DC Gothic – Red-X
Part 3
Out & About
Waynetech Building – Jump City.
One of the upsides of moving up H.I.V.E's hierarchy was the personal freedom. I got to go out and actually do something. Sure they were criminal activities, but it was still fun and very educational.
I'd given myself a simple assignment. Break into Wayne Tech's Storage Facility, penetrate deep into the heart of the facility and retrieve the treasure inside.
This job was simple for a thief who knew what he was doing. Simple for someone with resolve and a wanton disdain for the society's rule.
Simple for someone like Red X.
The storage facility's security were top of the line, but I rendered them useless in less than ten minutes. Fairly impressive for someone who didn't have any meaningful super powers
As for what I was here to steal, it was a material called Xenothium, or possibly Xynothium, as I'd seen it spelled both ways, but what really mattered was that the synthetic substance that powered the suit I wore nearly all the time. Without a good supply the outfit would be next to useless.
Finding the stuff hadn't been to hard all I'd had to do was sneak inside the house of someone working on the stuff, look through a few files, and a few hours later I was about to get my hands on enough of the material to last me for a least a few months.
The Xenothuim was kept in the vault which was in a poorly lit room. The room also contained several well concealed security cameras, however thanks to a gadget Gizmo had given me the cameras were currently on a loop, this wouldn't go unnoticed forever but it would be long enough.
Also there was a complex laser grid on the floor. However I was no fool, my mask allowed me to see the grid and I saw that they didn't cover the far side of the room so I just teleported over there and avoided the lasers.
As for the security guard monitoring the room, well he was asleep on the job. I'd made sure of that.
Now there was nothing stopping me from taking what I wanted. Oh it was good to be me.
"Yo, didn't your Mom ever tell you it's not right to take stuff that doesn't belong to you?"
Actually she had but given where I'd ended up I was sure she'd forgive me for stealing.
"Hello" I greeted, since I felt compelled to say something.
That had been Cyborg's voice I knew that and my fears were confirmed when I turned to see all five of the Teen Titans who were standing in front of the entrance to the room, which also meant I had no exit.
"Red-X!" shouted a shocked Beast Boy "Wait I thought Robin was Red-X".
Since I already knew that I wasn't surprised and since the Boy Wonder was standing right here clearly I wasn't him.
"Think again" I said the green skinned person.
"You may have the suit, and the belt, but without the Xynothium, both of those are useless," said Robin, while extending his very cool telescoping staff. "So you might as well give up now".
The belt was what made the suit so impressive, without it I wouldn't have half the gadgets I needed. Thankfully they'd been given to me as a set. How the Headmistress had gotten the suit was still unknown to me, but right that didn't matter as I might soon lose both.
"Five on one" I remarked "Not very fair".
I was hiding my fear at this point, but thanks to the mask no fear could he heard in my voice.
"There doesn't have to be a fight. You can come quietly" Raven said.
I had to say something funny at this point, if only to buy time as all five of the Titans were getting closer and the Boy Wonder had a pair of handcuffs. Not really my thing I only liked handcuffs in the bedroom, and then only if the girl wore them. Which was something I should really talk about with Jinx.
"If it were up to me, Raven. You wouldn't cum quietly"
That had the desired effect, everyone was shocked to hear me say that and I took advantage. I lunged forward with a sweeping kick aimed directly at the Boy Wonder's head but Robin was a quick little dude. He ducked under the kick and grabbed my outstretched leg.
He was stronger than such a scrawny young man should be put me down hard, he even got a hand wrapped around my neck, but he didn't squeeze enough to choke me.
"Who are you?" he demanded to know.
"If I wanted you to know that, would I be wearing a mask" was my reply.
I could still teleport to any place within my line of sight. So I did just that and ended up above Robin. Then I landed on Robin, no body was prepared for that.
Moving quickly I hopped to my feet and continued running. Robin would need a moment to recover, but the others didn't, they would be hot on my heals.
I was inches away from my prize, when a portal of some sort materialized in front of my face, swirling until Raven, who didn't seem happy to see me, was right up in my face. Apparently she didn't appreciate my attempt to flirt with her.
"Azarath, Metreon, Zinthos!"
I had no idea what that meant but I doubted it was good for me, and it was clearly magic of some kind.
"Glitterdust!" I shouted while using my own magic.
It was a simple spell the first I'd learned and all it did was make light. It was a harmless tiny firework that was only good for distracting people, and it worked as whatever Raven had been doing required a lot of focus.
I was then past Raven only something hit me in the back and knocked me flat to the ground. I even skidding several feet along the floor before finally coming to a stop a short distance away from my prize and when I looked I saw that Cyborg aiming a cannon at me. What had happened to his arm was yet another mystery in my life.
