Chapter Three: Suit Up

To Tearron Walker: You pose a very legitimate question. Surely, during the entire incident of MASKS, you would think that security cameras had to have captured the interactions between Red X aka Robin and Slade, including Robin's unmasking. The press would have gone nuts over it. And, the press in Jump City probably would have been able to get the information one way or another.

The Reviewers who Correctly Guessed Who Tommy Jones' Character is based off in the TV Show:

Spitfire F.22
morring star
scathac's warrior, you also knew I was referencing my fic An Appointment With Death, congratulations.

"Thanks for the lift!" Jason thanks Mrs. Jones as he climbed out of the van.

"You're welcome, Jason. Good luck with a new start." Mrs. Jones replied as she drove off. The dust had settled and Jason was once again alone. He smiled though; he had a reason to come to Jump City. Tommy had told him about what he had called the Red X Incident when Robin had posed as a villain to discover Slade's plans.

Too bad such a thing had to go to waste. Tommy said he heard that Robin had put the suit in a safe so that no one would be able to use it. At least that's what the news said. Those people on the TV were stupid. Why say such things on live TV knowing that there were people like him that were interested in such things.

If he was going to start over, he wasn't going to play the hero. What did a hero get as a reward for all their hard work? Nothing, nothing at all, respect, maybe if you were regarded enough by people, but it wasn't a great deal.

Jason began to explore the city; after all, this would be his new home for a while. He made sure to stay away from large crowds; he didn't want to risk the possibility of being recognized. He passed the pizza place where he saw one very familiar figure.

"Hey guys, let's get some pizza." It was Robin, Dick Grayson. He wasn't surprised to see him there. Four other teenagers followed him. There was a green boy; Jason thought his name was Beast Boy, a young man who was half robot, Cyborg, a dark brooding blue caped girl, Raven, and a red headed girl who didn't look human, Starfire. How convenient, he thought, now's my chance to get a hold of that suit.

He began making his way quickly towards the bay, he swam out to Titans Tower, and it seemed like forever since until he finally arrived. "I'm never gonna do that again!" he told himself as he climbed to his feet. "Mental note: don't swim to Titans Tower. Man, I ruined my suit! Don't even look good enough to go to a funeral!" He laughed at his pun, considering the only funeral he had recently been at was his own. Jason made his way up to the Tower entrance.

He stared at the security panel. Jason smiled. Never met a code he couldn't crack. He began carefully punching numbers, sticking his hand inside his sleeve so he wouldn't touch the buttons directly. About a half hour later, he looked around to make sure the Titans weren't back yet, and opened the door.

Walking inside, he began to look around. He was impressed by the size of the place. He made his way to the hallway, looking for Robin's room. If Robin had been Red X, he would probably keep the suit in his room in some kind of safe.

Jason frowned. Titans Tower was large and complex. It took some time for him to find the security safe. He wasn't sure which one held the Red X suit was in, so he carefully opened the safes and looked inside each of them

Finally, he found it. It was a very large vault; on the front of the door was a large skull with a red X on it. Now, how to open it. He made his way down to the garage and began searching through a large toolbox until he found a blowtorch. Just what he needed, he could open the safe now.

He headed back to the safe and fired up the blow torch, he began burning his way through the door and it took him more than a half an hour to burn his way through half of the safe door. Obviously, Robin and his friends could afford the best of security. He hoped he would be able to open it before they returned so he could get out of there.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he burned through the safe door. He let it Along with the utility belt; he quietly slipped into the suit. "Not bad, Jason not bad at all," he said, sizing himself up. The suit itself was a wonder. Alfred couldn't have done better if he had made it. And Alfred was the one who had made both Batman and Robin's costumes. He peered inside the vault and removed the X shaped boomerangs and placed them inside the utility belt. He looked around nervously. He had to get out of there, but after that what was he going to do? He suddenly heard loud voices as he began looking around.

