This chapter is a little rewritey, so I tried a new thing.
Chapter 11 - X
He wasn't always a 'bad guy'. He has never, ever been a bad guy. He was a victim of circumstance.
He grew up in a crummy apartment building. The hallways smelled like weed and the guys in long coats hung out in the hallways and asked him if he wanted to buy a 'cut' before he even knew what it meant. Not that it mattered. He never had spare money.
Dad left when he was young. He left for a pack of cigarettes one night. He hadn't come back with them. He left eleven years ago.
His mother worked the night shift at a hospital in Metropolis. She was always so tired when she got home. She slept all day, cooked a TV dinner in the microwave, and left for work.
But it was all okay. Because he didn't need any of that stuff- money, a nice apartment building, attentive parents. All he needed was a monitor, a keyboard, and internet connection. After a while, it didn't matter whether or not the connection was locked. He became a pro at hacking into secure connections.
He was always good with computers. He didn't need high quality stuff, wither. the computer he got when he entered high school- a crummy, used one that his mother got him off of e-bay- was more than enough.
But when you spend enough time doing something, you're going to want nicer stuff. It's only natural. So when the 'e' key fell off and the shift button stopped working, he devised a plan.
Hacking. He'd hack. He started out small, but by the time he turned sixteen he was in the business. He'd hack into businesses and corporations and mess up everything. Fuck it up beyond repair. Well almost beyond repair. Then he'd send a message, politely explaining the favor he'd just done the company by pointing out the flaws in their system, showing them how easy it was to hack. And they were lucky he'd done it first, because for a fee, he'd fix it all up the way it was before and for another fee, he'd even update their system.
He made enough money to get himself a fancy laptop with the newest edition of Curtains (1) and Macrosoft Word. That helped for school a little. And yeah, he was pretty good in school. He liked school. It got him out of the house.
He crossed the line, though, when he hacked into LexCorp. He hadn't done it before, since that was right in Metropolis and he was afraid they'd be able to find him quickly. Plus, he didn't trust himself to hack the big guns, like Wayne Enterprises or Daytech or LexCorp.
But doing that turned out to be an okay decision.
Oh, he got his money from LexCorp. And while he was checking his bank account, congratulating himself on accumulating all those zeros, he heard a click. To this day, he's not sure what would've happened if he hadn't turned around.
A merc was standing in his bedroom, pointing the biggest gun he'd ever seen at him, balancing it on his shoulder.
He played it cool. He acted like he didn't care. And it wasn't hard to convince himself that it really didn't matter if he lived another day or not. Life was kind of just something that was happening to him. Day by day, with little variation.
"This can be the last thing you ever see," the guy with a the huge gun said.
But it wasn't. The deal was, fill out a two year contract with Luthor or die. It wasn't a hard decision. He told his mom the he got an internship at LexCorp as a low level tech guy, and she actually cried when he told her that. She said how proud he was that he was doing something with his life.
Really, he was hacking for Luthor. Stealing information from other companies. Sometimes he messed with money, not that Luthor was strapped for cash. He messed with DayTech science records, with Wayne Enterprises security records, he crashed rival companies at the source and Luthor even had him hack the FBI once or twice.
He never really liked it. This was different than what he was doing before. He didn't always know what he was hacking, but the records at DayTech were almost definitely medical stuff. Something about the Sakutia (2) virus.
The jobs were kind of scummy, and he didn't get paid one cent, so on top of doing Luthor's dirty work, he'd had to continue his hacking gig. He stuck with smaller companies, even though Luthor would probably handled any hits on him.
He learned a lot in those two years. Luthor had one of his special ops guys train him in fighting so that he could put him in the field. Send him right to his enemies' computers when hacking from LexCorp offices wouldn't be enough.
He liked the training. He was good at it, which was unexpected. He'd always been a quick learner, but he didn't think that would help him. Luthor was very pleased with him.
The his contract expired, Luthor tried to worm his way into more free computer-lackeying. He said the old contract was expired and that he was more than just a hacker. He was part computer genius, part special ops. The old contract was worthless.
After a tough fight that he almost didn't make it out of, he packed his bags. He burst into his apartment, all bloodied and bruised, and he hit the coast. The West Coast, because the East Coast was too obvious. He couldn't go to Gotham. Everybody on the run went to Gotham. He went to a little city called Jump, and he was more surprised when Jump became known as the base of the Teen Titans. It was convenient, if anything, because he would have four more pairs of eyes watching out for criminal activity. He was still waiting for Luthor to find him.
There were a few rumors. Hard to find rumors, mostly whispered among the students at the HIVE- he kept an eye on them, too, in case Luthor decided to hire them out to find him- and the rumor was interesting. Really interesting.
The Tower wasn't all that hard to infiltrate. The security system was weirdly similar to Wayne Enterprises stuff, with DayTech mixed in and some of the cyborg's own tech, too. That was the hardest part to get past, but not impossible.
The suit was amazing. It had all these weapons- exploding, ice, some that sprayed this weird red goo- he had to play around for a week and a half just to use all the weapons. The suit itself was pretty awesome, too. The cape was made of titanium-alloy, and it was a hundred times stronger than steel, not to mention it was insanely fireproof. The mask had infrared vision, zoom in capabilities, x-ray vision, night vision, and lenses that blocked out light that would damage his eyes. Not to mention, the most awesome part... a teleporter. It was a line-of-sight teleport, morning he looked at a place and he could teleport there. He could also pre-program coordinates into the belt, although this one limited to one location. There was also a cloaking device. It wasn't quite invisible, but beggars couldn't be choosers.
The only problem was that the thing ran on xynothium. Who builds a suit out of xynothium? Could you cancer from that stuff? And playing with the suit for so long was really draining it.
