IMPORTANT NOTE! I CHANGED RED-X HAIR COLOR! GO BACK TO CHAPTER 2 TO SEE THE NEW COLOR! (See why in Author's Note.)

Chapter 3

"So, what's her name?"

"Who's?

"The girl you went out with,"

I rolled my eyes, "I told you I didn't go anywhere with her, I just met her at Lisa's Coffee Shop," I stopped stirring the melted cheddar cheese to glare at the little girl sitting on the counter in my kitchen, "Don't you have someone else to annoy today? Like maybe your own family?" she smiles toothily at me, my annoyance must be vastly amusing to her.

"Daddy told me to come here while he finished up at the dojo,"

"I see," I sighed and returned to preparing my macaroni and cheese. Okay, in reality it wasn't just my macaroni and cheese but rather Mai's. How she managed to swindle me into making her some food I have no idea. I'm sure I was tricked.

Mai is of course the little girl on the counter (the counter which I have told her near a thousand times to not sit on). She and her family live across the hall from me. Somehow, in the three years I've lived here, I have become her unofficial babysitter. Again, I'm sure I was tricked. Her father would leave to work at his dojo and her grandmother would come by and leave her with me from time to time.

"Oh, do you think you can keep an eye on Mai-chan for a little while? I need to go buy groceries,"

Why don't you just take her with you? I ask.

Then she'd say, "Oh I would, but you see…" here she would pause to come up with some kind of believable excuse, "she likes to buy anything she lays eyes on! And well we just do not have enough money in our humble little family for Mai-chan's selfish desires,"

Of course I never believed her, but I took the kid anyway.

It basically started like that about two years ago. Now her grandmother doesn't even drop her off anymore. Mai just walks herself down to by door all on her own, even if her family is home. At first it was very annoying. When ever I was busy or wanted some privacy just guess who would knock on my door. And it was even worse when I had the company of a pretty girl over.

Finally I went to complain to her father, Nomura Yasuhiro. I told him that I really did care for Mai but couldn't they just hire a babysitter sometimes?

He just laughed, "Oh my poor young friend," he said in what sounded to me like mock sympathy, "It was never our intention to invade your privacy. And you're right," I smiled, happy he understood my situation, "Since you take such good care of my dear daughter, you deserve payment!"

Wait, what?

"Why of course! Though I can't pay you in cash-"

Wait… what?

"-I hope you can accept learning the art of Kendo under me in my dojo. Hey, I'll even make them free!" For once I was completely speechless. He seemed to have thought my confused silence as compliance, "I am glad you accept my offer. Our sessions will start immediately, I promise,"

After that he had to leave, throwing over his shoulder a comment of sending Mai over later if her grandmother went out.

When I finally got a hold of my tongue he was long gone.

And I was pissed beyond all hell!

How dare he treat me like that? I am not some servant he can just buy off with –

Did he say 'free kendo'?

So to make a long story short here I am, two years later and still babysitting this little brat. Don't get me wrong, she's a sweet kid and all, I have grown used to having her around, and since the building's manager doesn't allow any pets I guess this is the next best thing. But still sometimes a man just needs his space.

"Didi-kun?" I cringe at the nickname, "Is something wrong? You're awful quiet," her big black eyes stare at me inquisitively. At 7 years old she's a bit short. She has short jet black hair, like her father's, half picked up by two small pigtails. Though I hadn't been fortunate enough to meet her mother (apparently she died at childbirth) I would think she inherited more of her features than Nomura's.

"I'm fine. Didn't I tell you to get off the counter?" she sighs and lazily slides off, landing onto the paneling of my apartment with a loud stomp.

"Well, someone's in a bad mood," she grumbles as she walks out to the small dining room table. I take the opportunity to stick my tongue at her back.

And for her information I'm in a great mood. I am just anxious to get the heck out of this apartment. And that's a little hard to do with a 7 year old pest attached to my leg. But before I go I need to speak with the kid's dad. I'm not exactly looking forward to the conversation. Nomura is the only guy I am sure I can trust with this no matter how much he disapproves of it. He helps me out a lot even while knowing that it could get him into serious trouble.

