Disclaimer: blah blah blah Teen Titans blah blah blah not owning blah blah blah…
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Nighttime in Jump City.
Almost anyone who's lived here for more that two seconds know that there is hardly anything remotely existent as a "quiet night" in Jump City, whereas a quiet night would entail a night where absolutely nothing goes wrong. But, if one would look hard enough in all the right places, there will always be something going on. Always.
Case in point, a seemingly closed down office building somewhere in the western district of Jump City. The place was supposed to be closed and evacuated due to a recent new owner, and on the outside it would certainly look that way to any bystander. But then again, walls have a thing for hiding certain things and there is always that age-old saying that things are not always what they seem.
This building, like a few others scattered around the city, was just one of Adrian Falcone's secrete Venus production plants. On a regular basis for the recent months, this building has been churning out the increasingly popular drug by the truckloads. Though, up until recently, production was forced to speed up due to unforeseen complications.
The increased orders from the plant were a hard transition as is but, for this particular night, the building, and a good number of its current occupants, is going to have even more problems to deal with. Already this is obvious by the fact, if anyone cared to look, that several men in conspicuous attire came dashing out of the front door.
Curiosity pricked, a few night wandering bystanders watched the unusual sight as more panicked men began to exit the supposedly vacant office building. They weren't watching for long as an ear-shattering explosion exploded through several of the upper floors.
Debris and broken glass rained down onto the streets as crowds of people began immediately evacuating the area. Bright orange fireballs burst out of the newly opened windows. Soon, pretty much nobody hung around the vicinity. Only the crackling of the fire could be heard.
On a nearby rooftop, about five stories higher than the exploded building, a familiar antihero began to materialize out of thin air. Red X stood on the edge of the roof , overlooking his apparent handiwork for the night. His gleaming black suit, reflected the bright orange blaze and gave the thief a strange aura.
"This isn't going anywhere," he said into the empty air, "I don't think I'm getting any closer to Falcone. None of those stupid managers are worth any of the information I need…"
He brought a hand up to his shoulder. It was sore due to a hit. Red X could remember one of the guards gaining a luck hit with the butt of his AK-47. Fortunately, Red X would not fall so easily and countered quickly enough to regain his ground.
In the long run, that kind of incident was nothing. But to the person under the mask, it was a little bit of a foreboding sign. In his prime, he could run circles around even the most experienced villain and hero alike. The fact that a thug got a lucky shot in indicated to Red x that he was getting a bit slow for some reason.
Looking back, he thought of himself to kind of sloppy ever since he started this little vendetta of his. Up to that point he has already managed to bring down five of Falcone's little plants around the city and he was confident enough that the rest would follow suit. Yet as he progressed, he's been getting sloppier and sloppier. It was bothering him deeply.
He knew, through his extensive combat training through his parents, that a clear mind was the key to doing things the right way. He questioned whether something was bothering him that was ruining his concentration. He couldn't tell, not at that moment at least.
"What's wrong with me?" he asked himself. "I've never been this lousy on the field before."
He looked down on the burning building once again, as if to distract himself from his train of thoughts. He reminded himself what he was doing, what he was here for, what he was doing and for whom. Under the mask, Nick narrowed his eyes. He had a mission to accomplish at the moment. This should be the only thing on his mind.
"No matter," he said softly, "I won't stop here, not until I'm standing over Falcone's grave. I'll find him sooner or later, and when I do…"
He cut himself short of his speech. Slowly he looked over his shoulder as if noticing something. He looked over his shoulder and towards a mess of pipes and air-conditioning motors placed on the rooftop he was standing on. The multitude of metallic machinery created an abundance of shadowed places on the rooftop. Red X eyed a few shadowed spots carefully.
Slowly he turned away his gaze from the shadows and looked back down on the flames of the burning build. He was dead silent and dead still for a long while. The wind blew at his cape. If anything, he seemed to be waiting for something.
A few seconds of silence melted into a whole six minutes or so. Eventually, even the fire was starting to burn away. In the distance, fire engine sirens can be heard coming towards the scene. Red X continued to overlook the sight though it seemed that his mind were somewhere else. Minutes ticked by.
Eventually, the suspense was starting to kill her and Batgirl decided to try and take a step forward in order to see better. As he foot went down on the rooftop gravel, it made a soft sound. Red X's head twitched ever so slightly.