"Not bad work, team. We did well tonight. How 'bout a movie?" Oh no, Jason groaned inwardly, I can't let him find me! I'm supposed to be dead! He spotted a strange little vile of red chemicals. That's Xenothium! Highly unstable, it must be what he uses to power the suit. He quickly tucked it away. Putting on the utility belt, he strapped it on, inserting the Xenothium into the belt.

He tried to move away from the door but it suddenly fell to the floor with a loud Bam!

"Oh crap!" he said out loud. The noise echoed through the room. "I gotta get out of here!" Jason said to himself. Out of panic he placed a hand on the utility belt and pressed a button, the world suddenly spun as he vanished.

Cyborg had just opened the door. "That's odd," he said to himself, "I swear that I heard a bang coming from up here." He looked around. "It must have been just me." He shut the door.

"How do you get this thing to stop?" Jason asked himself as he continued to be moving throughout the City. "Oh yeah, push the button again." He did just that, and promptly smashed into a wall. "Nice going, Jason, you're a real pro." He staggered to his feet. "Now if I can figure out how to use this thing."

"Now Richard, what did you put in this thing?" He began examining the utility belt. Besides the X-a-Rangs and the Xenothium needed to power it, what else could this thing be used for? He turned his gloved hands over and noticed the X shaped imprints on them.

"Wonder what these are for? Aaah!" suddenly, without warning, a pair of red X-a-Rangs shot him in the face, knocking him off his feet.

"Nifty, I'm such an idiot! I can't believe I shot myself!" Jason shook his head groggily. "Now I need to see what else this stuff can do." He began examining the other tools and gadgets that were in the utility belt.

"Interesting, I can't be seen in this suit though, He teleported into the apartment, snuck into a restroom and changed out of his Red X suit and into his normal suit. He crept out of the apartment and walked around the building, entering the door.

A man at the counter looked up at him, "Hello, young man. Can I help you?"

"Yes, I'd like to rent a room," Jason said simply.

"I see. What's your name son?" the man asked.

"Jason T. Haywood," he answered.

"Do you have a job, Mr. Haywood?" the man asked.

"I'll have one very soon sir," he said, amused, as soon as he could figure out the gadgets and how the suit work, he would have a "job," stealing, no accumulating miscellaneous items. Well, in reality, he hoped to acquire a real job so he would have a cover, in case any jobs went bad or something.

"Tell me something, mister," Jason began, "do you know of any good places to work around here? I'm kinda new to the area."

"Well, there is Cooks Electronics Store, nice hours, good pay. You should check there, I'm sure they'd hire you. Here's your room key. Number 815."

"Thanks, mister, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the key." Jason headed towards his room. It was on the second floor and he took the stairs to it. Using the key to open the door he stepped inside the apartment. Hopefully after a few very good gigs he'd be able to buy a real house, one where he could have secret rooms like the Batcave. That thought made Jason frown. The Batman.

Was he like the Batman at all? Certainly Bruce would not approve of his "job" that he was going to do once he figured out the suit. And certainly going against the law would not make the man who was the Batman very happy at all. But why should he care? He wasn't Robin anymore; he was just Jason Todd, the new Red X.

He almost laughed aloud. What was he thinking? Bruce didn't care about him. He was dead to him. Bruce was a failure. He failed to save Jason from the Joker. Why would he give a rip about what a failure thought of him? Still he wasn't sure where he stood. Part of him was a hero; part of him was a villain. Both sides of his ethics and beliefs fought for control. What was he going to do?

"I need more Xenothium," he said to himself. "Not exactly something you can buy. Guess I'll have to steal." The decision was made, his darker side won. First, in order to steal, he must learn how to use the equipment. He changed into his suit and teleported out to an abandoned alley he had seen earlier.

He raised his hands, two bright red Xs shot forth as he began aiming at a nearby target. An abandoned fire escape, Xs flew from his palms and hit his target right where he aimed for them. "Not bad," he told himself. "I bet there's a lot more than just this."