The problem was that I really hadn't expected the Titans to interfere with this raid, but thinking it over it actually made sense. Batman owned Waynetech so it wasn't hard to imagine that Robin might have his own way of detecting an intruder in this building.
"Please, just give up and come with us," said Starfire as she extended her hand out to me "If you try to fight us, we will be forced to harm you"
Had I not been wearing a mask everyone would have seen how surprised I was to hear that.
"Are you for real?" I asked.
She was either a fool or extremely naïve.
"Dude, it's over!" shouted Beast Boy.
"It's never over" I said as I took Starfire's hand "In fact boys and girls, this is just the start".
The Red-X suit was insulated for a good reason, one of its many cool features was that it could be used to shock a person stupid enough to let me touch them.
"Starfire, no!" Robin called out
It was too late. Enough voltage to knock out a fully grown man ran through the alien's body and she dropped to the ground. However I wasn't done yet. I threw a smoke bomb to the ground even as Cyborg opened fire. He missed and I was able to get my prize.
Then before the smoke vanished I rushed forward, and kicked Robin in the face knocking him back into a pillar. After that I had to crouch down as Cyborg opened fire once more. But he wasn't fast enough to hit me since I was teleporting around the room.
That was when things stopped going my way. My prize was suddenly engulfed in some sort of darkness. Then it started floating away from me and into the hands of Raven.
Before I could do anything about that little minx I saw something in the corner of my eye and I turned around just in time to be tackled by Beast Boy, who had transformed into a horned ram.
The blow was super effective, I released a pain filled groan but despite how much that hurt I was able to get to me feet. I could see Raven standing halfway across the room, protectively clutching my hard earned prize. I could let here keep the container.
But what was worried me was the little green dude. Beast Boy was still in his ram form and was readying himself for another charge.
"Okay no more Mr Nice Guy!" I shouted.
As the shape shifting meta-human charged I leapt over Beast Boy and I heard the glorious sound of him slamming head first into the wall. It was so sweet to hear.
Now, nothing stood began me and Xeno whatever. I ran toward Raven, who stood looking like she didn't have a concern in the world.
I quickly found out why. Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg came to her aid, standing in front of their friend, all of them ready to stop me from obtaining the object of my quest
"Give it up!" shouted Robin, pointing his staff at me "You can't win".
"We'll see about that" I replied.
Something was distracting the Boy Wonder, he seemed off his game so I went after him. I hit him the face with a hard punch and then teleported.
As Robin fell down I appeared between the heroes and tackled Raven in an attempt to get my stuff. She was stronger than she looked but I was the mightier and I was able to get my prize before teleporting into the corner.
I couldn't teleport out of the room as the device required line of sight, but they might not know that.
Sadly it turned out that they had senses beyond those of mere mortals. So all my attempt to hide did was give the Teen Titans time to recover and recoup. But at least I was able to attach the container into the suit, which would make it harder for them to take it off me.
"Titans... go!" shouted Robin, ordering the team into battle.
As I got into a fighting position, Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg all came rushing forward at once, and I decided to use that. Reaching down to my belt I withdrew four small bombs. I hurled them into the path of attacking Titans, and I closed my eyes the bombs exploded simultaneously, creating a huge noise and a lot of light. It was nothing lethal, but their ears would be ringing and they'd have a hard time seeing. My ears were also ringing but I could see just fine.
Now the only person in my way was Robin, his staff was fully extended and he looked really pissed off. Hopefully I'd get a chance to use that rage against him. But since I didn't have a plan for that I just fired a X at him and the sticky substance made it impossible for Robin to move his feet.
"You ain't goin' nowhere!" shouted Cyborg, firing a stream of blue plasma energy from his arm cannon at me
I was as barely able to dodge and even I did I found myself in the path of another beam, only this one came from Starfire. She was already up and ready to fight. That was impressive given the shocking I'd given her.
Without even thinking I rolled out of the path of more energy attacks and I fired several Xs at Starfire's arms. Which pinned her to the wall as the Xs turned to sticky goo on impact. Out of my other hand came more Xs and Cyborg was soon out of the fight.
I then let out a deep breath but I'd relaxed a moment too soon. I'd forgotten about Raven.
"Azarath, metreon-"
"Silence" I ordered.
I immediately thrust a hand forward and fired a sticky X from my palm that affixed itself to Raven's mouth, instantly stopping her attack. After I'd done that I fired some more X's and she was all tied up.
"Bondage suits you" I said in another attempt to flirt.
Then I turned my attention to Beast Boy, who had by now transformed into a big green gorilla.
As King Kong he ripped a locker out from the wall and tossed it at me with all of his might.
It was easy to dodge such a clumsy effort and only a little harder to get Beast Boy's arms and chest trapped in more Xs. I so loved what this suit could do.
