A/N: So. 50 chapters. In my defense, some of the chapters are relatively short. Although I can't blame anyone for being annoyed about me not updating in a month. Heh. Anyway, enjoy (and read and review)!
A long silence stretched between the two thieves, who stared at each other across the three feet of space that separated them. Red X's mask betrayed no sign of emotion. Similarly, Athene's face had frozen into a blank look as she met the masked eyes expressionlessly.
The hush continued on as both teens stayed completely still, merely gazing at each other without a word. The darkness settled between them like a cloak, stifling the suddenly heavy breaths that the girl was taking.
Finally, Red X had to say something to break the silence.
"So…no hello?"
His mechanically altered voice seemed to shake the girl from her reverie. Closing her eyes, she opened them once more, as if expecting the boy to disappear. When he didn't, she closed her eyes again.
"You – I – the lightning – it – you're-" She fumbled for the right words as all the wrong ones tumbled from her lips, coming out as no more than ragged whispers. Finally, she took a shaky breath, her eyes still closed. "I thought you were dead."
"I know." Athene's eyes flew open as the youth's mechanical voice suddenly sounded in front of her. Red X was looking up at her. When he saw that she'd seen him, he slowly took his mask off, revealing his sweat-soaked brown hair and worried hazel eyes. She'd never seen so much concern in his normally mischievous eyes, which were now giving her a once-over to check her for injuries.
Feeling suddenly self-conscious, the girl realized how she must look, with her straggly hair lying limp, her hands and feet bound firmly, her costume stripped of all her weapons and gadgets. What she didn't know was that there was haunted, yet intense light that burned in her violet eyes. All she knew was that she looked like a wreck, someone who had once stood so proudly and strong but was now reduced to a collapsed mess.
Slowly, hesitantly, Damien peeled off the violet domino mask that framed Athene's eyes, and let it fall to the ground, releasing a kind of emotional barrier that the girl hadn't realized had come with the mask. Then, cupping her face in his hands, the youth let his thumbs gently rub away the tear-marks that ran down her cheeks. This action was so unusually intimate for him that the girl closed her eyes, breathing deeply to savor it.
"You know…now that he's not here to stop us from a relationship…"
Julia's eyes snapped open.
What?
"Get away from her, you bastard."
Unable to twist around at the familiar voice, Julia could only see Damien's eyes suddenly widen as he dropped his hands from her face. He took an alarmed step backwards, then turned towards the opposite wall as if ready to run. However, before he could take one step, there was a blur of red, and the youth collapsed to the ground, a sparking scarlet x buried between his shoulder blades.
"DAMIEN!"
Julia threw herself forward, gazing in agony at the fallen body before her.
"Julia. I'm right here."
And suddenly, there was another Damien, this time dressed in the slim black bodysuit worn by the guards of the building. A doppelganger or clone? He entered into her line of vision and jogged over to her, completely ignoring his fallen foe.
Godammit.
She had had barely enough time to rejoice in Damien's 'rebirth', and someone with the nerve to impersonate him had brought her happiness to a shuddering stop.
"You asshole." Julia's words hissed through her teeth as she glared at the approaching copy of the youth who was now lying facedown on the ground in front of her. What little hope she had gained at Damien's appearance had vanished completely, turning into a spiteful rage that she unleashed on her closest victim. "You-"
The double approached her and urgently seized her around the arms, forcing her to quiet.
"Julia, stop it. It's me. Seriously." He glanced behind his shoulder at the mirror image version of himself lying on the ground. Looking back up at her, the youth stared intently into her eyes, as if trying to send her a mental message. "The one on the ground is one of the guards who can shapeshift and mimic voices."
"Liar." Julia spat the word at him and saw him flinch. At this reaction, her attitude wavered for a moment. A fake wouldn't take her insults so personally, would he? And the way he seemed so distressed at her predicament…
The Damien in the guard suit was looking at her almost beseechingly.
"Look, let me prove it to you. Something that no one else knows about you." He cast around for ideas as Julia stared suspiciously at him. "Ok. Only the real Damien would know that for your birthday, Roger bought you that pair of boots that you wanted. And I got you that pair of lightning earrings. I gave them to you after – when you visited on the day of your fake birthday. That enough?"
