I think it's time for a new character to enter this story. At least for a little bit. Let me know what you think.
"Titans! An alarm has been tripped at maximum security facility that houses Xenothium. Guess who needs that stuff?"
"Seriously? And I was having such a nice day." Cyborg grumbled all the way to the warehouse while Robin prepared himself for another showdown with his opposite. They arrived at the warehouse and spread out to find the culprit. Beastboy went with Raven, Cyborg went with Starfire, and Robin went alone. Beastboy and Raven were walking down the hallway when they were confronted by a masked figure with a red x on his chest and mask.
"We thought it was you, X." Raven's eyes glowed white as she prepared to fight. She pressed the jewel on her collar, which was actually the signal that they found Red X.
"Yup, it's me. Who else needs this stuff? Now be a good girl and let me through." Red X's voice sounded a little like Robins, but it held none of his serious demeanor.
"I don't think so, Red X." Robin ran in, followed by Cyborg and Starfire. "You're going to jail, where criminals like you belong."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, kid. I'm not a villain, I'm a thief. I thought we already had this talk. By the way, nice job with the security systems. Even I didn't see that alarm."
"I knew you'd come back when your suit ran low, so I added a few precautions." Robin's voice held the pre-fight tension it always did. "Titans, go!" They attacked Red X, but the thief was a good fighter. He had all kinds of red gadgets to immobilize or otherwise take down the Titans, but they were determined.
"Give it up, kid. I'm not hurting any-oof" He was knocked off his feet by Beastboy in kangaroo form and flew into a wall. "Nice, Beastie." Beastboy froze at that name, the same one the Joker used. Red X noticed this, but brushed it aside. He leapt up and attempted to teleport, but his belt was too low on Xenothium to do so. He turned and ran down the corridor towards the Xenothium deposit, the Titans right behind. They reached a five-way split and split up again, one per hallway.
Beastboy ran down his hallway when suddenly he came upon the vault door that housed the reactive Xenothium. Red X was already working on opening the door when a green octopus pulled him away. The thief slapped an x on a tentacle and it became hot. Beastboy dropped the thief and transformed into his normal form.
"Tell me, Beastie. Why do you stick with those squares? You seem like too much fun."
"Don't...ever...CALL ME BEASTIE!" He rammed Red X as a goat, but the thief landed gracefully on his feet. His green eyes blazed with fury, but also a pain that Red X had seen before.
"What happened to you?" The thief knew he shouldn't care, but the green boy had changed. Suddenly a new voice entered the picture.
"Yes, what did happen, Beastie?" The cackle that followed made Red X's blood run cold and he saw Beastboy blanch with...fear? No, not fear, terror. "I just figured I would come see what the fuss about this Xenothium is, and who do I find? Why, my dear Beastie. Care for round two?" A man with scary clown makeup walked into the light.
Red X felt an unexpected wave of protectiveness towards the green shapeshifter as he realized who this clown was and what he must have done. "Well, hate to burst your bubble, but that Xenothium is mine, so you may as well leave." The clown laughed and took a step closer as his henchmen came into view. "Hey, Beastboy." Beastboy was surprised; the thief had never called him that. "Now is probably a good time to call for back up." Beastboy nodded and pushed the button on his belt.
"Oh, now that wasn't very fair. I was perfectly willing to let you live...but now? 'Fraid not, red-boy." He gestured to his goons, and they charged the two boys. As they battled, the clown stood casually against a wall.
"Beastboy! When is your team getting here?" Red X was handling himself fine, but he wanted to know how long he had to wait before he needed to make a getaway.
"I don't know! Another minute?" They fought back to back, and they had just beaten the last assailant when the Joker appeared behind Beastboy.
"Beastie, you've been naughty. Time to be punished." He pulled out a knife and was about to stab the helpless boy when-the knife was stopped.
"Beastboy!" Robin ran in just in time to see Red X throw himself in front of the knife and take it into his stomach. The Joker ran away, laughing, with Starfire and Cyborg hot on his trail. Beastboy turned and caught the falling thief.
"Why?" Beastboy couldn't see Red X's eyes, but he gently lowered him to the ground.