It doesn't really matter though. In a few months I'll be moving out of the city and settle into a small town for a while, just lie low, after that I maybe move out of the country in general. I hear Europe is nice, and expensive too, and just filled to the brim with rich bastards just asking to be relieved of their valuables. Just give it a year or two and those rich bastards will unknowingly help me also become a rich bastard.

I sigh, "That would be nice…"

"What, your date?" Mai's voice brings me out of my fantasy.

"It wasn't a date," I murmur, remember the girl from the coffee shop and smile. Though I would like to see how far I could go with that. I turn to give a halfhearted glare at the little girl, "Now eat your food before I do,"

Raven was lying in her round bed inside her room.

And let's face it, Raven was sulking.

The T-Tower was completely empty. All her friends were gone looking for something or the other and didn't even tell her where. She arrived home only to find a note that Silky was halfway through eating, that stated that they had gone out to do some 'investigating' and to just 'relax' until they got home.

They said relax, but what they meant was stay home and be bored. They could have at least given her with something to do. As tired as she was she just couldn't get to sleep. The events leading up to this just kept replaying in her head. Her father, Slade, that whole 'end of existence' thing, it just seems like one big nightmare.

A nightmare that she nearly made a reality.

Robin keeps telling her that it wasn't her fault. And though she knew it wasn't true, she couldn't help but feel a sort of deep appreciation for the Boy Wonder. He has done so much for her already. He's only looking out for her after all.

Sighing Raven decides that she's been lying around for too long already. She had gotten home around 8 o'clock tired. After searching the tower for her teammates with no results she settled on sleeping for maybe an hour. The hour turned to be for more than 2 hours. When she woke up none of her teammates had gotten home yet. She thought about calling them on her communicator just to ask what was taking so long but she thought against it. If they needed her help they would ask for it right?

Usually when she had nothing to do she would meditate but she had already been doing that too much lately. And as much as she enjoyed meditating, you could only cleanse your aura so many times before you start to chafe. So that was out.

With nothing to do Raven sighs and changes from her normal outfit (she had changed back after she got home out of habit) to another set of rarely used civilian clothes. This time she wore black tank top and a blue jacket with some jeans.

Her favorite bookstore should be open; she might as well go check if they had gotten anything new in stock. If anything, her teammates will know where to reach her, but she just cannot stay in the tower another moment. After all this time of complaining that there never was any peace and quiet around the tower now that she does have silence it unsettles her.

It's all Beast Boy's fault, she decided. Wandering through the halls she finds the path that leads to the rooftop. Once on top she paused for just a moment. She looked at the city that she now helps protect. The dark buildings were barely visible in the dark night, small specks of light illuminating through their windows. Looking up at the sky she takes note of the 4 stars glowing lightly, all the others dwarfed by the brilliance of the city's own man made lights.

Raven loved the roof. It was quiet and peaceful up here, never deathly quiet. The soft hum of the waves splashing against the rocks soothed her tense mind. It was definitely her favorite place to meditate.

She sighed, wrapping her dark jacket around her more securely as a gust of cool wind rushed past her, tousling her hair slightly. Closing her eyes, she let herself go. In her mind she saw herself flying, leaving the tower and flying to the bay of the city, the tower growing smaller and smaller behind her. When she reopened her eyes she was in the sky, the bay just a little ways off. The black chakra that had enveloped her spread its wings almost as if it was stretching, and disappeared as she landed leaving her body alone at the bay.

The bookstore wasn't far off, a quick walk up a few blocks. She wandered up the shore.

'Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore-'

Raven started suddenly as an image of the young man she had met today at the coffee shop caught her off guard. She frowned at that. After a few tries she decided to humor him by occasionally answering him when he started a conversation. But when he had said that quote from that poem she all of a sudden became flustered. Since the very first time she read it when she had first come from Azarath, she felt a connection to that and another poem. Almost like Poe had written them specifically for her. And for that young man to suddenly quote one of the most important stanzas unnerved her more then she cared to admit.

Did he know who I was? No doubt he did, it's not like she has a secret identity or anything. Or maybe he didn't recognize her; she's not exactly the most popular one of the Titans. She sighed. It's not like it matters, I'm not going to be seeing him again. It was probably just dumb luck.