Julia continued to stare at him, this time less accusingly. She couldn't think of any other way someone could know all of what he'd said. And yet…cameras and receipts were powerful tools in finding that kind of information.
At her unrelenting doubtful look, the Damien look-alike took a deep breath.
"Only the real Damien would know that I would never date you unless I knew it wouldn't go against Roger's wishes."
Instantly, Julia's memory went back to what the first Damien had said to her.
You know…now that he's not here to stop us from a relationship…
Disbelief vanished from Julia's face and was replaced with relief, then guilt.
"Oh, god. I called you an asshole."
Damien's mouth twitched into a smile as he dropped his hands from her arms.
"I have a feeling that's not the last time you'll call me that." After a moment of contemplating the metal covering her hands, he glanced back at the unconscious shapeshifter, who still retained his appearance. "Close your eyes for a moment. I need to get back into the suit."
Wordlessly, Julia obliged, and a moment later, Damien was standing masked in front of her in his X suit, digging into one of the many compartments on the belt. Knowing what he was looking for, Julia shook her head.
"It doesn't have a lock," she protested, even as the youth drew out a sophisticated lockpick. "Silver made it mold to the transmuters completely."
"Aphrodite, Frostbite, and Jumper don't trust her completely," Damien replied. After examining the bonds and the transmuters for several minutes, he began working the lockpick somewhere beyond Julia's view.
"Who?"
"Frostbite's the Ice Guy, Jumper's the third one in their group. He can teleport." A second later, there was a barely audible click, and the sheets of metal holding Julia's hands to the transmuters lifted on invisible hinges. Another couple of seconds, and her feet were free as well.
Euphoric, the girl lightly jumped to the ground, then staggered as her stiff limbs protested. Damien, practical enough to let her regain her balance independently, brought over her belt and boots, which had been stowed near the door behind them. When Julia had gained her balance properly and loosened her muscles experimentally, she put the rest of her costume on. Then, kneeling, she picked up her fallen mask from the ground. Getting to her feet, she fastened it back to her face, feeling her satisfaction being replaced by grim anticipation.
"All right – I'm ready. Fill me in."
Apparently, after Red X had been knocked out by Jumper and Frostbite, he'd been brought by some guards to one of the prison rooms, where one of the liquid-filled tubes had been located. Before the guards could remove his belt, however, he'd gained consciousness and managed to teleport into the surveillance room.
Back in the surveillance room was the same guard as before, who immediately attacked him. Apparently, the guard had the ability to shapeshift to mimic a person's looks, voice, and powers – but only after coming into physical contact with them. The guard had managed to shapeshift into Damien, only to learn that Damien didn't have any powers. Once Red X had defeated the guard – who still retained his physical appearance – he switched clothes with the guard, donned glasses that concealed his eyes, then brought the fake Red X to the prison room.
At the prison room, the fake Damien was put into the glass cylinder and hooked up to the air tubes. While the real Damien – masquerading as a guard to fool the one other guard in the room – looked on, a video screen appeared in the room, displaying Athene's plight in case 'Damien' gained consciousness. Although the real Damien had been forced to watch the bolt of lightning striking his friend, he'd been unable to do anything at the moment, since Aphrodite had also been keeping an eye on the fake Damien.
After Athene had sent the current of electricity through the fake Damien's glass container, Aphrodite had stopped observing the room, leaving the real Damien to knock the other guard out. That done, he'd freed the look-alike version of himself from the glass cylinder and proceeded to revive him. He, unlike Aphrodite, knew that the only way an electric current runing through liquid containing a person could electrify the person was if the current had a way to get into the person and out. Fortunately, the Red X suit was electric-proof, and the fake Damien had no gashes or cuts. The only thing that could possibly kill him was not the electricity, but the risk of drowning. And, true to his word, Damien couldn't let the guard drown, and risk breaking one of 'Robin's Rules'.
