Ok, avid readers. Welcome back. I am on a bit of a roll, de-stressing from exams. As I said in the last chapter, this will be more storyline-oriented. And...oh yeah. BBlove1004 is awesome. That is all.
Red X checked his clock. It was in the early hours of the morning, a little past three. He was sneaking out of the tower, leaving the Titans, tonight. Red X was worried about how attached he was getting to these heros. The Joker hadn't shown any signs for weeks, and the thief was feeling smothered. He didn't want to change his life, which is what Robin obviously wanted. He just couldn't, theft was in his blood. It always would be. He had collected his gadgets the night before from Robin's room when the Titans were out fighting someone. He packed his few spare belongings; a scarf Starfire had knitted him (a scarf? like he'd ever wear it), the book of dark poetry from Raven, one of Robin's throwing birds (stolen), and a communicator he had also stolen. He firgured that having it would be a good way to keep track of the Titans if they were about to come after him.
He walked through the dark tower towards the door, walking quietly so he wouldn't wake anyone. Obviously not quietly enough though.
"Where are you off to?" Robin leaned casually against the breakfast counter. Red X sighed.
"I'm leaving."
"Yeah, I figured that part out. But where are you going?" Robin walked over to his old opponent.
"Don't worry, I'll be around. I need Xenothium every now and then." Robin chuckled.
"I look forward to it. Just do me a favor." Robin handed Red X his mask. He put it on.
"And what would that be?" His masked eyes were in an amused expression.
"Keep an eye out for Beastboy. I don't think that fake Joker is gone, and Beastboy will need all of us."
"And how am I supposed to keep track of your friend if I leave?"
"How about with the communicator you stole." Robin smirked at Red X's surprised reaction. "Don't worry, you can keep it. I won't deactivate it. Just don't let every criminal you meet use it."
"Yeah, ok, kid. I'll keep an ear open for Beastboy. But don't think this means I won't return to my life of crime." He studied the Titans' leader who just shrugged.
"Who am I to tell you how to live your life? Not that I won't try from time to time. Good bye, Red X. You are always welcome here if you need a place to stay."
"See ya, kid." And he was gone.
The fake Joker sat in the same warehouse he tortured Beastboy in. He truly believed he was the Joker, the after-effect of his schizophrenia. Once the Joker learned about him, he sent him momentos of his crimes, wrote him long letters detailing his thoughts and plans for the world, everything he needed to feed his psychosis. But the new Joker had one thing that the old one lacked. The new Joker had a taste for money and power, things the original Joker had little use for. The new Joker wanted to destroy the Titans so he could commit as many crimes and get as much money as he possibly could, whereas the original Joker just wanted to watch the world burn.
"It seems that little Beastie has some old secrets, some guilt, that are eating him up." He paced in front of his moniters as his new henchmen watched. "Maybe I need to take a different approach. Obviously his friendships were too strong for my first attempt to work. That is something I will never underestimate again. Though I may be able to use that to my advantage. If Beastie thinks his friends are no longer really his friends...well, add that to his guilt, augmented by me...I amy not even to lift a knife to him. And without Beastie, the bird boy will be broken. Two birds with one stone! Ha! Get it? Of course not. I don't hire you to understand."
The henchmen watched him warily, like they would watch a rabid wolf. They didn't know what their new boss's plans were, but even they felt sorry for little green crime fighter.
"The thief left the Tower, too. Good, just one less distraction, though his identity remains a mystery to even me! But I can't blame him. Anonomous criminals are harder to catch. Like me! Ha!" Of course, what the Joker didn't remember was that the Titans did know his name, even if the real Joker's identity was never revealed.
"Uh...boss? What's the plan?" One brave henchman spoke up. The Joker narrowed his eyes in the man's direction, debating wheter or not he should kill him. But then he smiled and laughed.
"Why, I'm a clown. Clowns make people have fun. So I think it's time Beastie visited the funhouse." He grinned evilly as his goons tried to decipher what he meant. "After I'm through with Beastie, that bird boy and his friends won't be able to stop me. They'll be too busy picking up the pieces, and I'll run this place. I'll, um, we'll live like kings with all the stolen money you can want."