Red X blew air out from his cheeks, a little nervous. He shouldn't have a ver ard time defeating the Teen Titans. That's what this suit was designed to do, anyway.
Besides, he wasn't stealing money. (Yet.) He was just taking a scanner. Maybe he'd sell a stick of xynothium or two on the black market. He was living in an apartment as dumpy as his last one. He wanted to graduate to a nicer building. Besides, he was thinking of going to college or something. He's need the cash, and he was reluctant to do the hacking gambit in case Luthor was monitoring for it.
But first, he needed the scanner. He'd already disabled the building's alarm systems, but he knew that along the way something would happen- a neglected security camera, a hidden trip, a silent alarm- and he would have an audience.
He stood and flipped down to the roof, crouching to remove the vent after double checking that it was offline.
Crackling green glowed at his feet. That wasn't good. He couldn't be caught already. He palmed a few shuriken and stood to face the guards or whoever had interrupted him.
It was a girl. A rather attractive girl, actually. She was floating gently a little above the ground, one hand bathed in green, held out in front of her. She seemed to be using it as a light source, but he imagined it could be used as a weapon, too.
Everything about her screamed 'pissed off girlfirend', from the distance above him she was hovering- high enough that Red X had to crane his neck to look at her, but low enough that he couldn't not- to her posture, to the expression on her face, which was somehow expectant, ovular eyebrows brought together as she studied him.
"What are you doing?" she asked, her voice demanding and impatient but also somehow soft. Like she was trying to sound sever when really she was just worried.
"Um... Sorry, cutie. This your usual stomping ground?"
She tilted her head at him. "I do not suggest stomping, unless you wish to alert the guards inside."
"Right. Can I do something for you?" Red X asked, glancing down at the vent.
"Is something the matter? Why are you wearing this?" She reached forward and pinched the material of the jumpsuit at his shoulder.
He narrowed his eyes at her.
"Is there anything I can do to offer assistance?" she asked.
"Um. If you want," Red X answered suspiciously. "Under what conditions?"
She landed and tilted her head at him. "Conditions? There are no conditions, of course. I am being the nice." She shot him a small, timid smile.
He narrowed his eyes at her. "O-kay. Whatever you want, then."
He lifted the cover and entered the ventilation system. She entered behind him, floating instead of crawling. He jumped down to the ground where he landed in a crouch.
He was looking out for guards, now, and he tensed as he heard footsteps approaching.
The green glow filled the hall and Red X spun around and grabbed her hands, covering them with his to hide the glow, and he pulled her out of sight of the guard around the corner. She widened her eyes at him, confused, but she put out the lights.
"Sh," he breathed softly.
She sulked against the wall, and he pulled away from where he was keeping her in place.
He left her and the guard was out of sight of a camera, which they must not konw were off. He'd set them to loop the empty halls for ten minutes, and he intended to be out in five. He shot one X, which wrapped around the guard's mouth, and he shot another which wrapped around his arms.
He grabbed the guard, who was now sprawled on the ground, and dragged him over to where Starfire was. She raised her eyebrows at him, not looking very impressed.
"What-?"
"Hush," he interrupted her. "How many guards on this floor?" Red X asked the guard, narrowing his eyes and grabbing a fist full of the collar of his shirt, pulling roughly.
The guard shook his head, muffled sounds coming from around the X over his mouth.
"Hold up the correct amount of fingers," Red X hissed. "Now."
The guard shook his head again, glaring.
The girl pushed him out of the way and took the guards shirt in two hands, letting her eyes glowing and mumbling in rough gibberish. She balled her hand into a fist and let that glow, too.
Red X leaned back and watched her, somewhat impressed. The gaurd held up four fingers on each hand, his eyes wide with fear. "Eight?" Red X snapped. "That's including you?"
The guard nodded vigorously. She dropped her hands away from him and he pushed himself against the opposite wall to put as much space between them as possible.
"Nice," Red X said, impressed.
She beamed at him. "Thank you."
He continued down the hall, keeping an eye out for more guards. This girl... what affiliation could she possibly have with Red X? He'd only been spotted twice before this. It didn't make sense. Unless... she must think that he's the freakin' Boy Wonder! Oh, man. This was too good. He snuck a glance at her, flying faithfully beside him. It wasn't like he could just ask her if she thought he was Robin.
"Red X," she murmured, and he snapped his thoughts back to the current situation. Footsteps.
"How many?"
Starfire held up two fingers, and Red X raised both his hands. The guards saw him at the same time, but they were fast enough. Two shots from both his hands- well, three, he missed with his left hand- and they were nabbed. Starfire looked at the loose X on the wall.
"You missed," she pointed out. She sounded so confused.
That really bugged him. "Yeah. Left hand."
She squinted at him. "I believed you to be ambidexterous?"
Red X froze. "I... When did I tell you that?" he demanded. Seriously, when would that have come up?
She landed, seeming flustered. "You... you did not, exactly. It was simply an observation."
He rolled his eyes behind the mask. He wasn't sure what the situation was with the Boy Blunder and this... orange girl... but he wasn't in the mood for dealing with it. "Nope. Sorry to disappoint."
"I am not disappointed," she answered quickly.
He was torn between smiling at her for the reassurance and smacking himself in the forehead. He smiled at her faintly, not that it even mattered since she couldn't see his face. "Yeah. Thanks."
Red X paused in front of a door. He'd memorized the schematics of the building, although he'd been distracted and he wasn't focusing as much as he should have been. It took him a moment to get his bearings.
"In here?" she asked.
He tilted his head, thinking. She was kind of distracting. He would have been much more annoyed if he wasn't already formulating a plan to get back at her and to piss off the Boy Blunder. "Yeah. It should be inside a display case. I think I have a glass cutter in this stupid belt somewhere..."
