Chapter 9 (Red and Arrows)

DOMO! DUDES!

Sorry for not updating for a long time. I had a problem with my wifi, so I didn't have any internet connection.

Hope you will for give me with these new chapters!

Enjoy!

"There won't be a next time, I'm afraid." They heard someone, no doubt Count Vertigo, say from just beyond the lights reach. "It's always a pleasure to see you again Green Arrow, Speedy, but I'm sorry to say I don't know your new friend." The Count said as he stepped into the light along with his group of thugs.

"The name is Red X." He replied as he counted the amount of grunts.

"Ah yes, I've heard of you. A new young hero who appeared only about a week ago. You've already fought Sportsmaster and the Mad Hatter. I hear Sportsmaster has been most eager for a rematch." Count Vertigo said as his hired help of thirty-two started to surround the three heroes.

Red X shot a look towards the archers and tightened his fist in warning that he was about to attack. They gave subtly nods and he turned his attention back to Count Vertigo.

"After tonight, I'll get to add your defeat to my growing list of achievements." He said as he teleported in front of Count Vertigo and launched a sidekick at him. He knocked Vertigo deeper into the shadows and looked back to see how Green Arrow and Speedy were fairing. The thugs had swarmed onto them, but he could see that the archers were quickly disabling their foes. He launched himself into the shadows to find Vertigo.

Red X turned on his night vision and saw the man just starting to get off the floor. Red X smiled as he heard Vertigo's irregular breathing, the man couldn't take a hit. That usually meant that he couldn't dish out one either. He would only have to watch out for Vertigo's special power in this fight.

He activated his cloaking device to limit Vertigo's sight even more and stalked his enemy, waiting for the fear of the unknown to build and make his opponent uneasy. It was a basic technique that Batman had taught. As he hid in the shadows, the fear of his enemies would grow and they would be more likely to make a mistake.

He frowned as he saw the opposite affect happen on Vertigo. Instead of his breath intake increasing, it slowed down and he seemed to calm. Red X felt like smacking himself upside the head for thinking that Vertigo was like any other punk. They were certainly not like the criminals he Red X used to fight when he'd been a Titan. Vertigo had obviously figured out his strategy. That didn't mean that Vertigo's eye sight had improved at all though.

"A wise move to push me into the shadows like this, but you should have made sure that you were the only one who would gain an advantage in the darkness." Vertigo said as he stared in the opposite direction of Red X and put something over his eyes.

Red X narrowed his eyes in anger and suspicion. He should have kept attacking Vertigo instead of trying to scare him. Now Red X could see that Vertigo had put some sort of tech-goggles over his eyes. Deciding to rectify his mistake, Red X charged towards Vertigo as the man turned to face him.

Suddenly Red X was slammed with extreme imbalance and nausea. His sense of direction was so thrown off course he didn't know which way was up or down and his head started to ache so much he thought it might explode. He struggled to look up and found Vertigo standing over him.

"How?" He grunted as he tried to stand back up onto his feet, though he couldn't remember falling to his knees. How had Vertigo seen through his cloaking device?

"Simple. You assumed that I could only see in night vision like you. These are Thermal imaging goggles; I could easily see your approach because of your body heat." Vertigo said as he kept up his attack on Red X.

"I have to say, you're definitely full of surprises Red X. Teleportation and Invisibility along with whatever tricks you have up your sleeve makes you a dangerous adversary. It would be best if I finish you off now." Vertigo said as he increased the strength of his attack.

"You… f-forgot t-that I… d-didn't come h-here alone." Red X said through gritted teeth.

"What?" Count Vertigo said as he turned to search for an attacker that wasn't there. As quickly as he could, Red X grabbed Vertigo's ankle and activated his electric X, sending volts of red electricity racing through Vertigo's body.

Vertigo screamed for a few seconds before he promptly passed out and crashed into the ground with steam rising up from his still twitching body. Red X laid still for a moment as he tried to regain his bearings. After he was sure he wouldn't throw up, he shakily climbed to his feet and went to check on Vertigo.

The spasms were starting to stop and his breathing was regular, if a little heavy, but Vertigo should be fine. Red X tore off the metal Thermal goggles Vertigo had been wearing and quickly dropped them as he felt heat burn through his gloves. He stared at Count Vertigo's face and saw red blistering burn marks surround the mans' eyes.

Red X grimaced as he stared at the markings that would no doubt leave very ugly scars on Count Vertigo's face. While he felt little pity towards the man who had just tried to turn his brains into mush, Red X knew that Vertigo would never let this go. No criminal would.

Sluggishly, Red X tied up Vertigo and slowly dragged the man back to where he and the archers had come in. He paused as he saw Speedy and Green Arrow finish the remaining thugs and used the time to regain his strength. Vertigo's attack had done a lot more damage then he'd originally thought.

Once Speedy and Arrow finished up the thugs, Red X straightened his posture and tossed Vertigo at Green Arrow's feet. He walked into the light as both archers looked from him to Vertigo in surprise.

"You beat him on your own?" Speedy asked in disbelief, not even he would have been able to take down Vertigo on his own merit. Green Arrow shot Red X a searching look and X met his gaze without blinking.