"There," he said softly.
In a flash, Red X did a complete one-eighty and shot an x-taser from his open palm. The glowing x-taser flew straight into one of the shadowed places which Red X conspicuously eye some time ago. Seeing the impending threat, Batgirl went wide-eyed and instinctively jumped upwards and out of the x-taser's way. The projectile impacted with some of the pipes and machinery and caused a small explosion of sparks and electrical bolts.
Batgirl landed gracefully a good distance away from Red X who looked a bit surprised to see the caped crusader. Batgirl wasted no time in counterattacking by producing three batarang from her utility belt and throwing them towards Red X. The thief stood ready, forming an x-blade on his hand.
As the three projectiles headed his way, Red X expertly swiped them out of the air with his bladed hand. All three of the batarang were destroyed in mid-air. For a moment, with his one arm outstretched, Red X looked vulnerable and that's when Batgirl took her chance. The caped crime fighter charged in with a roundhouse kink to the crimson thief's face.
Red X wasn't about to let himself be underestimated and taken down so easily. With his other hand, Red x managed to grab Batgirl's foot before it hit his face. Batgirl was now the one caught off-guard. Red X pushed her away through her leg with a considerable amount of force. Batgirl had to cartwheel in order to avoid landing on her butt.
As soon as she got to her feet, Red X was already charging at her. He threw a myriad of jabs towards Batgirl's person and generally seemed to miss as Batgirl was quite agile enough to evade all of the incoming attacks. Then again, Red X didn't really look like he was trying yet.
At one point, Red X threw a hook which Batgirl naturally evaded it. Red X, however, continued spinning around in the direction of his hook, and brought a backhand in Batgirl's direction. The caped girl, while unable to evade in time, did manage to block the hit with both her arms. Regardless though, the impact sent her sliding backwards on the soles of her feet.
She was able to stop and recover her balance. She regained her composure and faced Red X. The crimson thief in question stood his own ground and spontaneously produced a few x-shaped projectiles on either of his hands. He threw them expertly towards Batgirl.
Using her gymnastic abilities, Batgirl easily dodged all of the incoming projectile, twisting and bending her body to avoid their paths. The x's embedded themselves on several of the machines behind the girl crime fighter. She stood tall again and looked at Red X with a cocky grin on the only revealed part of her face.
"Hah!" she said, "looks like you missed."
"Look again," replied Red X.
Batgirl raised an eyebrow. She glanced behind her at the multiple x-shaped projectiles that were embedded in the machines behind her. They started glowing rather disturbingly. Batgirl went wide-eye and quickly dashed and jumped to the side while Red X quickly took his cape and covered his body with it. The x's were finally revealed to be x-bombs as they detonated.
The machinery around was completely destroyed and pieces of twisted metal flew everywhere. Bright yellow fireballs gave way to black mushroom clouds. Batgirl picked herself up from where she landed. Red X stood with his arms crossed, watching in mild amusement much to Batgirl's embarrassment.
"Fancy meeting you here," said Red X, "Aren't you suppose to be in…"
"I'm vacationing," Batgirl snapped back, "what's it to you?"
"Does bird boy know you're here?"
"Uh… that's not the point!"
"Testy… So what is the point, if I may be so bold to ask?"
"That's none of your business."
"You spy on me, I make it my damn business, girl. What do you want with me?"
"I want to know what exactly it is that links you to Falcone. Whay are you going around blowing up his plants?"
Red X didn't answer immediately. Batgirl waited fro a while but it looked like the thief had no intention of answering that particular question. As a detective, this caused even more suspicion to rise within her.
"Answer me!" ordered Batgirl.
Red X kept quiet for a short while before finally answering. "That's none of your business, girl."
"What? Who do you think you're talking to?"
"A prepubescent little brat still playing dress-up, that's who. My reasons are mine alone and they don't concern you or anyone of your 'kind'. So leave me out of whatever it is you're planning."
With that, Red X promptly turned around and started calmly walking towards the edge of the rooftop. Batgirl looked a bit surprised but focused on the business at hand. No way was she letting a suspicious character go that easily, and not without a settled fight either.
"Hey!" she called out, "We're not done here!"
"Oh, yes we are…" he replied nonchalantly.
