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A Hero for a Day

There aren't many things that can make Red-X squirm, even less that can make him tremble. Xavier has always been the guy who grew up willing to play chicken with a train, the guy who jumps off buildings without knowing for sure that his, (always unpredictable) suit will save him—the guy who once faced down the entire Teen Titans and got away.

But here he was, shaking in his custom made, (thanks Bird Boy), suit.

The others didn't look much better. Dr. Light was curled into a little ball, already half comatose and whimpering about his "orange kitten," or something similarly creepy, and both Punk Rocket and Johnny Rancid looked like they were about to wet themselves.

Red-X snorted. Some villains they were. He glanced to his left, and saw to his relief that he wasn't the only villain still ready to fight. Mumbo Jumbo, strangely enough, was still standing, as were Kitten and Jade. Red-X gave a lascivious wink at the latter girl, and Cheshire nodded in return.

Good, no hard feelings then.

He'd had a brief affair with Jade a couple months back. It'd been pure pleasure, no strings attached—both of them knowing the cost if they pulled off each other's masks—but still, it paid to make sure your make-out buddies didn't harbor any secret hard feelings.

He left the pathetic excuses for villains behind and walked over to the other group. Kitten shot him an assessing look. "Think you can handle this, X?"

Xavier raised an eyebrow at the blonde. "Can I handle it? I've handled all of them, sweetie. If I recall correctly, you've forced their leader on a date." He chuckled. "Hardly counts as combat practice, darling."

"She held her own against a jealous Tameranean," Jade pointed out, "And you're 'handling them' was under considerably different circumstances."

"She's right, my duck," Mumbo Jumbo said. The old man was still grinning like the circus ringmaster he was, and Red-X had to give him credit for holding out so well. If he'd been blue, centuries-years-old, and on the bad side of the red-eyed girl glaring at them, he'd have claimed senility and fled the scene.

"Wouldn't work," the magician said, and Red-X jumped, "She's on to me."

"No way can you—" Red-X started forward, but the blue man laughed and waved him away. "No need to worry, X, I can't read minds. I'm just a darn good guesser."

Ok, so he has a semi-psychic old man with considerable magical powers, a blonde whose sucker-punch was rumored to send grown men through walls, and Chesire. ('Nuff said.) Wasn't bad odds, all things considered.

"You're forgetting something," Jade said from behind him. She crossed her arms, and Xavier just knew she was rolling her eyes. "Listen, if they were normal, we'd take them easy. But they're not. The idiot who doused them with Chang's evil-serum-thing's effectively made sure our best advantage—"

"Me," Red-X supplied.

Jade shot him a withering look under her grinning mask. "As big as your head is, Xavier, it's just makes you a bigger target. I'm talking about their sense of morality."

"She's right. Robbie won't aim for a girl's—" Kitten gestured meaningfully, and Red-X bit back a laugh, "Not so much of a problem for the robot and Beast Boy—they usually fight at a distance or charge straight into you—but with Robin, it was a definite advantage. Starfire's uber-conscious of her strength. I'm good, but if she'd been going full-out, she would have just thrown me into the next county and been done with it."

"The poor idiot over there got a taste of Raven out of control." Mumbo Jumbo clicked sympathetically, shaking his head. "He never truly recovered."

"And most importantly, they won't hesitate to seriously hurt you now." The group spun at the new voice, and Red-X felt both his eyebrows shoot to his hairline. A slim girl with bright pink hair and cat-slanted eyes walked towards them, hands on hips.

"Jinx!" Kitten sounded surprised, "you're switching sides again?"

"You wish." Jinx rolled her eyes, and shot a pointed look at the now-evil Titans, who'd broken out of their previously silent stage and were whispering quietly among themselves. "I'm here to take care of them."

"We're here to take care of them." A flash of yellow and red, and Kid Flash was standing next to his girlfriend. He gave a little wave, "What's up?"

Kitten gave him a once-over. "I don't blame you for leaving that pathetic HIVE group for this sweet thing," she said approvingly. Turning to Wally, she winked, "Call me if you guys have any—problems.."

Jinx gave a low growl, Kitten laughed, and Red-X really wished they weren't about to face the evil Teen Titans, because otherwise this would be totally hot.

"Can you call in reinforcements?" Jade was asking, pushing between the two girls, "Titans East, or some such?"

Kid Flash nodded. "'Ready did, they're on their way. Titans East, I mean."

"All of them?" Kitten sounded surprised, "For these five? We already outnumber them—"

Jinx gave a laugh. "Trust me, we'll need all the help we can get." She spun, sending pink lightning streaking as Starfire suddenly shot forward, the others spreading out behind her. Red-X gulped as the Teen Titans attacked, and quietly hoped that his suit would hold up.

And then there was no time for thinking.

XXXXXXXXXX

1. Grudges

"Surely you don't hold that eensy-weensie incident against an old man, do you?"

"You turned me into a bunny, Mumbo Jumbo. Prepare to pay the price."

Red-X, who'd just been slammed head-first into the wall by Beast Boy, dazedly wondered if Raven knew the X-rated images her comment had just whipped into his brain.

2. Boxing

Kitten would never admit it to anyone, but she was kind of turned-on when Kid Flash grabbed her up bridal-style and sped her out of the way of Cyborg's sonic cannon. Still—he was Jaya's boyfriend…she sighed. Why did relationships have to be so complicated?

3. Respite

Jade had to admit that Jinx had been right, they did need all the help they can get. She'd never been gladder to hear a "Titans Go!" than the moment Bee lead the Titans East straight into the thick of the battle. Still—did they have to break through the wall she was currently leaning on?

She grimaced as she dodged rubble, letting her knives slice open a pebble hurtling for her mask. There was no way she was going to get felled by pieces of rock—she had a reputation to uphold.