"Unnecessary." She pushed him out of the way, opening the door roughly. He heard clicks coming from the door as she bent the locks holding it closed out of shape and it opened slowly. She sauntered into the room and placed her first finger on the glass.
Red X rubbed his neck and walked in after her. She wasn't being very careful about alarms. The room was dimly lit, the only thing in there was a pedestal with a glass case on it. sitting on a stand was the xynothium scanner, shaped like a gun which was convenient as it would fit in his holster.
She trailed her finger over the glass, and while it was kind of nice to watch, he was worried about the Titans. Especially the appearance of one Titan in particular. "Um, what're you doing?"
"Gauging the thickness of the glass," she muttered distractedly before allowing green energy to envelop her hand. She pressed her hand more firmly against the glass and it melted under her touch. She picked up the scanner and it over in her hands curiously.
"Thanks, cute. Nice work."
That made her rather pleased. She gave him a bright smile. He leaned over her to grab the scanner and she moved it out of reach. He narrowed one eye at her. "I wish to know what this does," she told him, taking a step back.
"Okay. Seriously. Gimme."
"What is it?" she asked, holding it upside down and shaking it.
"Hey!" Red X was losing his temper. He was about to slam her against the wall and take it from her.
She raised her eyebrows at him. "Is it a projectile weapon? Or perhaps it is something that will benefit me?"
He glared at her and grabbed the wrist that wasn't holding the scanner. That seemed to surprise her a lot and she glanced down at his hand. "Gimme," he said, leaning in close to her, and she froze. He plucked out of her hand and stepped back, sort of amused at her reaction.
"C'mon, let's get outta here," he said as he went to the door.
She made an indignant noise and followed him.
He stopped short at the doorway and she bumped into him. She peered over his shoulder and gasped. Five guards were waiting for them.
"You had to force the door open," he muttered. He didn't want to use all of his binding Xes before the inevitable confrontation with the Titans, so he took his exploding shuriken and threw it at the guards' feet. He grabbed her wrist and dragged her through the air after him.
She let loose a few starbolts, probably hitting a few guards that got back to their feet and tried to catch up with them.
"Would it not be best if we allowed the Titans to see us? They would see you and understand-"
"No," Red X interrupted immmediately.
"Get the Teen Titans over here!" one of the guards snapped to the others.
She tried to tug her wrist out of his hand, but he wanted to get going. He pulled her down to the end of a hallway, where an odd locking system kept them from entering. Looked like the whole building knew they were here, now. This door should be disabled.
"Damn it," he muttered. He worked the lock quickly, attaching a device that decoded it quickly onto the steel and watching as the red circles spun until they were lined up. He ducked through the door and pulled the alien girl in after him.
He could hear footsteps now. Four sets of footsteps.
He set up little devices that looked like satellites on the frame of a door which had infrared lasers set across it in a grid, and he pulled her through that to.
"Cease pulling me!" she snapped. "I do not understand your urgency. Once the Titans see that it is you, can you not explain to them what you are-"
"Sh," he commanded. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. He shot an X from his grappling hook gun up the open elevator shaft and was pulled upward.
Starfire hovered at his side. "For what purpose did you need this scanner?" she asked as she flew up the elevator shaft alongside him.
"Um… insurance."
She furrowed her brows at him. "But what are you looking for?"
"Nothing dangerous." He couldn't have told a bigger lie if he tried. Red X glanced down. Below them, the elevator was whirring into life. He couldn't let her see. Not yet. "C'mon," he said lightly, letting his smile reach his voice. "You know me."
A faint smile touched her lips. Apparently, she did. That was interesting.
They were in the warehouse section of this place, now. Wooden crates were stacked around, and he kicked one to see if it was empty. The hollow sound told him it was. The footsteps behind him slid to a halt, and he grabbed the odd alien girl by the wrist.
"Thanks for the help, cutie," he murmured, putting his mouth right by her ear. She seemed largely confused. He flipped the bottom portion of his mask up, letting it rest on the bridge of his nose, and her eyes widened in understanding.
She tilted her head, looking a little scared. "Rob-?"
He cut her off with a light kiss. She went soft against him, which was satisfying and tempting, but he couldn't pay any attention to that.
The reaction he was hoping for- a sharp yell, a click and the sound of metal sliding as a certain Teen Wonder let his bo-staff out to the appropriate length. Red X jumped at just the right time, pulling his lips away from hers and pushing her so that she was knocked into Batman's protoge.
They both sprawled out on the concrete floor, the girl looking helplessly confused and Robin looking so angry he seemed unable to move. Exactly the reaction X had been hoping for.
"Red X?" Beast Boy demanded, eyes wide. He looked at Robin, still on the floor but glaring around at everyone now. "I thought Robin was Red X?"
"Think again." X raised his arms, palms out, and unleashed a spray of shuriken at all of them.
"Titans, move!" Robin shouted rather unnecessarily. He'd pushed Starfire, either just away from him or out of the way. It was hard to tell.
Raven simply put up a shield, which made Red X smile. He teleported through it and swept his foot under her ankles. She wasn't expecting that and her head knocked against the floor as she fell heavily. Red X crouched over, brandishing a shuriken to stick it through the loose material of her cloak to keep her where she was for a while, and a green bolt of energy knocked it out of his hand.
Honestly, he wasn't expecting her to recover that quickly. His alien girl had her hands clenched into fists, which she held out in front of her, lined up at the knuckles. Starbolts were leaping out of her hands straight at him, and it took all of his concentration to dodge them. He landed against the wall and jumped back, landing on her back and jumping onto one of the beams. That made her even more angry, but before she could fire at him again, he turned and let a jolt of electricity loose from his hands. It bounced off the metal rafters and crossed at the middle in a dramatic and sparking X, hitting her where they crossed. She let out a shout and fell to the ground.