Unfortunately, the guard managed to catch Damien off-guard and strike him with one of the x-gadgets, which actually did send a weak electric current through Damien, knocking him out for a bit. When Damien had woken up again, he'd gone to Athene's prison room, the White Tower, just in case the fake version of himself had gone there ahead of him. It was possible that the guard had wanted to impersonate Damien in order to get closer to Athene and gain her powers. Fortunately, the real Damien had gotten there in time, just before the guard had begun to change appearance again.
"So I guess we can assume that some of the guards, if not all of them, have powers," Athene mused. While Red X had been telling her what had happened, she'd been checking her equipment while he had tied up the unconscious guard.
Dragging the guard towards the side of the room, Red X nodded.
"Looks like it." He mock-dusted his hands off, then turned towards Athene. "What next? Aphrodite, Frostbite, and Jumper should be coming soon. I managed to shut off the cameras in both our prisons."
"So if they've noticed, we've lost the element of surprise," Athene added. Sheathing one of her black-handled blades, she took a quick glance at the nearest camera, positioned on one of the white tiles. "But we still might have some time. When they do come, we've got to be ready. We need-"
"-Robin," Red X finished wryly. "As much as I hate to admit it, we need the Boy Blunder."
Athene raised one eyebrow.
"Do you know where they're keeping him?"
The youth nodded as they began striding towards the door – or more accurately, the empty doorway, since the fake Red X had blasted the entire door from its previous position.
"My prison's on the right of yours. If they're any organized, they're keeping the kid in the room to the left." He hesitated, then asked, "Are you strong enough for a fight?"
Surprised at her friend's concern, Athene paused. When she looked at him, it was with a bitter smile.
"When I see Aphrodite and Frostbite, I will be."
Outside the room was a long metallic hallway, which was dotted with only three doors labeled 'Prison 1', 'Prison 2', and 'White Tower'. Athene's room was the one directly at the end of the hallway, with Prison 1 (Red X's room) to the right adjacent wall, and Prison 2 (assumedly Robin's room) to the left adjacent wall. At the other end of the long hallway was a doorway, which led to another bright tiled room which could be barely seen.
Standing in front of the door of Prison 2, Athene impatiently acted as a lookout as Red X placed an x-shaped gadget on the door. After adjusting several knobs on the device, the thief stood back as it began to glow red. A second later, a large shock of electricity burst from the gadget, effectively knocking out all electrical devices in the room.
Almost immediately, smaller bolts of electricity snaked from the x and crawled across the metal door, before sinking into the cracks between the door and doorway. There was the faint sound of crackling, and the door gave a huge groan, falling forward onto the tiled floor with a loud thud. Before the dust had even settled, Red X and Athene were through the doorway, leaping lightly over the fallen door and into the room.
In a way, Athene wasn't that surprised at the sight that met her eyes. In the room, a soaked but grim Robin was dragging two unconscious bodies towards one side of the room. The glass tube that had once held liquid was now drained, the screen on the wall blank, and the cameras around the room dark and shorted out from the electrical burst.
Red X glanced around at Robin's handiwork, then looked like he was about to make a comment. Before he could, however, Athene touched his shoulder lightly, silencing him. Then she looked at Robin, who, having finished cleaning up, was staring at her strangely.
"You saw?" she asked simply. "The bolt of lightning striking me?"
The Boy Wonder nodded.
"Right before they sent knock-out gas through the air tube," he replied quietly. Then, as if to explain his strange look, added, "I thought you…well…"
"Died?" Athene finished. Robin nodded, then looked away. "Fortunately, I didn't." She began to explain how Red X had been the one close to dying, then stopped. She didn't want to have to tell Robin that she had been prepared to kill him instead of Red X. Instead, she commented, uncomfortably, "Anyway…nice work here."
Robin nodded, then seemed to shake off his previous awkwardness. Straightening, he adjusted his mask and looked at Red X.
"You'll have to tell me later how you can get always out of this kind of mess," he told the thief pointedly. Red X merely narrowed his eyes.
"You'll have to tell me how you got us into this one," he replied curtly. While Athene and Robin had been talking, Red X had been looking between the two of them, sensing something more then simple are-you-ok's. Now the youth drew out a sharp-bladed x and began tossing it from hand to hand. "So, what's your big plan, Boy Blunder?"
Ignoring the insult, Robin looked at Athene.
"Did you learn anything extra about this place that I should know?"