Without so much as a parting glance, Red X jumped off the rooftop edge. Batgirl went wide-eyed and ran to the edge. Peering out over the edge, she could see Red X's free-falling body. She then saw Red X suddenly launch a grappling cable from one of his gauntlets, hooked it to the edge of another building's roof and swung away.
"…No we are not!" said Batgirl.
She pulled out her own grappling hook from her utility belt and expertly leapt off the roof. In mid-air she shot her Grappling hook towards the same building Red X used. Meanwhile, Red X had landed on the new building and took a quick glance behind him. He clearly saw Batgirl swinging on her own grappling cable, closing up on him.
"Persistent…" he commented softly.
He dashed towards the edge of the rooftop he was on just as Batgirl as landing on the gravel. Batgirl saw Red x ran then leapt off the edge. She gave immediate chase. Red X, in the meantime, landed on the adjacent rooftop of the next building which was slightly lower than the previous. He landed I a roll and quickly got back up and started dashing for the next rooftop.
Batgirl followed suit, leaping, landing, and rolling just like the crimson thief ahead of her. Her considerable amount of experience was allowing her to keep up at a reasonably sound distance, but she wasn't really gaining. Still she wasn't gonna give up so easily.
Red X, after leaping once again, ended up on the next rooftop which was just about the same height as the previous building. He didn't bother looking back as he could here the sound of gravel being displaced by Batgirls rushing feet. Red x charged for the edge again, Batgirl hot on his heels.
On the third rooftop, Red X did momentarily look back over his shoulder and got a brief glimpse of Batgirl leaping off the previous rooftop. He was mildly entertained at how far she might take this chase. He was genuinely interested in seeing exactly how persistent she was and decided to have a little fun.
As before he dashed for the edge.
Batgirl landed on the third rooftop just as Red X was reaching the edge. She noted the fact that this particular building was actually in the corner of a cross section on the street. The next building was at least eight lanes of traffic, plus the middle divider and two sidewalks, away from this rooftop. She ran up to the edge and looked over.
Red X was in the middle of a graceful looking swan dive. About halfway down the building, a couple dozen stories above the pavement, Red X shot another grappling cable from his arm. It hooked onto the side of the building he was just on, and he swung from the cable over the street. Back on the rooftop, Batgirl gave a look of amazement but it didn't last long as she narrowed her eyes and readied he grappling launcher.
Red X reached full swing and detached his cable and reeled it back. He flew through the air in a wide arching back flip. At the point when he was upside-down, he looked out to see where Batgirl was. He could clearly see her swing in the same manner he did, still chasing him by following his every move. Under the mask, he grinned in amusement.
Once right side-up again in mid-air. Red X quickly launched another grappling cable from his other hand and caught hold of the corner of the rooftop of a close by sky rise. Again, he swung from the cable and all the way round the corner of the building.
Batgirl, as usual, was trailing not too far behind. She was just launching her grappling hook towards the same rooftop corner as Red X. She couldn't help but feel that he was somehow toying with her a little bit. Still, she knew that she'd be able to catch up sooner or later at this pace. She swung round the corner and she spotted the thief a little ways ahead of her, standing on the edge of a nearby rooftop.
Red X was looking down on her again as she was swinging up to where he was standing. He gave out a sound that sounded like a mild chuckle. He turned his sights below her, onto the street. He noticed a large truck with a large container on its trailer was heading his way. Slowly, he let himself fall of the edge of the roof.
On the way down, he twisted his body slightly so that his gaze met that of Batgirl, who was nothing short of looking flabbergasted, on her way up. Red X then twisted his body again so that he was facing the building's side. He unleashed an x-blade on each hand and embedded them on the side of the building, effectively slowing his decent.
Red X precisely calculated his decent with that of the movement of the truck he saw a while ago. When he deemed himself at the right height, he kicked off the building with his feet. He flew across the air gracefully on his back. Spectacularly, he landed right on the top of the truck's trailing container. He looked up to see Batgirl.
Speaking of whom, Batgirl was already in the process of redirecting her route in order to keep up the chase. Before she could reach the rooftop, she immediately reeled in her grappling cable. She then twisted her body slightly in mid-air so that she ran adjacent to the side of the building.
She ended up running on the side of the building in an attempt to catch0-up to the truck on which Red X was on. As she gradually started descending, she re-aimed her grappling gun and shot it towards another adjacent building. From it, she swung down all the way to street level. Red x continued to watch her, unmoving from where he stood on the trailer.