"I never played Donkey Kong" I started to say intending to pun my command for silence had not been heeded.
"Azarath, Metreon, Zinthos!"
Before I could react, the locker that Beastie Boy had thrown at me was suddenly knocking me on my ass. As I looked up, I could see Raven hovering over me. She had a smile that was all gloating.
"I don't think I like you very much" I told the magic user as I pushed the locker off me.
"Then your really not gonna like me!" Robin shouted.
Robin hit me in the head and then the chest before his foot met my stomach. The blows caused me to stumble back, but with some effort I managed to remain standing.
This guy had major anger issues that was sure. He didn't need to beat me up like that and I knew I had to defend myself or I would be intensive care before morning.
I reached for two Xs that were on my belt. They were metal and strong enough to protect me from Robin's staff.
"You... won't get away" said Robin "You criminal".
I then did something really foolish. I head butted Batman's side kick. I'm not sure who was hurt more, but at least I recovered first.
"Azarath, Metreon, ZINTHOS!"
Raven fired an enormous dark energy blast at me. The blast detonated with incredible force, sending me flying towards the entrance.
I hit the floor and skidded several feet before coming to a stop against the large metal door that I'd actually been trying to reach, and despite the fact that my entire body was racked with pain I managed to stand up. But only because the suit was so good at protecting my body.
"It's over" said Robin
"Only when the fat lady sings" I replied as I threw down more smoke.
I ran through the door and then turned to throw yet another X. It immediately stretched out into a thin film that blocked the door. It would only slow them down but it should buy me just enough time to make an escape. If I was lucky.
"After him!" I heard someone shout.
It was a wasted effort as I was already using the teleporter to put some distance between me and those bloody heroes.
(Line Break)
H.I.V.E Academy – Jump City
When I got back to my room I found that it wasn't empty. Jinx was in my bed and I knew she had been waiting for me for some times. Also I was also pretty sure that she was naked under the covers. Which was nice.
"Have a good night?" she asked as I started to undress.
Not really good, but I had been successful.
"Yeah I got the Xynothium and escaped the Titans" I told my girlfriend.
I didn't doubt that Red-X and the Titans would meet again. But now that I had a good supply of Xenothium I knew I'd be ready as long as I kept improving and as long as I had enough tricks up my sleeve. Some luck would help too,
"By yourself" remarked Jinx "that's cool".
It sounded more impressive than it actually was. I'd barely gotten out of there and the Titans had not gone easy on me despite the fact that really I was just a small time crook. I was no monster on the rampage or a villain with dreams of world domination, but for some reason they really wanted to hurt me.
They didn't even know who I was, so it couldn't be personal so maybe it was the suit. It had been Robin's at one point so maybe they wanted to recover it rather just arrest me.
"Was the first time you met them?" Jinx asked me as I crawled into bed.
Actually it hadn't been and I took a moment to remember that day.
(Line Break)
Convenience Store – Jump City
"The Teen Titans!" shouted the cashier
As the heroes entered the store counter put down the sack he'd been forced to fill with all his money and threw up his hands in joy.
"Titans, go!" I saw Robin shout out.
I watched as the five Titans easily dispatched the gun man, leaving him tied up for the police to deal with. The store was trashed by the fight as that was what happened when five heroes took on one bad guy. They hadn't had enough room to manoeuvre, and really one of them could have handled this on their own.
"Good work" I praised the group.
I could have done better if I'd cared to. The crook hadn't even been a real threat.
"Uh... it's our job..." said Robin, smiling a slightly-embarrassed smile.
"It's always fun mopping up the bad guys," said Cyborg.
"You are safe now" Starfire then said to me before seeing that I was bleeding "oh my you have been shot".
"Yeah I'm fine" I'd told her
With my healing powers and the fact that the bullet hadn't actually entered my body it had just skimmed me, I was in no real danger.
"Are you sure that you are undamaged?" asked Starfire with a look of concern plastered on her face. "The hospital is very close... if you are injured, we could escort you there".
Never would that happen. Never ever. I was not going to be taken to the hospital by these heroes.
"No it's fine" I assured the strange alien girl "I'll just go home and put some ice on it".
With that I'd left the store and not looked back.
(Line Break)
H.I.V.E Academy – Jump City
"Yeah it was" I lied.
I hadn't been overly impressed them and I wasn't now. They'd outnumbered and outgunned me yet I'd gotten away. The Titans were either nothing special or they'd been massively overconfident. I knew that the next meeting they would do better, but if I had my way that meeting would never take place.
"Wanna do it?" was Jinx's next question.
It was kinda obvious why she'd been waiting in my bed so I decided not to answer and just do it.
Jinx was a terrible super villain but she was a good lay if nothing else.