Beast Boy as a pterodactyl flew into the air behind him, changing into a gorilla and raising his fists to punch him. Red X pulled an X out of his belt, enlarged it, and stuck it in the changeling's mouth. He leaped away, noting Beast Boy turn into a hippo to get his jaw wide enough to dislodge the X, making himself fall off the rafters in the process.
Red X shook his head. He wasn't even breaking a sweat. He landed on the ground in a crouch, the cyborg running toward him. He smirked under his mask and raised his arm, loosing yet another X from his palm. It hit Cyborg's forearm before enlarging and sticking to the boxes stacked around him. It contracted and the boxes were flung back at the cybernetic teen, burying him under a pile of splintered wood. This wasn't even hard.
He didn't have time to bask in his own victory before the Titans reconvened around him, the alien girl looking the angriest he had ever seen anyone ever, and the rest of them weren't looking too happy, either. Cyborg stood, stretching out to his full height and brushing a stray plank of wood off his shoulder, turning his arm into his sonic cannon.
Red X stood with his arms at his sides. "Come on, kids. X marks the spot," he quipped with a point at the emblem on his suit.
He back handspringed away from Cyborg's first blast, using the boxes Raven was throwing at him to regain his footing and dodge again. Pushing through the air, starbolts whirled by him as he twisted himself just out of their path.
Landing in a crouch at Beast Boy's feet, he looked calmly into the face of the green gorilla and glanced at the top of a stack of boxes as he teleported away from the changeling's giant fists.
He reappeared on the stack of boxes, Robin tackling him as soon as he did so. Damn, he should have been expecting that. Kid knew how the suit worked. X landed standing as Robin crouched in front of him, looking angry. It was hard to tell if he was angrier than usual, because from what could normally be observed, Robin was angry most of the time.
He threw a birdarang at the thief, who simply teleported and reappeared behind him as he caught the weapon. Red X swung a punch, but Robin dropped onto his hands and held the criminal's wrist between his ankles, giving a surprisingly forceful thrust as he turned his body into a handspring, sending Red X over his head.
Robin swung a punch when he landed on his feet, but Red X teleported a little, grabbing his arm and twisting it painfully. He threw Robin on the ground and flipped back, jumping at him with a foot extended. The Teen Wonder caught the sole of his foot and gave a powerful push, sending the criminal into a stack of boxes. He held his hand over Red X's face.
"Who are you?" he growled.
Under the mask, Red X rolled his eyes. "If I wanted you to know that, I wouldn't be wearing the mask." He activated the electric pulse in his glove and grabbed Robin's wrist, punching him back into a rather large wooden crate. It splintered under him and broke completely. Red X vaguely hoped that this company didn't make wooden crates; the structural integrity wasn't very sound.
Raven and Cyborg ran at him, and X threw a crossed weapon at them and it glowed and enlarged in the air, engulfing them both in red light. Cyborg's cannon zapped Raven, and Raven's black energy snaked over Cyborg's form. "Looks like you got your wires crossed," he remarked dryly.
Another starbolt landed at his feet and he jumped back into a handspring, pushing himself into a flip and raising his palm to shoot an X at her. She was pinned to the wall with her hands at her sides, which should take care of her annoying bolts.
Unable to stop himself, he went over to her and cupped her chin in his hand. She glared at up him. Oh, yeah. She was pissed. He smirked at her under the mask. "You know, cutie, the only crime here is that you and I haven't gone out an a-"
She shot beams at him from her eyes, which surprised him. Okay, maybe he deserved that. That's what he got for playing with his food. It was just so fun to make them angry at him, and it certainly wasn't hard. He slammed into crates, cracking them and landing on the floor. Ow.
A green polar bear was running at him, which was actually more terrifying than it sounded. He pounded the ground, red light emanating from his palm and creeping over the floor in the shape of an X, cracking the ground where the light touched. Beast Boy fell in the hole perfectly. "Mind the gap," Red X called after him, his voice echoing through the cavern he'd created.
That was all of them. He walked calmly over to Robin, nudging him off the ray gun with a foot on his chest and scooping it up. Robin started chasing him- seriously, kid, give it a rest- and he shouted, "I went let you get away with-"
He was cut off when X loosed another device at him, red cord stretching around his ankles and making him topple to the ground. Red X turned to face Robin.
"Better luck next time, kid. And thanks for the suit." X pushed the button on the middle of his belt, but he only half-shimmered. The teleport didn't go through. "Come on, come!" he grumbled, pounding the button furiously.
Robin snapped the restraint around his ankles, starting the pursuit again. "Great," X sighed, giving up on the teleport and running. He jumped through a skylight and landed on the roof, jamming his fist into the button. It sparked and made a sound, which seemed to indicate that it was working. He leaped into the air as Robin threw himself at him.
"Catch ya later," Red X said as he turned toward Robin in the air, giving him a two-finger salute just before shimmering away.
…
Beast Boy approached Robin, a doubtful look on his face. He poked him in shoulder once, then pushed him. Robin allowed himself to teeter back a little before frowning at him. "What are you doing?"
Beast Boy glared at him. "I'm only gonna ask this once: Are you a hologram?"
Robin scowled back. "No."
Beast Boy pushed him again. "Okay, fine, whatever. You're not a hologram. But you could be a robot. Cy? Check him for batteries."
"Wait. Guys! It wasn't me, I swear!" He punctuated his statement by holding one hand over his heart and holding three fingers in the air. Then, softer, he repeated, "It wasn't me." Dejected, his head hung on his shoulders. "Red X was a mistake I won't ever make again."