Deep down, she knew she didn't believe herself.

Another breeze sent a strange chill through her and she tightened the jacket around her.

Something is going to happen, she thought as she looked at the starless sky. A chilling scent of things to come loomed in the air.

She walked away from the shore.

This started out as just information gathering. I had gone out around 9:00 after Mai went home. Nomura hadn't gotten home when I left and I just didn't feel like waiting anymore. It was a bit early for me to usually come out as Red X than I liked, but I figured this would be quick. All I needed was to find out exactly the Eye of Ra would cost if I just sold it to someone more eager for it. But in reaching the warehouse where I had last seen the crazy little guy, I managed to stumble onto something better.

Two of the men he hired were sitting inside having a round of drinks. Neither of them noticed me of course, which gave me plenty of room to listen in.

I listened to them rambling for near 20 minutes until I had heard enough. Those fools had given me all I needed. It took a while, but the big guy finally let slip out the location of the guy I need to about some money. I swear sometimes I am real grateful to drunks. They seem to have a knack of unknowingly sharing important information in the presence of strangers. I'd have to give them my thanks one day, but I had more important things to do.

Finding the building was simple enough, finding the floor this guy was on proved to be a bit more difficult. After a few tries I found it by the voices that drifted outside. It was a large 6 story building a while off the port. Surrounding it were two smaller 2 story buildings and a chain linked fence. It only made sense that the mastermind behind something like this would be at the very top of the biggest building.

Balanced on a ledge outside a blocked window, I could scarcely hear the voices murmuring to one another inside, and so I kneeled into a less awkward and more comfortable position for listening in.

"How long do you plan on using Dr. Light?" I heard a rough guttural voice asked. It's kind of muffled but I can still make out some.

"… going according to plan… thinks that he's getting… better deal," another voice quietly murmured. I barely was able to make out a sentence. I try to lean closer until I could hear him better. "These people are all expendable. The only priority is that jewel. Once we have that, we can easily kill-"

I bit back a cry when my foot slipped. I manage to stop from falling off the roof but I couldn't stop the pieces of debris that fell against the closed window pane. There was a moment of silence inside the room and I start praying to any god that hasn't yet deserted me that no one heard that.

No such luck.

"Well," started the quiet but now suspiciously louder voice, "It seems we have a visitor…" my eyes widened. Shit!

A bullet narrowly missed my head by about a few inches.

"Hey you!" I turned and saw near a dozen big men all dressed in a similar way. I assumed they were more henchmen, but unlike the ones from earlier, these henchmen seemed much more… competent.

There were 7 pistols aimed at me from the ground. I couldn't stop the nervous smile crawling onto my face, a real pity they couldn't see it.

"Uh, hey guys…" All at once, they start shooting.

Relaying only on reflex I slid down the ledge until I was close enough to jump onto a roof of another building some stories shorter than the main one. It was a bit of a fall, but I tucked and rolled to take absorb the impact and managed not to kill myself. As more bullets came I dove behind a vent for protection as I pulled out 3 shuriken X's between the fingers of each hand. When the time came I swiftly jumped out and fired the X's at their weapons. I managed to disarm 5 of them.

Good enough…I thought. I took this chance to make a break for it. I ran to the other side of the building and leap off, happy that this building was much smaller than the other.

I landed with practiced ease in a slight crouch. More guys were coming to the left of me and I saw a fence just a few yards away. Shots rang out at my feet as I made a mad dash for the fence ahead of me. In two bounds I was over the fence and making my way down the street. The shooting stopped and I looked back and saw no one was following me. I must have lost them.

But when I turned a corner I froze.

The narrow street was blocked by a car and 6 armed men. This time their guns all had silencers. Oh, goody…

The one in the middle, a tall, muscular black man stepped up. He kept fiddling with his pistol. Obviously he was the favorite.

"You must think you're very slick," he murmured then clicked the safety off his pistol. It was a nice one too, one of those Desert Eagle's or something. I don't know, I never was one for remembering gun marks and brands. I preferred martial arts. Guns were cool and all, (I used to work with them) but I like the physicality of hand to hand better.

I shrugged at him, "I like to say 'clever'. But I guess 'slick' can work too," he frowned.