"Beastboy, focus!" Raven hurled tennis balls at Beastboy with her powers, one after another in rapid-fire style. He dodged most of them, but two found their mark.
"It's hard to focus when you're out here." Beastboy loved flirting with the somber Raven, and though she secretly liked it, it was distracting during combat practice.
"Oh really?" She frowned as the tennis balls flew even faster, many hitting their mark as Beastboy squealed. He turned into an elephant and barreled through barrage and right before he reached Raven he turned back into his human form. He kept his momentum up and scooped her up in his arms, spinning her around while she laughed.
"Put me down! Put me down, Beastboy!" But she was smiling. Raven had never been happier. The Titans' friendship had never been stronger, and she had the love of the important person in her life. The green boy that made her laugh had made it his mission to make her laugh everyday. "Seriously, we nedd to prac-" She was cut off by the kiss Beastboy planted on her lips. It was one of those rare days when the sun was shining, the city didn't need saving and everything was perfect.
"How many more tennis balls do I have to dodge before-" The alarms sounded through the tower, and suddenly their perfect day was over. They both rushed downstairs to find the rest of the team in the garage. Starfire, Raven, and Beastboy piled into the T-Car with Cyborg while Robin rode on his motorcycle. They drove in silence to the center of Jump City and they saw the reason for the alarms. Mad Mod had unleashed an army of robots that looked like him on the city. They were wreaking havoc on anything that got in their way as Mad Mod stood in the middle of the street laughing and yelling in his British accent. Somehow he had gotten his youth back, and escaped from prison, making him a potentially dangerous opponent.
"Alright Titans, go!" Robin led the charge towards the rampaging robots, but Mad Mod wasn't going down without a fight.
"Hello, Duckies!" Mad Mod sounded like a drunk Beatle. "Nice of you to drop by, but I think you may want to reconsider messing with your elders!" He pointed his red-jeweled cane at the rushing Titans.
The robots turned their attention to the crime fighters and attacked them all at once. Cyborg blasted them and threw even the big ones like javelins. Robin used his bowstaff and bombs to take out others. Starfire shot star bolts and all around demolished her share of robots. Raven used her black powers to smash robots together and throw things at them. But one got a shot in at her and she flew into a building and continued through to the other side. She landed hard on the other side, only to followed by a large Mad Mod-bot and she couldn't focus through her pain to stop the robot. She had probably broken a few ribs and received a concussion. The robot raised an arm to blast her when it was rammed by a flash of green. It was Beastboy in the form of a green bull. He trampled the robot into submission then morphed into his human form. He ran over to Raven and examined her injuries with concerned eyes. Raven felt the strength of his love and concern rolling off him waves, and she felt safe.
Suddenly a man walking past reached out with some sort of black device, but Raven was so dizzy she couldn't warn Beastboy. The man touched the device to side of Beastboy's neck, making him arch his back as the electrical current raced through his system. He fell to the ground next to Raven and looked up at the man. "You..." It was the man from the warehouse. Beastboy blacked out. The man grinned and reached down to snap on a black collar identical to the one he had used before to subdue the shapeshifter.
"Why...why are you doing this?" Raven tried to stand but sank back down as the dizziness increased ten-fold. She had to save Beastboy, but she could barely move. She fought with the blackness closing in on her vision.
"The boss wants to talk your little friend again. Time to go." He picked up Beastboy and waved for a car parked across the street to come pick them up. He threw Beastboy in the back of the car and got in the passenger side. "Oh, and give this to Robin." He threw a letter out the window and it landed on Raven. She grasped it as they drove away with her boyfriend. She looked around, still hearing the sounds of the battle going on the other side of the building. She noticed her communicator lying a few feet away, and she dragged herself slowly and painfully towards it as a small crowd gathered. She managed to hit the panic button as she passed out.
Muahahahaha cliffhanger! Enjoy, and feel free to speculate on what's going to happen next. Until next time, review!
