull making up the stranger's false face, with a blood red X across the forehead. "Red X", he related to the black dressed rogue. Batman read up on so-thought super-villain from his former ward's stomping grounds in Jump City. A thief by trade, with an extremely advance Xenothium-powered suit who troubled Robin and his Teen Titans every now and then.
"You made a mistake coming to my town, punk"
"How could I pass up the chance to go up against the great Bat, himself" Red X said in a relaxed tone and smile in his voice.
This was all just fun too him. The Dark Knight would see just how much fun it was with a broken arm. Charging for the rogue, Batman thrust his palm at Red X's chest, but found it deflected. He quickly follow it up with a left hook and another right. Red X sliced his leg up at the Dark Knight in his own offensive, flipping around in round-house kick at his head. Ducking under the kick and block a punch with forearm, Batman grabbed the rogue's upper bicep with one hand and his neck with his other, then sent his knee up in a couple strike to the abdomen and groin. Pushing Red X back, the Dark Knight study the rogue for moment as his foe clenched his stomach.
"You're in over your head, kid" Batman declared in his trademark stoic posture, "If you thought you're going to make a name for yourself in Gotham, you got another thing coming to you!"
"I never did figure I could beat the Batman in hand-to-hand combat..." The black dressed rogue retorted, recollecting his composure, "But I'm not going to give up because of one little fist fight."
Suddenly, Red X flung out his hand and out flew half a dozen crimson shurikans. The Dark Knight threw up his arms to defend himself from the attack, but instead of striking near any of his vital points the bombardment struck at his feet. Each shurikan burst into a red gas, engulfing the area in the smoke. Batman took hold of his cape and raised around his head, blocking some of the gas as his lungs cough out what they could. From what little the Dark Knight could see, Red X had took a moment to revel in get one over on the Bat. Soon, though, the rogue disappeared from view and Batman was alone in the street...but he knew better to think Red X had simply ran off. Searching through his belt, the Dark Knight produced a small plastic device with a number of digital displays. The sets of seemingly arbitrary numbers was perfectly understood by Batman and what they said was clear: A large source of Xenothium was to the southwest of his location...and on the move.
Meanwhile, twelve blocks away, Red X had stopped atop a rooftop to admire this night's prize. From a small bug on his belt, he pulled out a tiny jade statue in the form of man with beard. "Chin Hang's jade statue." the black dressed rogue mused aloud as he slowly turned the treasure around in fingers. It was only artifact that survived the destruction the Chinese Emperor's tomb, a part of a private collection secretly stored in the abandon apartment building Red X blow sky high. A smile twisted under his mask while musing, "I hope they had the rest insured."
"In that part of town, he wouldn't of..." A voice called out of the darkness. The rogue popped up, replacing the statue in the bag and twisted around to find where this person was. It sounded like the Bat...but he was a ways away from that geezer, "The man you stole that from was a thief himself. But that isn't going to help you now!"
"There's no way you could have follow me!" Red X shouted into night, pulling his hands up into a defensive fighting position. Sweat started to drip down his face behind his mask as he activated his infrared scopes. Nothing. "What kind of man are you?!"
"When did I ever say I was a man?"
The rogue screamed at the darkness and shot a number X blasts in random directs. From the shadows of one rooftop, Batman appeared, swooping down and landing a short distance form Red X. He throw his arm up to shoot another X, but the Dark Knight outdrew him with a batarang that hit the black dressed rogue in the hand. It only stun Red X for a second, though, that was all Batman need to leap the space between them and knock the rogue down, then flip away to safety. The Dark Knight twisted around to give Red X the final blow, however, his foe still had enough fight in him to slam his boot in a upper kick into his face. The rogue was quick to take momentary advantage and shot a restraining X that wrapped tightly around Batman's torso. Losing his foot as he tried to fight the squeezing X, the Dark Knight fell on his back and the rogue was soon upon him.
"I have to give you some points in style, old man" Red X snickered as he held Batman down, "But you just can't beat me. I'm on a whole different level."
"So am I"
With that, the Dark Knight pulled a batarang from his utility belt and it unfurled to it's full length. Red X cocked a masked eyebrow at the weapon, wondering what use it was if he couldn't even throw the thing tied as he was. Suddenly, a small light the batarang began to flash, become faster and faster. With a gasp, the rogue had figured out what it meant as he grabbed the weapon, throwing it away as hard as could. Just a yard away, the batarang blow apart in a brilliant explosion, tossing Red X from his feet. The rogue rolled back in a quick recovery, taking under a second to recompose himself. However, when he look back to where Batman had been, he saw only the ripped remains of his X restraint. Twist around to find his opponent, Red X discovered the Dark Knight behind him a distance in stoic posture. On pure reflect, the rogue move to blast another X at him, but Batman beat him to the draw once again and a batarang exploded halfway between the two. Red X recoiled from the explosion, shield his eyes for a second before looking back. From the flames stretched across the rooftop, Red X saw a black figure leap out at him. His gloves still hot from jumping through the fires, Batman slammed his fist into the young rogue's cheek and knocked him off his feet.
His victory hard won, the Dark Knight gazed down at Red X as he brush off a few burn embers from his suit. "I'll give you points for style, kid, but I don't lose to punks like you." Batman's words were lost on the unconscious rogue. Reaching into his belt, our Cape Crusader pulled an advance looking communicator and placed it up to his lips, "Batgirl. I've had a run in with one of Robin's regulars from Jump City."
"Did you manage it alright?" a young female's voice asked with some evident concern.
"He's been taken care of." Batman responded. Bending down, he moved his fingers over Red X's neck, "His Xenothium suit is beyond anything the police in Gotham are use to dealing with. And had he ran the second he blew the building, his teleportation technology would have left them and me in the cold."
"It's an amazing piece of tech... ...I guess that's what'd expect from Robin being it's creator. He is one of the fami-...students after all."
Ignoring Batgirl's comment and satisfy with his exploration of Red X's neck, Batman changed the subject, "Robin design the suit to protect his idenity during undercover work on Slade. It can't be forcely taking off." The Dark Knight moved down to the rogue's belt, unbuckled it, and removed it before continuing, "Without his Xenothium suppy, the suit's weapons are useless. Bring the car around and we'll take X back home to remove the suit."
"Is that a good idea?"
"Do you have any better ideas...I'm listening...", the Dark Knight took his female sidkick's silence as a 'no' and picked up Red X. Hoisted the rogue over his shoulders, Batman produced his grapple gun and move to the edge of the rooftop. Plaused for moment as his mind drifted back to Batgirl's gaffe. One of the family... ... Dick...if you were here, how would Gotham be different? How would I be different? If Jason was still here when you came back, how could that have changed things...?
Note: R & R