Batgirl carefully navigated her swing until she was satisfied with her position. At the right moment, she detached the grappling cable from the building side and dropped right on the edge of the truck's container. For a moment, she awkwardly flailed her hands trying to regain some lost balance. She managed to stand tall and faced off Red X who was in the opposite end of the trailer.
"Very persistent…" quietly commented Red X.
Batgirl struck a ready fighting pose though she was slightly panting. "You ready to give-up yet?"
Red X fought back a laugh. "Listen. Why don't you and I just call it a night and maybe you could get a drink or something to cool you down a bit."
"Not until I get some answers!"
She charged at him with raised fists. Red X prepared himself by taking a stance. Batgirl reached Red x and immediately threw a jab at Red X's face. The thief expertly moved his head a couple inches to the side in order to evade the jab. Batgirl followed up with her other hand but Red X only evaded it in the same way.
Red X grabbed her outstretched hand and pulled her in close. As she came closer he couched down and raised his other arm and positioned it so that it ran parallel to her belly. Once her body made contact with his arm, he sprung up with his legs and effectively catapulted her over him. Batgirl was taken off-guard by al this.
She flailed a bit in mid-air but managed to regain control as she landed right at the edge of the container, right where the cab was attached. Red X took this moment to act, knowing she was a little distracted. He moved in close and began throwing an array of jabs which he intentionally missed her with. His objective was again to make her loose he balance by forcing her to evade his attacks.
His little plan was working as Batgirl found it extremely awkward to keep on moving her body out of the way of Red X's jabs while at the same time trying not to fall off the edge of the container. Again, she was getting the sense that he was sort of making fun of her. One jab went high to her face, she had to bend back matrix-style to avoid it, which was a mistake since it transferred most of her weight off the edge and caused her to tip over.
"W-W-Whoa!" she exclaimed on her way down.
As she was flailing her hands and was about to fall, she quickly grabbed onto Red X outstretched arm, saving her from falling over. She looked up at Red X looking down on her and she could have sworn she heard him chuckle. He pulled his arm back along with batgirl, letting her onto the trailer again. Batgirl awkwardly stumbled forward and stopped in the middle of the trailer.
She turned and faced Red X who was annoyingly standing in such a way that indicated he was bored. This earned him a snarl from Batgirl who reached into her utility belt an threw three batarangs towards Red X. The thief countered by producing three corresponding x-bombs, and tossed them into the air.
The six projectiles impacted in mid-air and destroyed each other. The flash from the explosions blinded Batgirl for a moment as she used her cape as a shield. Batgirl faced Red x once again, still standing cockily. It was clear to Batgirl that she was outmatched. Red X was just making fun of her throughout this chase. But she wasn't gonna give up now.
"Had enough?" asked Batgirl.
Red X managed to suppress a chuckle. "Look, we both already know that you're not getting anywhere in a hurry. Call it a night and do yourself a big favor."
"No way, pal!"
"Fine. It's your funeral."
Red X raised an arm and launched his grappling cable up towards another building's rooftop. He reeled himself up, leaving Batgirl on the trailer bellow. Not to be outdone, the caped crime fighter followed suit and continued the chase.
As soon as Red X landed on the rooftop's gravel, he was immediately back on his feet and running across the roof. Batgirl was close by about a three second gap. They resumed running across rooftops and jumping from one building to the next.
Red X had amazing stamina and showed very little signs of fatigue. Years of hard training along with his late night excursions as the Red X, plus the added physical enhancements of the suit itself, allowed the thief for plenty of energy to waste. Also, unlike Batgirl, he was pacing himself. He knew where he was going and how, making sure not to waste energy.
Batgirl was understandably getting a little tired. Chasing someone involved a great deal of factors that caused her to loose he stamina a lot quicker. While she could leap and bend just as well as the crimson thief, she didn't have the build for long sprints. She also couldn't predict Red X's moves and can't afford to pace herself the way he could.
They went over four rooftops before Red X made another attempt to loose her. On the fifth rooftop, he noticed a tall wooden water tower. On his past it, he threw a series of x-bombs which attached to the outer legs of the tower. The exploded and completely incinerated the supporting structure which naturally caused the tower to tip over right in Batgirl's path.