"I...honestly...don't...know." Red X felt his blood leaking out, but it still hurt. That was a good sign. Robin ran over and began to staunch the flow of blood. "Hey, kid. You...going to take me to...jail now?" He was panting.
"No, you need medical attention. I'm taking you to the tower before you die." Honestly, Robin couldn't believe that the thief had taken the knife meant for Beastboy. He couldn't just leave the thief to die, or take him to a prison doctor. Cyborg and Starfire came back, shaking their heads. The Joker got away. Raven wrapped them in a bubble of energy and brought them to the tower. Robin and Beastboy helped the thief to the medical bay and laid him down on a bed. Robin took off the shirt part of the costume, leaving the mask on. Even if he was thief, Robin understood the value of a secret identity.
"You're not...taking...off...my...mask..." Red X succumbed to the anesthetic just as Robin began fixing the wound.
Red X woke up to find himself handcuffed to the medical bed, but he was still wearing his mask. He turned his head to see the green boy sleeping in chair. "Hey, kid. Wake up." Beastboy stirred and rubbed his eyes. "Hey, what's the plan? You gonna take me to jail or what?"
"How can you think about jail? You almost died, dude." Beastboy scooted closer to the bed. "By the way, why did you do that? Take the knife?"
"I slipped." Beastboy snorted.
"Yeah, right. I'm serious. Why did you save me?" Red X was silent for a moment.
"I don't know. Maybe because I've seen that look before."
"What look?"
"The look you get when someone calls you Beastie. When the clown showed up. I've seen that look before. I know what happened to you, Beastboy. At least, I think I do." Red X's face was unreadable behind his mask. Beastboy looked at his hands, pretending they were really interesting. "You know, I wasn't always a thief. I had a family, a life."
"How do you know that 'look' you say I get?" Beastboy looked over at the thief.
"That's a story for another day, kid." Just then Robin came in with the other Titans.
"Beastboy, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine Robin. Thanks to Red X." Robin walked over to the bed and unlocked the thief's handcuffs.
"What was that for, kid? Not that I couldn't have gotten out myself." Red X tried to sit up painfully, but failed.
"You saved my friend's life. Even though you're a criminal, we've decided that you have earned your freedom for another day." Robin helped Red X sit up. "Red X?"
"Yeah, kid?"
"Thank you. I don't know why, but for some reason you saved Beastboy. You're welcome to stay here and heal, and then you can leave." Robin quirked a smile. "Unless you steal anything, that is. Then you're going to jail." Red X laughed.
"You gave me your word; I'll give you mine on my pride as a thief. I will not steal anything while I recover."
Red X spent most of his time in the medical bay, or watching TV, for the first few days. The knife had not gone too deep, but it had done a fair amount of damage. The young man had been lucky to live. As he healed, he began to work out in the weight room, though he preferred to be alone. He didn't want to become attached to the people trying to send him to jail. Especially since Robin had taken away all his gadgets. Well, almost all. He had added a few things to the suit. Turning hero would ruin his street cred. Besides, he wasn't a hero.
"X? Can I talk to you?" Raven walked into the workout room to find the thief practicing acrobatics.
"What do you want?" He didn't even pause in his routine. Raven put out a hand and black energy caught him mid-flip and lowered him to the ground. "Alright, alright. What?"
"Why did you save Beastboy?" Of the Titans, Raven was the only one that hadn't spoken to Red X once.
"I slipped."
"Bullshit."
"Whoa! Language!" Raven narrowed her eyes. "Alright! Geez, relax. I took that knife because...I know what that clown did to him. At least, I think I do. I saw the way he looked at that lunatic." Raven walked closer.
"And how do you know anything about that?"
"Like I told your little boyfriend. That's a story for another time." Just then Robin's voice came out of Raven's communicator.
"Raven, get to the main room. Someone just dropped off a package at our door." Raven ran from the room, and Red X followed her, curious about the situation. When they reached the main room they found everyone gathered around a medium sized cardboard box. Cyborg was scanning it to look for bombs or other traps, and his scanners found none.
"Who's it from?" Beastboy knew that no one ever dropped off mail at Titan Tower unless they had a good reason.
"Don't know. But it isn't a bomb." Cyborg inspected the box.