4. Ironic

The ironic thing was, most of the guys in the room had fantasized about a not-so-innocent Starfire pressing them against the wall. However, as Speedy tried to fight the Tameranean off, he had to think that in reality, the situation was far from sexy.

5. Deja Vu

Jinx felt almost nostalgic as she dodged Robin's punches and swept his feet out from under him only to get smashed into the floor by Raven. Then she actually hit the ground and felt her arm snap. Back to the good 'ol days.

6. Slow

He'd found it so easy to beat them before—but now, as Xavier tried in vain to dodge Starfire's starbolts, he found that he'd underestimated just how much the Titans had held back.

No longer afraid of breaking his spine or snapping his nose straight into the brain, Robin's punches flew like lightning. Xavier could see his worst nightmares virtually floating out of Raven's red eyes, and Starfire wasn't holding back as she did her best to break him in half. The sonic cannons were loud and too-close, and there was a dinosaur he had to avoid—Xavier had always prized himself as quick, but now he felt as if he was far too slow.

7. Fast

Kid Flash and the twins figured out early that, while their speed gave them a bit of an advantage—they were far too busy defending their friends and frenemies to utilize it. Still, Kid Flash had the time to knock Robin into a charging Starfire, which was comical even if it wasn't very effective.

8. Darkest

Things weren't looking good. Jinx's arm was broken, the twins were unconscious, and Bee's wings had been snapped like twigs when Starfire swung her into Speedy. Cheshire and Aqualad barely held off Raven, and Kid Flash was cornered by Starfire.

Xavier was tired—more tired than he'd been in a long time—and didn't the Bird Brain have to rest? He heard someone cry out as a green panther screamed, and the sonic cannon hit the walls behind him, sending him ducking for cover, when all he wanted to do was sit down and close his eyes.

9. Dawn

The entire room lightened when Raven—most used to fighting off her evil side—abruptly let go of a choking Aqualad and snapped back to normal. As her eyes faded back to purple and her torn cape, (courtesy of Jinx), fell to the ground, Xavier found himself thinking that they might actually have a chance.

A couple minutes later, when Robin—also used to fighting his demons—came back to himself, he knew they were going to be ok.

10. Hot

As Raven slipped her hands under his suit to heal the hole in his side, Xavier couldn't help but notice that she was still panting from the fight and that the leotard clung just a bit more closely than it might have done if she hadn't been covered in sweat.

11. Teamwork

If she took to the skies, she was gone—and no one was heartless enough to wish for Starfire to come to herself on some lonely planet with no way of getting home. In the end, it was simple. Raven simply used her powers to hold the alien girl still while Robin doused her with gas.

By the time he'd emptied his supply, Starfire was snoring. Cheshire made a mental note to herself. To put the Tameranean to sleep, douse her with enough gas to knock out a herd of elephants.

12. Grudges (part 2)

"I still haven't forgotten that you've turned me into a bunny," Raven told Mumbo Jumbo, "But you kept me and my friends from destroying the city tonight, so we'll call it even."

Mumbo Jumbo clicked sadly as the girl walked away, shaking his head. "What are you thinking, old man?" Xavier asked. Mumbo Jumbo gave him a sly grin, and he blanched. "You aren't thinking of—"

"Of course I am, my boy," Mumbo Jumbo laughed, "As if I'd give up such a beautiful, talented, and feisty assistant." Leaning over, he whispered confidentially, "I think of her as my own daughter, you know."

13. Interesting

Watching as Raven snapped Beast Boy back to himself with a furious, "Beast Boy," Jade made a mental note to look the girl up again and fight her. She wanted to put her own skills against a girl able to throw off Dr. Chang's evil-serum so quickly.

14. Lucky

Listening to Speedy grouse about his bruises, Bee smacked him over the head and hissed, "Stop complaining, Roy. You're lucky that you're still incognito. You don't think Raven could have unmasked you anytime she wanted? That Robin couldn't have smashed a birdarang into our heads if he hadn't been fighting it the whole time?

15. Wounded

Yeah, having a broken arm sucked, but the way Wally was cooing at her and treating her like she might break was almost enough to make up for it.

XXXXXXXXXX

If he'd had the strength, he would have laughed at the irony of it all. Here they were—four of the world's most renowned villains, sitting in the Teen Titan's living room. The super-fast twins—Mas and Morse or something—and Kid Flash were rapidly consuming the food that had been set out, so he guessed they weren't poisonous, and he had a fresh bandage around his side.

"I can't heal you all completely and stay conscious," Raven had explained, "The worst of the damage is fixed. Don't strain yourself for a week and you'll be as good as new."

They both knew he'd be off stealing paintings for greedy old men with big wallets tomorrow.

Jade was positive she'd been in worse shape—she just couldn't remember when. She supposed she should be grateful that the Titans hadn't just locked them up after they'd come to their senses, but really, she'd half-expected it. They were really too kind for their own good.

Reaching for a cookie, she chewed, swallowed, and ignored Speedy's "told you she was human," as he collected money from a grumbling Beast Boy.

Kitten was having the time of her life. Free food, a comfortable couch, and cute boys to flirt with—ok, so maybe the last one was going to get her hexed into next week, but hey, nothing was perfect, right?

They all knew that tomorrow they'd be enemies again. The Titans wouldn't be lenient or give them special favors if they broke the law, and the villains would fight back with all their strength.

Still—for now, as Xavier flirted with every girl in the room, as Jade found that she had a weakness for chocolate crème, as Kitten bickered with Jaya and reminisced about the old days, and as Mumbo Jumbo nearly got himself killed by trying to convince Raven to be his assistant—the villains had to admit that it was nice to be the good guys for once.