DC Gothic – Red-X 2
Part 5
Titan Tower – Jump City
The Titans were within their Tower's common room, and they were not in the best of moods. Cyborg was sulking as he played one of his games. Beast Boy was sitting in the kitchen while Starfire cut his hair in an attempt to get rid of some of the goop Red-X had gotten in his hair. Robin was on the computer looking for something. As for Raven she was sitting in a lotus position doing nothing at all it seemed.
"Dude, X kicked our butt" the meta-human whined" AND he messed with my hairdo, AGAIN!"
Raven knew that BB was incorrect, so she decided to defend her boyfriend and correct the shape shifter.
"Technically, it was Robin who did it the first time" Raven reminded them all with a slight smirk on her face.
The first Red-X at least had the decency to look ashamed of himself.
"True, but now the newer Red-X has gone from minor thief, to a serious threat" Robin said with a frown while glaring at the limb that the crook had almost broken.
The damage wasn't nearly as bad as it look. The Boy Wonder was a fast healer, and Beast Boy's hair would grow back. However the physical injuries were of far less concern than the psycological ones. Being defeated in battle had made all the Titans depressed.
"Wasn't he always a threat?" Cyborg asked.
Raven would have liked to have pointed out that Red-X had never been a threat. At least not when compared to most of their foes.
"Before now he wasn't working with the H.I.V.E" Robin said.
All the Titans thought this was odd given that Red-X had never struck them as a team player.
"I need some coffee" the Titans leader then said before walking into the kitchen were the desired caffeine could be found.
"Friend, Beast Boy please stop with the squirming!" Starfire pleaded "It is most difficult to be cutting this sticky red stuff from your hair while you are moving!".
Sadly for her the young meta-human was too upset to sit still.
"It'll be weeks before it grows back!" BB said.
Starfire gave up on her impossible mission and stormed off to her room. Raven, for reasons of her own, decided to follow.
"We need to talk" the part demon told her team mate when they were alone.
Starfire was surprised to say the least, but not for long as she soon figured out what the magic user might want to talk about.
"What is the matter Friend Raven?" the princess from another planet asked the part demon" Did something happen between you and your friend who is a boy?"
Raven resisted the urge to talk about her date. Sharing that sort of information wasn't her thing, not that she needed as all her team mates had been there. At least at the start.
"No he and I are just fine " Raven assured.
This was good news in Starfire's mind
"I am most joyous to hear that." Star replied
Raven decided to get this discussion moving.
"Listen" she urged "I have a plan that might solve our problems with Red-X once and for all".
Starfire listened intently, and as the plan was explained she began to smile.
(Line Break)
Shadow Squad HQ – Jump City
I felt someone try to nudge me into awakening, and for a moment I thought it was Blackfire as she had been in bed with me when I'd gone to sleep, but when I opened my eyes I saw that was Raven standing over me.
She was in her Titan outfit so for a moment I thought her group had somehow broken into the tower, but given that she seemed happy to be here I doubted that.
"What are you doing here Ray" I asked while checking to make sure that Blackfire wasn't anywhere in the room "Unless you've forgotten my friends are your enemies. Which means its dangerous for you to be here".
Not that I'd let anyone hurt her but I was worried about her being seen by the rest of Shadow Squad as that might led to them thinking that I'd betrayed them.
"I can take care of myself" Raven assured me "And this is important. I need your help".
Judging by her relaxed tone it wasn't anything urgent so I knew I had time to ask a question.
"How did you even find me?" I asked "I put up some wards".
One of my prizes from the tournament had been a book on enochian warding magic, which meant that nothing in this room could be seen remotely even by the gods. So no amount of magic should have allowed the purple haired girl to find me.
"I didn't get past the wards" she explained "I used a spell to guide me to you. It's easy to do because I have some of your DNA".
For a moment I was disturbed by that until I realised that she could have just taken a few hairs from my pillow back when we'd been sharing a room. Still it was a little odd.
"Listen, and don't ask any silly questions" Raven then said "Because I can't stay long".