"I guess we should open it." Robin stepped forward and slit the tape holding shut and pulled out a device that was similar to a TV. It was about one and a half feet tall and about a foot thick. He set it on the floor, and noticed the red button that said "push me". He shrugged and pushed it. The machine made a rattling noise and slowly raised itself on a tripod-type support and the black screen turned blue. Then the Joker appeared on screen.
"Hello, teenage crime fighters. I thought that since I haven't seen you in a while I would send a message. Especially for you, Beastie. I know our time together was brief, but it was magical." His eyes narrowed. "But apparently it wasn't effective enough. I just hate seeing all my hard work go to waste. Therefore, I decided to send you a movie since you like them so much. And don't bother trying to turn it off. You won't be able to." He cackled as the screen went dark.
"A movie?" Raven was confused. What could he possibly be talking about? The screen turned blue again and then a picture came on. It was Beastboy, tied to a chair, sawing through his bonds just as the men walked in. Raven ran to Beastboy as the video jumped forward to Beastboy being pummeled on the hook, then again to the whipping. Robin ran towards it.
"Turn it off! Cyborg, turn it off!" But nothing worked. The picture kept going, skipping to Beastboy naked on the table. The Joker looked directly at his hidden camera and smiled. Then he turned to his work, and began raping Beastboy. Beastboy collapsed to the ground, moaning and curling up into the fetal position while Raven tried to talk him out of it. Beastboy's recorded screams rang through the tower, and finally Red X had had enough. Just as the Joker picked up the pipe, he walked up to the machine and slapped an X onto it. The machine sparked and went dark.
"Beastboy! Beastboy, you're safe! You're here, not in that room! Beastboy!" Raven felt panic rising in her throat. Beastboy was whimpering like everything in that video had happened again. Robin joined Beastboy on the floor and grabbed his shoulders and shook them.
"Beastboy!" Beastboy's eyes were looking wildly around, unable to focus. Robin had an idea and ripped off his mask, revealing his blue eyes. "BEASTBOY!" Beastboy finally focused on Robin and threw himself into Robin's arms. He sobbed and let himself be rocked by his adopted brother. Red X stood awkwardly by the machine, watching the display. Robin looked at him over Beastboy's shoulder and mouthed "thank you". Red X shrugged and turned to walk away. He felt out of place but Cyborg stopped him.
"Hey man. I know you and the team don't always get along. But I need your help with this thing. I need to examine it, but I can't get it to open. You managed to turn it off, so maybe you can help. Help me." His human eye was sincere, and Red X nodded and went to examine the machine with the half robot. Robin managed to pull Beastboy to his feet and drag him to the couch where he sat with the green boy, still hugging him. Beastboy had calmed down a little, and he looked up to see tears in Robin's eyes. No one had ever seen Robin cry, because the boy hadn't cried since his parents died.
"Beastboy, I am so sorry. I know I've...said it before...but...I just...that video..." Beastboy hugged Robin harder as the leader of the team, Boy Wonder, was swallowed by his guilt.
"This thing is incredible." Red X stared at the complex machine before him. He and Cyborg had been working for over an hour to break it open and it still refused to reveal its secrets. "Look, Cyborg. I need my stuff if I'm going to get it to open." Cyborg studied the thief.
"You'll need to ask Robin for those. By the way, what did you use to short it out?" Red X shrugged.
"A prototype for taking you down. My own creation. Boy Wonder didn't know about it, so he couldn't take it." He turned and left the room. Cyborg smiled and shook his head.
"Smart-ass."
Red X walked through the main room to find Raven and Beastboy sitting together on the couch together with Beastboy's head in Raven's lap. Raven caught his eye as he passed through and nodded at him. Red X had a vision of a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, and then it was gone. Beastboy never took his eyes off the TV, trying to block out the sounds of his own screams. Starfire wasn't in the room, and Red X figured she must be with Robin. He walked to Robin's room and knocked on the door. Starfire opened the door and gave him a tired, quizzical look.
"Yes, Red X? What do you require?" The alien girl looked back into the room as a voice floated out.