…
"But who is he?" Cyborg demanded, a hand rubbing his aching head. "If Robin's the ex-Red X, who's the new guy?"
Beast Boy interrupted him by rolling out a chalkboard and displaying it for Raven and Starfire, who were sitting on opposite sides of the middle of the semicircular couch. "Okay, if he's not Robin's long-lost twin, then he's obviously a bionic monkey infused with Robin's DNA."
Starfire glared at him. His theories were ridiculous, but she still didn't understand. Knowing she should probably just let this one go, she was unable to stop herself from asking, "But why would the monkey also be bionic?"
Beast Boy grinned at her and he raised a finger in the air, ready to punctuate whatever point he was about to make, when Raven encapsulated the chalkboard with her powers and made it spin rapidly. Beast Boy was caught in it and flew over the counter in the Titans' kitchenette.
"Face it," she said mournfully. "Red X could be anyone. Anyone smart enough to steal the suit and dumb enough to take it for a joyride."
Cyborg nodded. "Which brings us to you, li'l lady," Cyborg said, crossing his arms over his chest. "We saw what you were doin'. Didja get a good look at his face? If we get enough of his physical features, we could put that in a database and-"
She glared at him, allowing a glow to creep into her eyes. "Do not be fooled. I was tricked."
"Uh huh," Cyborg said doubtfully. "So why were you helpin' him steal that scanner?" He raised his eyebrow at her challengingly.
She sighed. "I was under the impression that he was-!"
"It doesn't matter," Robin interrupted, brushing past her moodily. "I created Red X. I don't want her help." He shot her a disdainful look over his shoulder before turning back to his monitor. "Every system, every weapon; it's mine. Red X is my responsibility."
Cyborg sighed. "Well if we're gonna catch him, we at least need to figure out what he's after."
"I already know," Robin grumbled darkly. "Xynothium. The fuel that powers the suit."
Starfire gasped, forgetting his snide comment in her shock and horror.
"No," Raven breathed, eyes wide.
"Aw, man! I never understand anything!" Beast Boy pouted.
"Xynothium?!" Cyborg shrieked." You powered that suit with xynothium?! Are you crazy? Man, that stuff is dangerous, and unstable! Tell me you were not stupid enough to go messin' with it!"
"Like I said: it was a mistake," Robin muttered. "The scanner Red X stole will locate any Xynothium within a ten-mile radius.
"So we must locate it first," Starfire concluded, wide-eyed.
"Red X isn't the only one with a scanner. I'm downloading the molecular signature and transmitting to your communicators."
"Thanks," Robin said as he turned to the doors. "But I won't need it."
"How are you gonna find the Xynothium without a scanner?" Cyborg demanded.
"The same way I found it the first time." The doors slid closed behind him.
"Um?" Beast Boy demanded after him.
"Let 'im go," Cyborg said. "He's in one a' those moods."
Beast Boy sighed. "He's only pissed cause his not-girlfriend's all kissing on not-him."
Starfire glowered at him and shot a weak starbolt at him with a flick of her wrist.
"I ain't goin' to chase his moody ass around Jump. We should look, too. There's no point in downloading a scanner to each of your communicators, now. It'll take too long and Robin'll be all done by the time we start."
"Then what do you suggest we do?" Starfire asked anxiously.
"You're helpin' us?" Cyborg demanded doubtfully.
"Well, I am already here. And I wish to atone for my lapse in judgment."
"A physical sweep of the city. Me an' BB'll take the south side, you girls take the north. Raven go west, Star go east. Robin'll let us know when he wants our help."
She paused. "And me?"
Cyborg studied her carefully. "You still got that old communicator? I'll set it up so our calls go to that frequency for a while. But you gotta give that back. You can't be totin' it around town like an accessory, waltzin' in our Tower whenever you want."
"Of course," Starfire answered with a roll of her eyes.
...
Red X landed quietly on the roof of the building next to his target.
"If Cyborg's hurt… it's my fault."
Dammit. That was Boy Blunder's voice. How'd he get here first?
"Robin…"
"I'm responsible, Starfire. For everything that's happened."
"No, Robin. The error you made? It is in the past. You are no longer the one inside that suit."
Red X couldn't handle much more of this. "And personally, I think it looks much cooler on me." He was pleased with the reaction he got from that. Robin looked pretty pissed, but again, he usually was. Starfire glared at him.
He palmed some shuriken and threw them; Robin, ever-helpful, gave his team a cry of, "Move!"
They scattered, and as Raven flew toward Red X, he threw yet another device at her. It flew through the air, enlarging until it threw her back, knocking her into Beast Boy in rhinoceros form. They were thrown back into Starfire at the ledge of the building.
Robin charged him, and he held out his wrist blade to block him. He pushed Robin to the side on his second attempt, and when he got back up, Red X flicked the domino mask back, sending Robin staggering away, holding his face.
Red X shook his head. Really, it was too easy! He was getting spoiled, He dove off the face of the building, unleashing his grappling hook to control his descent. The foyer of the building was a large circle with many branching hallways, and he wasn't sure which way to go. He set the center of the circle as the coordinates on the teleporter- the belt allowed for one programmed location as well as the line-of-sight teleporting- and he headed down one hallway. Finding that one to be a dead end, he started back at the rotunda.
This time, he appeared to have chosen the right location. The scanner wouldn't work this close- it was pretty much just emitting a high-pitched whine instead of beeping at all- so he couldn't be sure, but he couldn't imagine what else they could be hiding behind the steel doors he'd just found. He observed the locking mechanisms, trying to figure it out, when he heard footsteps. Metal-soled footsteps.
Red X engaged the cloaking device and stood very still. He wasn't invisible, exactly, but he should be safe as long as he didn't move. Robin came close to the steel doors, looking up at the lock, when a high pitched scream tore through the air.