Batgirl noticed it and nearly skidded to a halt. Having little options at her disposal, she made a quick decision to run to the side and disappeared behind a wall of water. Red X looked over his shoulder as he landed on the next rooftop and couldn't spot any sign of Batgirl. He wondered if he was finally able to loose her.
Then, without much surprise, Batgirl suddenly came swinging from the outside, parallel to Red X. Red X figured that she probably jumped off the side to avoid the water tower then swung back up on her grappling cable. The chase resumed as Batgirl landed back on the roof hot on Red X's trail.
The last rooftop the were on once again ended up on the corner of an intersection so the nearest building was again to far to jump to. Nevertheless Red X still leapt off the edge without any inhibitions whatsoever. In mid-air, he twisted his body to face the building, and Batgirl. He threw one last x-shuriken at her to slow her down.
Batgirl evaded it easily but it distracted her. She ran to the edge of the roof and peered over. Red X was stil facing the building side when he raised an arm towards the roof. He launched a grappling cable which attached to roof's edge, just under Batgirl's feet, which caught her a bit by surprise. Red X swung towards the building front and broke through one of the windows feet first.
Shattered glass rained in from the newly opened window as Red X landed inside a darkened office space. The floor was wide and filled with dozens of cubicles for employees to work in. Naturally, there were no lights on since, as far as he knew, he was the only one on the floor. He moved forward an hid in the shadows, waiting for his pursuer.
Like clockwork, Batgirl came swinging in about three or four seconds after Red X. She immediately stood up in a ready stance. Looking around, she was alarmed that she could no longer see Red X anywhere. She cautiously moved forward, keeping an eye out for threats.
On most occasions, Batgirl would welcome the dark and quiet locales. But that's only when she is the one in hiding. When, you know that someone is watching you and you have know idea where exactly that someone is, you be pretty uncomfortable in places like this. Still she was not deterred. Her pride wouldn't let her back down.
A few minutes of dead silence passed by as Batgirl slowly moved through rows of empty cubicles. The only light that was coming in was from the moonlight outside, which wasn't much to speak of. Batgirl thought she could hear something but soon found out that it was her own heartbeat.
"You really don't know when to quit do you?" Red X's voice, sounding a little bit humored, echoed in the empty space, prompting Batgirl to stand her ground.
"Come out and face me!" she ordered to no avail.
"Try to remember that you're in my town. You can't beat me on my own turf, girl."
"I ain't that easy to get rid of, dude. I want my answers."
"It should be clear to you by now that I have no alliances with Falcone. You don't have to go prosecuting me like this, 'ya know. I hate that guy as much as you do."
"I still wanna know why you're so hell-bent on him."
"That's none of your business."
"I'm making it my business. Answer me!"
A long moment of silence. Red X voice eventually returned although all humor or pleasantries in it were lost. "Sufficed to say he took something from me."
Batgirl raised an eyebrow. "…What?"
"One of the few things I considered precious; he took that away from me."
Batgirl couldn't find a response. For a brief moment, she actually felt what seemed like sympathy.
"Falcone will pay," continued Red X's icy voice. "And if you don't want to get hurt…"
A moment of silence. Batgirl strained to hear anything else coming from the darkness. Then, his voice came from directly behind her: "…you'll stay out of my way!"
Batgirl went wide-eyed and turned around as fast as she could. She tried to mount a defense with her stance but it was too late to do anything as Red X raised a hand with a small gray ball clamped between each finger. Red X tossed the balls onto the ground at Batgirl's feet and they all instantly exploded in a large cloud of smoke.
The smoke covered the immediate area, completely blinding Batgirl in a choking cloud. Eventually the smoke subsided and Batgirl emerged coughing her lungs out. Regaining her sight, and her respiratory functions, she glanced around and saw no sign of Red X. He was definitely gone for the night and she was alone.
She ought to be upset but there was something about the last thing Red X said to her that gabbed hold of her thoughts. Falcone took away something precious to him. He wanted Falcone to pay for that crime. She couldn't help but feel a little empathetic.
"Precious huh…?" she mumbled in the empty darkness.
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An hour or so later at the Clear Springs Hotel.
Barbara Gordon came out of the shower in a bathrobe, wiping her hair with a towel. Her Batgirl costume was strewn across the bed. She plopped down onto the bed while letting out a long exasperated sigh. After the events of the night. She was understandably very tired.
"Man…" she mumbled, "what a rough night. Finding him was hard enough. But he just had to make me chase him across town too."