The girl nodded.
"Some of the guards have powers," she told him. "And one of them can shapeshift and take on a person's powers. He's tied up in the White Tower in the next room. It's not just Aphrodite pulling the strings, either. The Ice Guy, called Frostbite, is co-accomplice, and apparently some kind of teleporter named Jumper. Also, Silver might be here somewhere."
"Aphrodite and Frostbite got rid of her," Red X contradicted. When Robin and Athene looked at him, taken aback, the thief added, "She's not dead, just back in jail."
"So we're facing a building full of powered-up soldiers led by three leaders, the strongest of them all," Robin clarified. "We need to find and free the rest of the Titans, then let the authorities know that this group is here. The police can take Aphrodite, Frostbite, and Jumper into custody."
At this, Red X and Athene traded skeptical glances. Robin, pacing and looking at the ground, didn't notice.
"Since they already know we're here," the Boy Wonder continued, "we've lost the element of surprise, and attacking them would be useless. Our priority right now should be to find the rest of the Titans. Once we release them, we can leave and contact the police. Whatever this group is doing here, it isn't legal."
"What about getting Aphrodite, Frostbite, and Jumper?" Athene asked impatiently. "If we leave here without arresting them first, they'll escape."
Robin shook his head firmly.
"Our priority is to free the rest the Titans," he replied. "There's always time to get the trio later once the rest of the team is out."
Angrily, Athene opened her mouth to give a sharp retort, but stopped when Red X shook his head minutely. He knew that it wasn't the time to argue with the Titan leader. As for taking revenge on Aphrodite and Frostbite…well, they didn't have to disclose their true motivations to Robin. If need be, they could always deviate from the superhero's plan later to achieve their own goal.
Suddenly, Robin's head whipped around towards the doorway. Seeing this, Athene and Red X followed his gaze, and heard the faint sound of footsteps. Many footsteps.
"Looks like they sent the welcoming party," Red X commented. The three of them dashed to the doorway and out of the room. The sound of footsteps was coming from all the way at the other end of the hallway, in the barely visible white room.
Without speaking, the three teens strode down the hallway, towards the sound of approaching people. They all knew that if they had to stage a fight, a narrow corridor such as the one they were located in was the worst possible place to be. As they neared the end of the corridor, it became apparent that it led to another, much larger room, laid in white tile. The circular room contained six identical, evenly-spaced doorways leading to six different hallways. The room itself rose three stories high, the edges of each floor rimmed with smooth white rails that overlooked the center of the room, and stopped at a curved, perfectly clear glass dome ceiling.
As she stepped into the magnificent room with the two youths, Athene noted the architectural similarities to the White Tower and the haunted house where the Titans had disappeared. The clean white look, akin to Greek marble like that of the Parthenon, seemed to be Aphrodite's favorite.
Unfortunately, her attention was diverted by the ever-approaching sound of footsteps, which was growing louder and seemed to be coming from all five of the other hallways. The noise echoed in the circular room, bouncing off the smooth tiled walls and against the glass dome ceiling. As it neared a crescendo, the three teens looked at each other.
"We have to fight," Robin stated unnecessarily, his voice resolute. "We don't know which hallway the Titans are in, and we can't find them until we beat whoever's coming out of those hallways. So are you with me?"
Red X and Athene looked at each other, then at the Boy Wonder. In the five other hallways, they could see groups of the uniformed black-clothed guards marching closer. The three of them were heavily outnumbered at least 15 to 1, and they had no idea what to expect from their opponents.
A small, dangerous smile stole over Athene's features. This was what she'd been itching for for months.
"We're with you," she told Robin steadily. Red X nodded, seconding this.
"Just don't expect a team high-five." They all turned to face the room, wordlessly falling into a triangle position – Robin in front, with Red X and Athene on the sides. And as the uniformed guards began filing into the room, wearing indomitable expressions, Red X added, "And don't you dare say that team shout."
At that, Robin almost smiled.
"I'll leave that to you," he told Athene, whose face had gone completely emotionless and blank with focus and determination. As they all crouched down, waiting for the enemy to make the first move, the girl whispered a single phrase:
"Let's do this."