"I fought him. I doubt I could have defeated him if I was here by myself though." Red X said as he casually leaned up against a nearby crate.

The truth was that throwing Vertigo had taken up what little strength he'd regained and he needed to lean against something or else he'd fall over. He was telling the truth though. Had he come here alone, he wouldn't have been able to trick Count Vertigo to look away and give him the split second he needed to win.

Green Arrow went to check out Vertigo and sucked in his breath as he saw the burn marks that marred Vertigo's face. He looked back up at Red X and glared.

"What the Hell did you do to him kid." Arrow growled and Speedy approached to see what was wrong. The younger hero grimaced as he saw Vertigo's face and also turned to glare at Red X. Red X shrugged before answering.

"What I had to." He knew that he sounded heartless, but he'd really had no other choice. Vertigo had caused him so much pain that he hadn't been able to regulate how much electricity he sent out. It had been a desperate move and it had saved his life.

"Speedy, I'm taking Vertigo to the hospital. Round up these guys and wait for the police to arrive." Arrow said as he carefully picked up Vertigo and turned towards Red X. "As for you, get the Hell out of my city." Arrow growled before he took to the roof tops.

Red X didn't respond as he was too focused on trying to keep his balance. Once Green Arrow was gone, Speedy quickly advanced upon Red X.

"What the Hell do you think you're doing, huh? A hero doesn't ever do that to a person, no matter how evil he may be!" Speedy shouted as he pushed Red X up against the crate he'd been leaning against. Red X didn't say anything as he focused on keeping his mouth closed so he would not throw up. Speedy released him in disgust and Red X fell to the ground as he felt his vision tilt.

He gagged and forced his stomach to settle as he clutched his head in pain. He slowly became aware that he was making small moans of pain as the stabbing ache in his head escalated.

Speedy stared down in shock and worry as he saw the young hero collapse in agony. He quickly bent down and gently rubbed his back. He knew what Red X was suffering from, having experienced the effects of Vertigo's power for himself on more than one occasion, but he'd only seen it this bad once before. Vertigo had used almost all of his power on Green Arrow and he'd ended up in a similar state.

Vertigo had almost killed Green Arrow that time and it looked like he tried to do the same thing to Red X.

After ten minutes the pain started to fade a little and Red X tried to gather what little pride he had left. He always hated looking weak in front of others, it was why he pushed himself so hard and yet, he'd couldn't stay strong in front of Speedy. He pushed himself up into a sitting position and rested his back against the crate as he panted heavily, eyes closed. He didn't need to open them to know that Speedy was still there, no doubt looking at him with concern.

"He'd gotten me, held me down with his power and I have little doubt that he was trying to kill me. My only chance was to distract him by saying that you two were sneaking up behind him. I grabbed his foot and unleashed a surge of electricity into him." Red X paused to catch his breath as another dizzy spell hit him. The nausea came back with vengeance and it took all of his willpower to not throw-up at that moment.

"I didn't have time to measure how much strength to use. I was too heavily damaged to move away from him and my distraction would only by me a second or two. I hadn't meant to hurt him so badly, but it was the only way that I could save myself." Red X said and after a few more minutes he summoned up enough strength to stand up and finally looked at Speedy.

He didn't see hatred in the young heroes eyes only understanding and concern. Red X released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. It was good to know that he hadn't blown his chances of starting a friendship with this Speedy. He didn't like the idea of being ostracized by the rest of the hero community and to be honest, his time in this new dimension had been very lonely.

"Are you going to be okay?" Speedy asked bringing Red X out of his musings.

"I should be once I get some rest." He said as he moved to help Speedy tie up the crooks. Speedy grabbed his shoulder and Red X paused.

"Then that's what you should do. I can take care of these guys and I'll talk to Green Arrow when he gets back. You go and get some rest." Speedy said and Red X nodded his head in thanks. Just before Red X disappeared Speedy turned to him.

"Don't worry about what Arrow said, you're welcome here anytime." X nodded again and teleported to his bike where he drove to the abandoned factory outside of Star City that was used as a temporary hideout to hide is hero activity. He quickly changed his clothes and teleported to the hotel he was stay. Once he reach the bed he collapsed on it and went to sleep.

(In another Dimension)

With Larry

Larry watched the TV in horror, "Oh No! Poor Dick! This is all My Fault! If...If.. I hadn't left. Dick! Dick, wouldn't be in this mess." He cries in grief, "What should I do!?"

"You should go to him." A voice interrupted. Larry looked behind him, Larry looked horrible, he had mucus dripping from his nose and anime tears were pouring out of his eyes.

"Dad?" Larry asked the dark figure in the shadow. The dark figure patted his head. "He needs you, go to him." The figure answers with a strong but rough voice.

Larry wiped his face and showed a determined face, "Your right! Bye Dad! I'll see you later!" Larry uses his magic finger making the TV scene glow up with the show glow his magic finger had. Larry looked back at his father, his father nodded and handed him a box with his present to Dick inside. Larry took the box and smiled then he jumped into the TV and disappear.

The dark figure looked out the window, "I wish you both luck, Dick Grayson, Kcid Nosyarg." The figure walked back into the shadow, disappearing from sight.