"You are coming with us. Now you can come along peacefully or…" he aimed his gun at me, the others mimicked him, "…In pieces," I smile.

"Ah, not that that doesn't sound tempting and all…" I told him nonchalantly. From under my cape, I reach my hands behind my back. "But I think I'm gonna have to decline," He smirked.

"I'm sorry to hear that," I watch as he begins to pull the trigger.

Now!

Without a second to lose, I pulled out my shuriken and fired them at his and his men; this time aimed anywhere that would throw off their trajectory even by a little. While they were preoccupied I rushed at them at full speed, but not before grabbing a tin garbage can lid in each hand. I was gonna need some protection.

Leaping at them I took out two with a carefully aimed roundhouse kick. Two more charged at me at which point I used the garbage lids as make shift shields and weapons. I would block a punch or kick and then counter with a hard whack across the head then followed quickly by a punch to the stomach or a swift kick to the jaw.

I noticed another trying to recover his pistol. I took the chance and sent the lid in my right hand sailing in the air like a saucer, hitting him square on the temple. He was out cold. I took the last guy out with my shuriken, firing them between his legs. Needless to say he collapsed on the floor in agony.

That was easy. I thought. Now there's only the matter of-

My thought was cut clean off as a wooden plank hit me in the face. The skull protective face-plate of my mask was the only reason why I hadn't been knocked out. But that didn't mean it didn't stun the hell out of me.

I stumbled back a few steps, dropping the other lid that was in my hand. Before I knew it I was assaulted with a barrage of vicious punches and kicks. For a moment I wasn't sure what was going on. All I knew was that I didn't do something and quick, I would walk out of here with less than just my pride crushed.

After he threw me against the brick wall of one the buildings I try again to collect myself as I slid to the ground like a bag of sand. This guy isn't like the other six, he knew exactly what he was doing, and what he was doing was beating my ass to a pulp. I had to do something. I could barely breathe, my sides were on fire and I could feel the beginning of several bruises starting to form. And if things weren't bad enough, the guy that I had knocked out were already starting to recover. Soon they'll be up and ready to take me on again and this time I might not be able to disarm of their pistols.

The 'Fight or Flee' instinct kicked in. And since fighting wasn't working out as I had hoped, that only left one option.

I don't take my eyes off of him as I try to stand, using the wall as support. He chuckled as he approached me and I glared at him.

"Now, how about you be a good little thief and corporate, I'd say that I won't kill you but," he shrugged as he cocked his gun at me again, he must have picked it up after I hit the wall, "but I don't like making promise I don't intend to keep," I didn't answer him but instead began to plan my escape route. I waited until he reached a position I could work with.

Hmm, let's see. If I time this right, I might be able to put in some distance. But if I don't… I didn't let my thoughts wander to that possibility. More cars arriveed for back up and I frowned in concentration. I only have one chance…And with that thought I pounced.

I saw him aim his gun at me but it was too late. I nailed him in the face with the sole of my boot and propelled myself toward the building behind him, using him sort of like an unwilling booster step. I grabbed hold of one the windows ledges and, trying to use my limited energy wisely, sprang from one window ledge to the one above it until I reached the roof.

I paused for only a moment to catch my breath and then dashed toward the other side to leap off and onto the next roof. This continued in a pattern. I don't know if I was being shot at anymore due to the fact that my own heart was beating so loudly in my ears, it drowned most anything else out. I noticed the cars gaining on me once I reached the end of the block. Now I have to either take my chance in crossing the street or continue on this block in a never ending circle that would in fact end with my exhausted hide spent in an alley.

I made yet another mad dash (albeit a more exhausted one) across the street, ignoring the horns of cars that were crossing. I make it to the next block just as the cars that had been following me showed up. Guys with guns were hung half way out their windows, their silenced guns taking aim. I ran as best as I could with my tired aching body, desperately looking for the shadowed safety of another alley. I found one, and I noticed that this one had a fire escape. The cars turned, their headlight giving light to the otherwise dark corner. I went up the fire escape to the roof, more shots ricochet off the twisted metal surrounding me. Grateful for the added protection I sprint up the stairs as quickly as my battered body can take me.