Both boys jerked in that direction, and Robin muttered, "Starfire?"
Yep, there was definitely something going on there. Red X didn't have time to wait for this. Robin could go check on his girlfriend after he'd gotten his xynothium. He crossed his arms over his chest and deactivated the cloaking device, leaning casually against the doors. Robin retreated a few steps down the hall before hesitating. His girlfriend or whatever just let out a terrified scream, and he'd rather stay and protect the xynothium. Red X was slightly impressed.
"What's the matter, kid?" Red X asked, and Robin turned quickly, apparently forgetting about Starfire. "Don't you wanna play? After all, they're your toys." He spread his fingers to show the shuriken to Robin.
He threw them and Robin ducked, the shuriken exploding when they made contact with a control panel on the wall. The doors behind Red X opened and he ducked inside.
There were infrared lasers, but they weren't a problem for the two boys. They flipped through them, mere annoyances instead of the intimidating security measure they were supposed to be. The hall of lasers ended at crevice in the wall, revealing a drop and some kind of clear barrier. Red X slammed his palm onto the barrier and it cracked open the way the ground had earlier, allowing him through. Robin wasn't so lucky.
Red X stopped to look up at Robin, who'd slammed heavily into the barrier, before he continued down the hall. The next obstacle was a floor with digitized tiles. The criminal glanced back down the hall and decided to wait for Robin to activate this particular boobie-trap. He clicked on the cloaking device and waited.
Not long after that, Robin came down the hall cautiously. He was looking for Red X, and he must know about the cloaking device, so Red X stayed very still. Robin glanced down at the floor, then at the door.
Red X stepped out behind him and nudged him onto the floor. "After you."
Robin glared up at the criminal, but his attention was soon taken by a rather large laser. And not the infrared kind. Ironically, an X appeared on the floor at Robin's feet, the laser moving across the ceiling toward him. Red X took a moment to admire it- it was pretty cool looking.
While the laser was moving, it was easier for him to jump across the floor, staying light on his feet in case the extra weight messed with the laser. He landed on the other side of the elevated floor. "Thanks for the hand, kid," he said as the doors opened behind him and he slipped through them.
Finally, the room with all the xynothium. It was round and dark, and there were several small vaults along the wall. There was a stick of xynothium suspended in an anti-gravity beam, and he approached the monitor in front of it.
"Xynothium ore," he purred to himself, pleased. He pressed a button and a robotic arm took hold of the ore, handing it to him. "Enough to power the suit for a good long time."
X grabbed one of the yellow holding pods and put the last stick of xynothium in its slot. "I love it when the good guy wins." Okay. So not good guy. But it wasn't like he was going to use the suit to steal money from old ladies with blue hair. He just needed insurance against Luthor's goons. …Plus, the screen on his iMac was cracked, and, well… those weren't cheap.
The walls behind him appeared to start melting, and Red X turned to watch, not surprised at all, as a red beam of light cut through it. Robin appeared as the door fell in, giant laser in his arms. Red X honestly couldn't even guess at how he managed that.
"You're not going to win."
Was that an admission of Red X being the good guy? Before he could point that out, Robin jumped and delivered a hard spin kick. The xynothium pod clattered to the ground as Red X was thrown back. The pod should protect it, but seriously. That stuff was unstable.
"Kid… you are taking life wayyyy too seriously."
Robin ignored that and jumped at him. Red X dodged and Robin threw exploding spheres at him. Red X dodged again, and now Robin was closer to his xynothium. X checked a handful of shuriken at Robin, and all but one sank into the wall behind, one being deflected by his bo-staff.
Red X wasn't really used to fighting against a weapon like that. Seriously, who used those? Relatively useless as a weapon, except for ramming the end into people's stomachs. The only thing worse were eskrima sticks (3).
With a squeeze of his fists, X-blades popped out on his wrists. He wasn't very used to these, and he wasn't sure how well they'd hold up to Robin's bo-staff. X took a few swipes at Robin, all of which he either jumped over or blocked. He rammed both fists at the Teen Wonder, and he held his bo-staff horizontally to counter him.
Robin shoved him back, forcing him onto the ground, and Red X activated the spinning component. Robin's shocked face made X glad he'd added that. He took a few more strikes at the Teen Wonder, and while Robin seemed to be more on the defensive now, he still couldn't get past his stupid bo-staff. Robin clacked his staff against the blades horizontally again, halting their spinning.
"Why did you steal the suit? What are you planning to do?"
Red X rolled his eyes. That was what this was about? There was no grand scheme. He didn't want the city held at ransom, or world domination, or even to become fabulously wealthy overnight. Although that last one didn't seem so bad. Narrowing his eyes, he answered with the one thing that would bug Robin more than planting a false lead to some crazy plan: the truth.
"Whatever I want." He leaned back and Robin overbalanced, which put X in a perfect position to kick him in the stomach to send him flying into the ground behind him. "Not everyone likes to play the big villain, kid. I'm a thief. I'm not threatening your precious city. Just lookin' out for number one."
"So you're not psychotic. You're just selfish," Robin spat back.
Red X rolled his eyes. What kind of insult was that? If he had a choice between those two, he'd definitely pick selfish. "Lighten up, chuckles. I'm not such a bad guy." He raised his hands, palms out, which normally indicated a submissive position. "Once you get to know me." He loosed two more shuriken, one from each hand, aiming one high and one low. The low one caught Robin around the ankle.
Jumping into the air, X brought his foot down hard, but Robin rolled at the last second and he missed. He took a hard kick in the back, which sent him face first against the wall, but also put him next to the xynothium pod. He grabbed it, done with this.