He began to examine the various types of Xs within the belt. There was a gooey type when shot out, it would stick to whatever he aimed at. There was a stronger, more flexible type, used for pinning things. Jason was fascinated with how many variations Robin had come up with for this. Obviously, this little ploy of his he took very seriously, this suit wasn't just thrown together.

He had to wonder why Robin, Richard Grayson would use Xenothium to power the suit. The chemical was very powerful, but extremely unstable. The other problem with it was that it was hard to come by, it was considered a highly volatile element, so it was not mass produced by Wayne Enterprises, only for scientific purposes and research, they would produce it for laboratory studies.

He'd known all this from his days with Batman; he had frequented Wayne Enterprises enough to see the chemical being produced within their research labs. He just had to find out where they kept it in Jump City. He would have to find an inconspicuous somebody to tell him where it was.

He teleported back to is new apartment. He began flipping through the channels of the small TV that had been left behind by the previous owner. "Today, on the news, Teen Titans stopped Slade last week. Former Titan Terra sacrifices herself to save the city."

"Good for her," Jason muttered. Too bad she wasn't here to celebrate it. That was the problem with heroes; most didn't survive to enjoy their victory, if they got any credit at all.

"Also in other news, Professor Chang has escaped from prison for illegally possessing Xenothium…"

"That was what I wanted to hear!" Jason smiled. He needed to contact this Professor Chang, find out where he had found this supply of Xenothium. Then he would be set for a long, long time.

But he had other things he had to do. He had to find a real job so he would have a legitimate answer for anyone who asked him what he did for a living. Sleeping on the old springy couch, he awoke early the next morning, he decided to head for Cooks Electronics Store and apply for a job.

Walking to the electronics shop, he entered and began looking for the manager. He found the man in the storage room. He looked up as Jason walked in. "Excuse me, sonny, you looking for something?"

"Well, I want a job," Jason told him.

"A job, hmm," he looked thoughtful. "Go fill out an application. They're in the front." Jason went out to the front counter and picked up an application. He began filling it out. He put his mother's name as his last name, and his last name as his middle name. He put his real age, and he figured he would be stocking shelves or something. No one would know he was Red X; he would hide his identity completely, as Bruce Wayne did. Having a good reputation would help him out in court, if he ever got caught.

After he was finished he turned it in and walked out the door. Now it was time to find this Professor Chang and see about some Xenothium. Jason snuck into a dark alleyway and changed into the Red X suit. He began looking through the paper, unsure if he'd find anything. Wandering through the streets he saw a strange, suspicious looking warehouse. He entered it and began looking around. Suddenly a laser blast nearly hit him as he flipped backwards to avoid it.

Charging in the direction of the blast he continued to dodge and duck, easily making his way towards the figure that attacked him. He leapt high, knocking the figure off his feet. "Hey, who are you and why are you blasting me?" He grabbed the figure by his shirt and slammed him against the wall.

"I am Professor Chang," the man replied.

"Good. I've been looking for you," Jason had figured out how to use the voice machine. Fiddling with the controls he changed his voice so it was lower and less recognizable.

"Why would that be me, my boy," Professor Chang grinned a toothy smile. Boy do you need an orthodontist. Jason sized up this wizened little old man.

"What do you want?"

"Some Xenothium," Jason stated. "Do you know where I can get some?"

"Well, my boy they don't sell it anymore."

"I see."

"I could sell you some, if I could get my hands on it."

"I'm not interested in buying."

"I see. So you want to steal it." Professor Chang suggested. "Well, there is that big tech company on the south side of town. They have quite a large stockpile of it. Oh, and I know the Logan Estate Genetic Research Facility has some."

"Thanks, that's all I needed to know." Jason let him go and teleported himself away. Once he was outside the building he felt quite satisfied with his work. Next stop, Logan Estate Genetic Research Facilities.

Quick Sticky: I'm referencing one of my other stories. Can you guess which one? I'll put a list of the winners and they will get their names listed as the ones who were smart enough to figure it out. My other fics will be updated soon. Keep watching for me.