Reaching what I estimated to be the 5th floor, I jumped off the railing to an adjacent building's rooftop. I curse as several bullets shoot holes into my cape, but in the end I'm grateful for my good reflexes. I still haven't been shot. Though that guy had gotten the better of me back in between those buildings, I still had nothing permanent. I must have the Devil's own luck.

That is, until what happened next.

I'm heading toward the other side of the roof to jump to next building when I freeze.

The next building is far, too far. It's a 5 story building one floor smaller than the one I'm on now but its several yards away. I look around for anything that I could hook onto to help me reach it in one piece. I come up empty handed. I growl.

You have got to be kidding me! I can't jump that! I watch as a bombardment of badly aimed bullets decapitates a metal wind fan a few feet away from me. I sigh, "Of course, there's no harm in trying…" I murmur as I gather up all my will and energy and sprint toward the edge at full speed. I hold in a pained gasp as my bruises and aching sides scream in protest as they stretch and contract as I push myself beyond my limit. Finally I leap a leap of faith toward what can either be my safety or my death.

My eyes widen in realization that I might actually make it. Just as I am a few feet away I feel a stab of pain shoot into my left shoulder. It feels as if someone had stuck a burning knife into me. Knocking me off balance I miss the ledge and as I fall I manage to grab a pipe that is sticking out of the wall with my right hand.

Big mistake.

Because while I hung there, trying to figure out what had happened, another shot hits me in the chest. I feel like this is happening in slow motion. I feel myself let go of the pipe and begin to descend to the ground. The only thought crosses my mind is that this is it. This is the end. Any minute now my body is going to hit the pavement like a water balloon. I can't twist around. I won't make it out of this. I feel myself starting to black out, my mind not wanting me to feel the pain of my body splattering across the pavement.

Only the pavement never came…

Instead of the cold hard ground I landed on something way softer. I even bounced a little. When I opened my eyes I couldn't believe what I was seeing was real.

Looking around I'm shocked to see several spring mattresses littering the floor, I myself sit on a big pile of them. The space is closed in by a wooden fence with a small opening for the door. There is a sign on the opposite wall. My eyes squint to read it in the dim light.

'Donate a Mattress for a Homeless Shelter Here.' No freakin' way…

It's official. This is the luckiest day of my life.

I start to think of the odds of this ever happening but I decide to leave it. Why question a good thing?

I slide off the pile and run toward the opening to get out of here as soon as possible. Well I try to run for the opening. Not five steps across a pain shoots up my side. I gasp and hold it with my hand. I have wasted my body to the point of severe pain. I stumble forward, determined to get out when I trip over an unseen mattress on the floor and fall into the street.

"Oomph!"

My head is fuzzy but I could swear that I had nearly fallen on someone. I reach out my hand to balance myself and I grab onto the sleeve of a dark jacket. It was when I heard the gasp that my eyes wandered up and then widened when they locked with a pair of very surprised amethyst eyes. Familiar eyes.

"You!"

Author's Note:

Yay, it's finally out! You all have no idea how hard it was to write this chapter. I kept redoing it over and over again, and I still not to sure about it. I'll probably rewrite it down the road, but for now I'll leave it like this.

Like the Author's Note at the top says, I changed Red-X's hair color. My co-writer Zero707 didn't like the fact that I gave X bluish hair. So he suggested a deep red instead. I was skeptical but then he showed me a picture of X with red hair, and I liked it so I went with it. Sorry about that. But hey guess what? I have drawn pictures of Red-X unmasked! Now my scanner is broken so I had to settle with the slightly blurry picture of a digital camera but it ain't bad. But don't worry better looking pictures will be out soon. I just wish my scanner was working. But here, check him out and tell me what you think.

deviantART: Red X uncolored by LUNAstar89

Well that's it people! Teen Titans is officially canceled, the last episode was on Monday on Miguzi. AND I missed it! That so sucks. And what sucks more is that they never filled us in a lot of stuff, like the background info on the character especially Robin. Not once was Batman ever mentioned. And what about Red-X? Are we never gonna know who he is? And the answer is YES apparently…

This here is my longest chapter so far. It was gonna be longer since but I decided to keep the last two scenes for the next chapter. So until then please READ&REVIEW!