"Play time's over, kid." Robin ignored him and brandished a birdarang. "Back off, or I trip the power core. And the core triggers the rocks. I don't think you want that on your conscience."
"And I don't think you wanna be disintegrated."
Reed X turned at the sound of footsteps. …Astronauts were coming toward them, each carrying some weird tricked-out trident. Before he could react, he was blasted so hard that his world went black.
When he came to, he was in a beam of light. He rubbed his pained head.. "Okay… who were the moon men?" As a response, steel bars rose from the ground all the way up to the vaulted ceiling.
"Criminals," Robin said as he stepped up to the monitor in front of the bars. "Just like you."
"Come on, kid. You don't really think this little playpen can hold me?" Red X grabbed the bars and narrowed his eyes. Annoyingly, Robin sent an electric pulse through the bars and he got a good shock that tore through his arms into his chest.
"You don't even care, do you?" The Boy Blunder demanded incredulously. "A lowlife maniac just got his hands on enough xynothium to disintegrate the entire city, and it's your fault!"
Red X narrowed his eyes at Robin. Was he forgetting who made the stupid suit in the first place? "Don't you mean our fault?"
"At least I'm going to do something about it!" he growled. "And if you cared about anything other than yourself, you'd be helping!"
"Sorry, kid," Red X said with a shrug, not feeling sorry at all. "Some guys don't like to play the hero."
"I'll be back to take you to jail." And Robin left. Red X rolled his eyes and teleported out. He was seriously running low on xynothium. He'd have to get more somewhere. Dammit. He was going to have to help. Besides, he kind of owed Starfire. She did help him with the scanner, even if she didn't know she was helping him.
...
Robin had fucked things up for himself pretty badly by the time Red X arrived. He was hanging off the singed edge of the railing of the vaulted walkway by one hand, the barrel of the laser pointed right at him. "Okay, good boy. Who should I destroy first? You? Or your pretty friend?"
The huge laser unlocked from its aim on Robin and it lowered to Starfire. Which was really kind of overkill.
"Starfire!" Robin called, reaching one hand out to her as if that would help at all.
She struggled against whatever type of hold she was in, but it didn't seem to be helping. Red X sighed. He couldn't just let her get disintegrated.
His shuriken sank into the control panel of the laser in front of Professor Chang. Blue sparks lit up the board and the Professor recoiled.
Starfire gasped and her eyes met his. She looked from him to Robin, who was dangling precariously on a half-disintegrated railing. He gave her a two-finger salute and launched himself into the air, catching Robin as the part of the railing he was grabbing broke. He dumped the boy unceremoniously on solid ground.
He rolled onto his side and pushed himself onto his elbow. "I thought you didn't like to play the hero?"
Red X smirked. "Doesn't mean I don't know how."
Robin had already taken out a bunch of the goons, but Red X got a few shots in. He and Robin actually had similar fighting styles, which was annoying. Red X went for cheaper shots, though.
The laser went haywire and almost disintegrated Starfire's head off before tearing across the entire room, making half of the building slide off the mountain.
Robin was busy with the creep who made the laser, and Red X picked up a stick of Xynothium ore. "Time to get what I came for."
The four Titans grouped up in front of him, and Starfire was floating off to the side, watching.
"Time's up," Raven said in response.
"Thanks for the help, X," Robin thanked him with a smile. Aw. Adorable. He was actually thanking him. "But don't think that means you can help yourself."
"No problem, kid." He brandished the red tube at him, smirking under his mask. "This should keep me going for quite a while."
With an even bigger smirk, Robin answered, "That won't do you much good without this." He held up Red X's fucking belt. Red X glanced down, wide eyed. How the hell did he manage that? "Better luck next time."
The rest of his team, and Starfire, who'd come closer during the exchange and was hovering above the others, all looked amused. He had to admit, there wasn't much he could really do. Robin still intended to arrest him, so he couldn't stick around. He put his hands up, unable to throw the Xes from his palms without any power, and backed up until his heel met air. "Not bad, kid. Not bad." He surprised them all by throwing the tube on the ground and jumping off the cliff.
...
The Titans split up to look for Red X on the face of the mountain, but Starfire knew that they wouldn't find him. He was just as crafty as Robin, and as capable. He would be fine. She wanted that belt, though. She hovered behind Robin as she slipped a stick of xynothium ore into a secret pocket in her gauntlet.
"You know," she said when the others had gone, "you and he are very similar."
Robin turned to her. "We're not, really."
"Why do you think that? Because of your better morals? You are the high and mighty, yes?"
He frowned at her. "You helped him steal that scanner. I should arrest you."
She shrugged and held out her arms. "Very well, then. Put the handcuffs on me and send me to one of your Earth jails. I am sure that it would be quite effective in stopping me." She smiled, proud of herself. "Catwoman has been wishing for me to understand the sarcasm. I was successful at the technique, was I not?"
Robin just narrowed his eyes at her. "There are facilities we can send you to. This isn't a joke, Starfire."
"Yes, your Arkham, am I correct? And your Belle Reeve? Trust me when I say that thet cannot compare to the prisons where I have been held." She tilted her head at him. "Does it bother you that I am not frightened of you?"
He looked away from her. "I don't want anybody to be scared of me."
"Only when it is convenient, yes?"
"Well, I mean... I guess there are times when it's better that..."
She stepped close to him and spoke softly. "I am not afraid of you, Robin. Nor am I afraid of your Batman. Nor am I afraid of Catwoman, although she sometimes tries to be intimidating."
He gulped and she allowed herself a small smile. He stood rigidly, though, and he didn't back up. "Why not?"