She sat up and turned on the TV. The show was nothing she was interested in but she needed something to pass the time and relax. Something to distract her supposedly from her botched up escapade a while ago.
Eventually she started tinkering with the various gadgets from her utility belt. After a while, she started browsing her laptop computer. Then she tried changing the channel but still found nothing of interest. She tried playing a game of solitaire on her laptop, lost interest, and played a minesweeper game. She lost interest in that too and went back to solitaire.
She turned off her laptop after a while, and went back to the TV. Again, nothing interesting. She started tinkering with her gadgets again. Finally, after doing all that stuff for a full fifteen minutes, she gave out a frustrated grunt and decided to just turn everything off and lay down to rest.
While trying to drift off into sleep, her thoughts went back to the last thing Red X said. It was the one thing that was still fresh on her mind.
"He's only on a personal vendetta," she said to herself. "He just wants to take revenge on Falcone for something. He's just a selfish jerk, that's all."
She closed her eyes and tried to drift off. But she opened them only after a few second. She sat up slightly and looked at her Batgirl costume on the bed next to her. She remembered why she was here in Jump City. She remembered why she left the comforts of her home to travel here, chasing a single crime lord. Again, she also remembered what Red X said to her.
"Then again…" she said, "…who am I to judge him? If anything, he and I have the same reasons…"
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Somewhere else.
"Calm down! What the hell do you mean clam down? I can't calm down! No one in their right state of sanity would calm down in a situation like this when some nut in a red and black Halloween costume is going around town blowing up plants left and right. If you think I can calm down about that then you're one insane mothe--!"
The plant manager was slapped across the face by the heavy hand of Bruno, Adrian Falcone's personal assistant. He was there in that particular location (wherever it may be) as part of his regular inspections. He had just given a report on the current situation concerning a costumed thief that's been demolishing and decommissioning an assortment of Venus production plants across town.
Understandably, the manager of this production plant was a little hectic about the news. Still, Bruno did manage to calm him down, despite the fact that the manager might develop a bruise on his cheek from the hit.
"Listen, man…" said Bruno with heavy authority, "The situation is being taken care of. I'm already assigning you some extra muscle here."
"B-B-But that guy in the costume ain't normal. I don't know if a little more guards here and there could help."
"You forget that Mr. Falcone has his own extraordinary resources when dealing with situations like this."
The manager thought about this for a second. "Oh yeah… that guy with the dagger and never talks…"
"Yeah, him. Our contact in the JCPD has already sent him on the job. Hopefully, this whole mess will clear itself out in a few nights. In the meantime, Mr. Falcone wants a ten percent increase in production. Can you do that?"
"Uh… sure, I guess."
"Good. I'll be back on the usual schedule. Watch out for yourselves."
With That, Bruno left the office. He made his way through familiar hallways. People around him, immediately stepped out of his way either out of respect or intimidation. Something Bruno took great satisfaction in.
After all, when you're the number one person of one of the world's most powerful crime lords, you get a few fringe benefits. He loved the authority he had over his underlings. He loved the way they cower at his feet. These were things he never had in the past until Mr. Falcone came along. There was nothing in the world he would trade it for.
As far as the things he hated went, it was this masked thief that they call the Red X that was at the top of the list at the moment. Whoever he was, and whatever his motives may be, Bruno could not allow his activities to go on any further.
If this Red X was allowed to continue, then it'll only mean disaster for Falcone. And if Falcone falls, he falls with him. He would not allow that, not for anything. Bruno swore that if he ever got the chance to meet this Red X in person he will snap his body in so many places he could fit the corpse into a breadbox.
Eventually, Bruno arrived outside of whatever building he was in. Out on the street, a nice looking black Alfa Romeo was parked. Bruno entered the car, started it, and was on his way to his next destination, wherever that might be.
Unseen by anyone, Red X stood perched on a fire escape of a nearby building. He watched, with cold masked eyes as the Alfa Romeo sped away.
"Hello, hello… Mr. Bruno…" he mumbled under his breath.
Little did Bruno know, he was about to meet Red X sooner than he expected.
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Author's note: Ah, the plot thickens…! More action to come in the later chapters as Red X begins to find out the hard truths in this dark little tale. As usual, Pls. R&R . Thank you for all your reviews and please pardon the grammatical errors here and there.