"Let him in, Star. I need to talk to him, anyway. Alone." Starfire nodded and left as Red X walked into the room. His stiches had started to ache again, but he knew it was from the stress of the night. "Hello, X." Red X was shocked by the state of the Titans' leader. His hair was unkempt, and his uniform was wrinkled. But what Red X noticed most were his still unmasked eyes. They were bloodshot and haunted from crying, and Red X was amazed that Robin had allowed a thief to see him without a mask.
"Hey kid. You look awful." Robin shrugged.
"How would you look if you let the one person you love as family gets kidnapped, tortured, and raped? And then forced to watch a video of it?" Robin sat on his bed, and Red X realized how young the boy was, not even eighteen.
"Actually, I looked about the same." Robin's head snapped up at that, but he didn't ask. "Look, kid. I need my tools to get that screen thing open. I know you have them, and I know you don't exactly trust me." Robin didn't respond. "Hey, I'm just trying to help. I owe you one for saving my life." Actually, that wasn't true, really. Red X considered the score even since he only got stabbed because he was saving Beastboy. But seeing his best foe in this state was making Red X feel the need to help him.
"Fine." He gestured to a set of drawers in the corner. "They're in there."
"Seriously? You didn't even lock them up?" Red X was incredulous. Robin smiled a ghost of his regular grin.
"I figured you would expect me to hide them in a safe somewhere, so the safest place for them would be somewhere you wouldn't think to look." Red X had to admit, it had worked. He would have never looked there. He collected what he needed and left the rest. He saw Robin's questioning look and shrugged. "I'm not leaving for a while, it seems. Besides, this suit now has secrets you don't know about." He turned to leave.
"Red X?" He paused at the door. "Who was it? Who did you lose?" Red X turned.
"Her name was Sarah. And I loved her. But I let her down, and now she's gone." Red X was shocked at his outburst. He hadn't told anyone about Sarah in years. But something about the sad boy in front of him made him feel like talking. "We were normal kids, she was a cheerleader and I was a gymnast. A good one, too. I was even a decent street fighter. But I wasn't enough to save her from those men." Robin was quiet as the thief sat next to him on the bed.
"X, what happened?"
"We were walking down the street. I loved her, and she loved me. I knew that we probably wouldn't be together forever since she would go to college without me, but I didn't care." He paused and took a deep breath. "They came out of nowhere. Two held my arms as another grabbed Sarah. She tried to scream, but they...persuaded her to stop." Red X reached up and slowly pulled off his mask. Red X's face was pale, and his hair was a dark blonde color that complimented his shocking gray eyes. But his main feature was a long scar that started over his right eye and traveled diagonally across the bridge of his nose, down his left cheek, stopping just below his cheekbone. He couldn't have been more than eighteen either.
"Oh my God. That's how they...persuaded her?" The boy nodded.
"They dragged her away and left me there in the street to die. The police found her a week later. Those...animals kept her for days then left her on the side of the road without some much as taxi money. She had the same look in her eyes that your little friend has now. But I couldn't help her like you helped Beastboy. She went catatonic and now lives in a nuthouse without a single original thought. Not even about me." Robin put an uncertain hand on Red X's shoulder, and the young thief snapped out of it. "So now you know my sad story. That's why I try to live my own way, no attachments, and no friends. Just looking out for number one." Red X stood and walked to the door again, only to stop again as Robin spoke.
"I think the only person you can't fool with that act is you." Red X turned as Robin stood and walked to him. "You sure fooled me. But now, I see a boy who lost someone. I can relate to that. But you don't have to hide from us anymore." Red X's gray eyes turned towards Robin.
"Why not?"
"Because...we're your friends now. You are a good person at heart, I can tell. We haven't always seen eye to eye, and maybe we won't again. But for now, we're your friends."
"Thanks, kid. Thanks, Robin."
Ok, I finally did it. I finished this chapter. I really like Red X the way he is, so don't worry, he won't change completely. Thanks to GaraHinataWake for the suggestion to watch some episodes. It was EXTREMELY helpful. And thanks to BBlove1004 for the video idea. You both really helped me finish this chapter. Reviews are most welcome. Any ideas you ask about will probably find their way in somehow, so go for it. So, til next time. Hopefully sooner than this last chapter...