Just because we were sort of a relationship, as much of one as we could have given our alliances. That didn't mean I had to do things for her, but I figured that she at least had the right to request something. As long as it didn't involve me getting out of bed for another hour or so.
"What do you want" I inquired.
Ray sat on the bed next to me before telling me anything further.
"The Titans have to go out of town for a few days" she informed me "I told Robin that I'd try and find someone to watch over the city, but he isn't just going to let Red-X into the tower".
Even if I had been willing to become Jump City's guardian for a couple of days. I didn't see anyway I could do that as Red-X as when wearing that suit I was a known villain, one who had just defeated the Titans. Albeit in a minor skirmish.
"But I have an idea" she said "Everyone saw us on a date so all I need to do is introduce you as a friend who has magical powers. You can do spells, right? More than just illusion stuff?".
My reply was a nod.
"Good so I take you to the Tower and tell the Titans that your a warlock I know from somewhere and that while you don't fight crime normally you're willing to keep an eye on things for me" she explained "Just tell Robin that your from the Hidden City, which is why you don't have any records".
I actually knew what the Hidden City was and where it was.
"That place in Turkey" I said before spotting a problem "What if he checks with Zantanna, she's from that city".
I could tell that Raven was impressed by my knowledge of such things.
"It's a big city" the Teen Titan explained "She can't know everyone from there and you'd have to use a hero name anyway so even if she does every family there Robin won't have a name to give her".
To me it sounded like a lot of trouble just to get Jump City a super powered babysitter.
"Can't someone from the League cover for you?" I asked while trying to make myself comfortable.
The League was expanding now that they had a fancy new Watchtower so there had be a super powered good guy who could spare some time.
"Not twenty-fours a day" Raven pointed out "They all have cities of their own to look after and lives to live".
I was going to say no, but sadly I was facing towards my sort of girlfriend and she was giving me a pleading look. Her eyes were making me feel like I was the only one in the world she could rely on. I had no idea how they could that, but they were making me feel things.
"Why do I get the feeling you will be the death of me" I said
If anyone in this dimension could get me killed it would be her.
"Oh don't be such a baby" the Titan chided "You're the Prince of Thieves".
Hearing that made me sigh.
"That's Robin Hood" I corrected.
When Raven handed me the morning paper I was proven wrong.
"Not any more" she said "That's your title now".
The paper had in fact given me that title. Word had gotten around by me leading the Shadow Squad, and somehow they knew I was the leader. The reporter didn't mention that the Titans had retreated just that the battle had been fierce and that we'd taken a diamond.
"And if you do a good job then no one will mind if you hang around the Tower" Raven then said "Which means you could spend the night in my room. With me".
Well that was a strong incentive.
"Fine but this ends up with me getting exposed as Red-X I will make you suffer" I mock threatened while rolling over "My revenge will be swift. Mark my words and mark them well".
That made Raven laugh.
"If you come by this evening I'll make it worth your while" she then promised "Maybe I could do something sexy for you to say thanks".
When I turned around, intending to make a suggestion, I found she was already gone but the door hadn't opened.
"And I thought I was sneaky" I muttered to myself as I went back to sleep.
(Line Break)
Safe House – Jump City
Rose Wilson put down her cup of coffee and went back to looking through the files that practically buried her desk.
She'd been able to gather a lot of information in a very short amount of time, and now she had to go through it all in order to figure out exactly what her father had been up to before he'd died.
She didn't even know how the man had been killed, not exactly. She did know who was to blame, but the details were unknown to her as she'd been off training when Slade had expired. Wintergreen knew more, but he was unwilling to tell her everything.
Lucky for her she was actually starting to get somewhere. Thanks to her father's records she knew that Slade Wilson had been diverting funds into different bank accounts and she knew who the money had gone to.
Some of the later payments had gone a former Teen Titan, who went by the name Terra, which suggested that she might have been a double or even triple agent and given that her power allowed her control the very ground it was almost certain she'd been involved Slade Wilson's death.