"There is no point. Imprison me, if you wish. Lock me in a small box. It will never be as terrible as what I have already endured. This planet and the people of this planet have shown me more kindness than I have seen anywhere else in my life." She brought her gaze up to his mask and tilted her head. He narrowed his eyes at her and she wondered if it was so she couldn't see through it. "Why is that, Robin?" she asked softly.
"Um, what? Why is what?"
She smiled at him and took the fabric of his cape, which was drawn around his shoulders, in two fingers. He tried to back up a little, but she held him firmly. "Why are the humans so kind? Of course, not all of you. Some of you are ruthless. But they are not the oddity."
"Hey, cut it out," he mumbled tugging on his cape.
"I do not have scissors or other sharp utensiles with which to do the cutting," she said innocently.
He scowled at her. "Let go!"
She waited until he tugged again to let go. He stepped back a few times, putting space between them "I must be going, now, Robin. I will do the seeing you of around." She brought her hand up to show him the Red X belt she clutched in her hand.
He went rigid, eyes wide. "Hey! Give that back, Starfire."
"I did not hear you say please," she cooed, taking a few steps backward before hopping into the air.
"I'm not kidding around." He pointed his grappling hook gun at her and she took off before he could deploy it.
...
She kept Red X's belt in her penthouse with her. She was assuming Red X could still scan for xynothium, and oddly, she didn't have a probelm with him finding her here. Of course, the Titans could find her here, as well, but she didn't think they knew about her having xynothium and she didn't believe they would look for it any time soon. Red X would be busy trying to build himself a new suit.
He came when she was sleeping. He probably waited all day to come steal the belt back. Starfire was an extremely light sleeper. Plus, she'd hidden the belt in the dresser next to her bed. Next to the side of the bed she slept on.
The wood opened quietly and as a reaction, she reached out, clutching his wrist in an iron grip.
"Ah! Let go, cutie, it's me."
"Red X?" Starfired murmured sleepily.
He looked down at her as she sat, stretching her arms out behind her. "What the hell are you even doing with xynothium, anyway?"
"That is no way to speak to someone who obtained for you a present," she scolded lightly.
"A present," he echoed. "You have a present for me."
"Indeed!" She pulled open her drawer the rest of the way and pulled out the belt. "I have already stocked it with one tube of xynothium ore. That much should last you several months, yes?"
He too it from her. "I... yeah. You put the xynothium in here? It takes a very careful hand and a lot of know how, plus-"
"I am very talented with chemistry and the handling of delicate objects," she snapped.
"Okay, jeez. So this is where you live?"
She raised an eyebrow at him. "Sit," she commanded. He did, gingerly. Starfire lifted his mask so that it rested across the bridge of his nose and pressed her lips against his lightly. He was surprised by that, she could tall, but after a few seconds his lifted his arms to touch her shoulders. She broke the kiss and batted his hands away.
"That is for assisting Robin. Your actions saved my life and... they saved his, as well."
Red X pulled down his mask all the way. "I don't know how to feel about a hot girl kissing me and then thanking me for saving her... boyfriend? Seriously, what's the deal there?"
She glared at him and crossed her arms over chest. "Do not think too much about it. A kiss on my planet is a sign of affection, yes, but it also transfers language and emotion. I was attempting to thank you."
"Sure. Whatever. I accept your gratitude, and any time you wanna thank me some more, you can come find me."
She rolled her eyes. "Red X?" she called sweetly.
"Yeah?"
"Vacate my home," she said. He just tilted his head at her and she allowed energy to seep into her eyes.
"Okay, okay!" he said as he sprang off the bed. "I'm going!"
He stood and clipped on the belt. She waited until he grappled away and onto another building to flop onto her stomach. She shouldn't have done that. Kissed him. He just reminded her so much of Robin and... She let out a frustrated sigh. Robin was most rude to her. She would need to figure out why he was upset with her. Perhaps she should talk to Selina about it.
With that comforting thought, she rolled onto her side and allowed herself to drift to sleep.
Oops. This chapter was a little long. I don't know where the RobStarX thing came from? I didn't do it on purpose! It's not in my outline. I don't know where I'm going with it. Poor Star is kind of confused at the moment.
(1) Haha, okay. Curtains is Windows. This is from an issue of Nightwing. I don't remember which one. All I know is that it's canon in the DCU and I thought it was pretty funny at the time. Seriously, Curtains?
(2) Sakutia is the virus that Beast Boy has that turned him green and gave him shape-shifting abilities. I thought it would appropriate for Steve Dayton, Beast Boy's adopted stepdad, to do some research on the virus.
(3) An excellent example of my wit. This is funny because Nightwing uses eskrima sticks as much as Titans Robin uses his bo-staff.
Welcome to my Red X headcanon. Yep, I think he's Jay. I made him older than Dick, because of the whole 'kid' thing. Why is my origin for Jason/Red X so different from comicverse Jason? Because I think he needed a reason to steal the suit. Despite what he says, I don't think he would steal the suit for shits and giggles. I could probably go more in depth into Red X's character, and maybe I will in a sort of spin off or a different fic where I use this origin. Also, something to think about... Red X could be Jason and Jason could never become Robin in this verse. I don't know if that's necessarily what I think happens. I have a few origin headcanons for Red X, and this is just one of them. But I do mean for this to be Jason, even though I never stated it.
"I marry a stranger or my planet is decimated."
She looked so sad. He just wanted to help her. He couldn't protect her from this. He wanted to do something... anything... to make her feel better.
He turned away from her and squinted at the water as it ebbed away from the beach. He plucked a shell from the ground and shook the wet sand off of it. "Here." He extended the shell out for her to see.
She looked at him, confused. "What?"
"Come on. Help me look."
Her eyes lit up. "You wish to locate some of the shells of the sea?"
"Uh... yep."
"Oh!" She let his cape drop from her shoulders onto the sand beneath her and she floated to his side.