In Rose's mind this Terra had to have been working for the Titans the whole time, as part of some big plan to bring Slade down. It made sense as the Teen Titans had all been at the Steel Mill that night.
What she wanted to know now was if Red-X had been involved. He barely been around back when Rose had been living with her father and she had no clear memory of him so she had no idea if he might have also been working for the Titans, or if he'd been loyal to her father. This was because he'd vanished some weeks before Deathstroke's demise.
If he had been loyal back then he didn't seem to care much about Slade now as he'd done nothing to avenge his master's death. At least nothing fatal like Rose had planned. However he had taken command of a group of small time crooks who recently had defeated the Titans so it was possible that he a long term plan for payback.
Should this be the case then in Rose's view it would profit them both for her to ally with these super crooks, and if the Red-X wasn't after the Titans then that was okay too because he might willingly work for the young Miss Wilson if she paid him too.
There were other reasons to contact the newly crowned 'Prince of Thieves'. Slade had left him a large sum of money, perhaps only because the older Wilson hadn't updated his will in some months.
Regardless Rose intended to give the crook his inheritance even if would mean Red-X wouldn't be as tempted to work for her. But she wasn't too worried about that as people like him always wanted more than they had. If he hadn't he wouldn't be going around stealing diamonds.
Besides there were other ways to get a young man to do things a woman wanted, and that could led to fulfilling another wish of her late dear departed father.
It had been clear to Rose from the start that Slade Wilson had been trying to secure a legacy, and since he'd encouraged her to spend time with Red-X, she was also pretty sure that Deathstroke had wanted grandchildren.
That had not worked out because she'd never even gotten to spend time with the thief before he'd vanished. Yet Rose did want to give her father his legacy and having a child of her own was one way to do that. Deathstroke must have thought Red-X would be a suitable sperm donor.
Of course such would have to wait until the Teen Titans were dead, and in any case she was too young to be a mother, but it was something she would keep in mind for the future.
For now she needed to make contact with Red-X and to see if he could be useful to her. That would be simple enough as thanks to the morning paper she knew exactly who the thief cared about.
Now it was just a matter of setting up a meeting, and do that she needed to know a little more about this city. Which wasn't hard as she had all the information she needed right before her.
(Line Break)
Shadow Squad HQ – Jump City
When I'd finally gotten up I'd found that my Red-X suit was gone. When Blackfire had left my room she must have taken it as Jinx told me that it had somehow made its way into Gizmo's grubby mitts.
Then she had told me not to get mad as the tiny terror had a pathological need to tinker with things just as I had a strong desires to steal and annoy the Boy Blunder.
"So is the X-Suit in one piece?" I asked as I entered Gizmo's workshop.
The midget of mischief grinned and nodding his head enthusiastically, before presenting me with a briefcase.
"It's ready all right, I went with a full on overhaul and I improved the suit as much as I could" Gizmo told me.
Considering that he'd been drunk last night I couldn't imagine that he'd more than eight hours to work on it, but given that he could defy physics I wasn't very surprised.
"There was only so much I could do, because it was already so cool" the small scientist explained "So it still has most of the old features, but I was able to make them more efficient. Which means you won't use up as much energy as you used to".
That was very good as certain tricks this suit could perform drained the batteries too quickly for my liking, and there was only so much xenoithum in the world
"What about the rest of the suit?" I asked as I took it out of the case.
It felt slightly heavier than before, but that wasn't a big deal I was stronger than most people anyway so it would only be a matter of time before I adjusted to any changes enough so that it wouldn't be an issue
"Like you know the X-Suit is made of a special light weight bullet proof and fireproof material" Gizmo said "It's also insulated so you don't have to worry about electrical shocks and of course its waterproof".
I did indeed know all of this.
"What I added was a special coating that dampens body heat even better than before" the former H.I.V.E student said "So your practically invisible to anyone looking for you in infra-red".
I remembered that the Predator known as Orion hadn't been able to see me very well when I had my mask on.
"And since you did that magic thing you can't be seen by cameras anymore, but anyone with a motion sensor will still be able to find you. I think" Gizmo warned me.
That made sense as while the wards, that were sown into a layer of material inside the suit, would prevent things like cameras from seeing me they wouldn't help with motion sensors as those devices detected movement they didn't depend on seeing anything. The same could apply for any device that used sound to locate people such as Batman's sonar.
Still they were well worth having as I had them sown into all my clothes now, and while I didn't know for sure I was confident that they prevented me from being sensed by an empathic beings as well.
I'd tested this during my date the other day. However there was some doubt as I also knew that it was possible to sneak up on those who could feel emotions by remaining calm and relaxed. I had been in such a state of mind when sneaking up on Raven.
"Now I'm pretty sure that Cyborg has an inbuilt motion detector" Gizmo informed me "And I tested the infra red. You can't be seen directly but if you might leave a trail".
My suit couldn't completely shield my heat, because if it did it I'd ended up getting cooked inside it, so I would leave a small trail of heat where ever I went. But this wasn't a real problem as a good tracker would be able to follow my footprints much more easily.
"The mask still has inferred and night-vision" Gizmo was now saying "Now it also has ultraviolet which is really cool as it makes the eyes in your mask glow and you can see everything like you had a blacklight".
That was very cool as it meant that in the dark I would be able to see things that people normally couldn't. Like say stains or even fingerprints, there were even kinds of writing that could only be seen that way.
"That is very cool" I told the tiny person.
I found it hard to believe that he could all of that without altering the suit in any visible way. Yet the proof was before me.
"And I put in a scope, meaning you'll be able to zoom in on things" Gizmo went on to explain.
I had a feeling that these feature would come in handy in the future.
"Now the mouthpiece still has a synthesizer for your voice and a rebreather just in case you that Clown Freak the Joker, or that Scarecrow guy" I was informed "But it only filters out gas so don't go trying to breathe underwater. I could fit an air tank, but it would be heavy so unless your going out to sea don't bother carrying it around".
By the looks of things Gizmo had already built such a device, but it wasn't worth carrying around as I was a good swimmer. Also I couldn't die from drowning. I'd already found that out the hard way.
"Now check these out" my team mae then said while taking my gauntlets out of the case.
They were similar to ones worn by Batman, meaning they had odd shaped blades attached to them, and even cooler than that these ones were retractable. Which meant they were also a hidden weapon.
"Okay, why do I have these things on my gauntlets?" I asked.
By the sound of my voice the team's tech guy knew that I was simply curious nothing else.
"There called scallops, crude for brains" he said "They are razor sharp and they can cut through solid steel".
Now I was really impressed.
"The gauntlets can still electrocute people too" he then said.
Next he moved onto the knees. Which actually did look a little different now that I saw them close up.
"I added some protection to your knees in case someone tried to knock your legs out from under you" he told me.
While I'd heal any wound it was still better to avoid being hurt as if nothing else I didn't enjoy feeling pain.
"They also have a special stabilizer and bracer systems in place with the gauntlets to help you jump from high places without breaking your legs in the process" Gizmo explained.
I didn't need to verbally express how grateful I was for that cool feature, it was written all over my face.
"Last but not least we have the new belt!" Gizmo said as he grinned and pulled the said object out of the case
This Belt was ash-gray rather than black, however aside from that it looked exactly the same as the old one.
"With this I just added some nano-circuitry so your suit can repair itself. The nanobots are dump because there's no room inside them for computer memory, so I put that in the belt. Which means if you lose the belt the suit won't fix itself".
Since the suit required the belt in order to access all but the most basic of systems this wasn't an issue either.
"Everything else is the same" Gizmo finished "The teleporter and the cloaking device just use up less power that's all".
I put the suit back in the case. Then I thanked Gizmo as I left. However he didn't hear me as he'd passed out and I realised that he must not have slept at all last night since having a nap on the sofa.
With that in mind I turned off the light and slipped out the room without making any noise.