Author Note
I planned out a few endings for this story, and I found them all to be either ridiculous or they left the character in a position that wasn't going to led to Red-X returning for a book 3, should I ever get around to writing it. I also considered carrying on with story, but I think I've done what I can with Red-X the thief I think its time to move on to Red-X the mercenary.
After some thought I figured why not end this story with the Shadow Squad doing one last job before they all go their separate ways. The team has been a success so there's not real reason for it to carry on, not when there are adventures to be had elsewhere.
If you don't like it well I did my best, and endings are hard.
DC Gothic – Red-X 2
One Last Job
Shadow Squad HQ. Jump City
Today was a special day, one filled with both sadness and joy. It was sad because the members of Shadow Squad, for different reason were all heading separate ways. The alien powerhouse known as Blackfire had left sometime ago and now others were leaving.
Gizmo had decided that his talents were better spent making equipment for other people to use rather than use them himself, he'd used his share of the profits so far to buy a property big enough for his needs. I just hoped that he didn't go all mad scientist and punch a hole in the universe.
Mammoth also felt that he would be better off elsewhere. Shadow Squad had never really needed his muscle, and he'd been offered a contract with a wrestling organisation that specialised in metahuman matches. It was legitimate work and so he needed to leave his life of crime behind.
Jinx was going to India, and she didn't want me to come along. It was a family thing apparently, and while it was disappointing that wouldn't tell me about the problem I wasn't that upset about it. I liked Jinx a lot, but I couldn't say that I loved her.
As for the rest, well most of them had never been full timers, and I was sure that they had their reasons for leaving Jump City, but none of that mattered as the real reason why the Shadow Squad was shutting down was because we'd been too much of a success.
The HIVE FIVE had recruited me and put me in charge because they'd needed someone to make them flourish. They'd wanted to be rich and famous criminals, and now that they were the team wasn't needed anymore. I'd done my job a little too well.
On a more personal level I too was leaving because for reasons I didn't understand Raven, the mother of my yet unborn child, had just up and vanished. She was due to give birth soon and I was worried that I might not see her again, unless I went and found her. I also wanted to find out why she had left so suddenly, and without telling me. At least she had left me a note telling me was leaving, the letter had told me she would come back, but that hadn't comforted me and it wasn't really Raven I was worried about.
As painful as it was to part ways with my friends this was also a good day because now I had my new suit. It was mostly a copy of the one I had returned to Robin, but there were a few changes.
Gone was the cape. That had been replaced with an overcoat that could be quickly removed. This allowed me to carry more things, and it had been designed to fit with the whole Red-X look. The other big change was the belt now had more than just a cloaking device, and a teleporter.
Thanks to Lex Luthor of all people I had some of that lovely green space rock to help power my suit, which not only meant were the suit's existing systems more powerful I now also had a phase shifting device. This allowed me to pass through solid objects and with the teleporters extended range I would be able to get around far more easily.
Granted I was still limited to line of sight, but since it required less energy to teleport all I had to do was port somewhere high up and then use the telescopic feature in the helmet to pinpoint where I wanted to go next. This way I teleport across an entire city if I wished too.
My weapons had changed to. My scythe had vanished the same night Raven had, and there was a connection I was sure, but that hardly left me defenceless. I'd made my own magic sword, or to be more precise I'd enchanted a blade that had been forged for me with old one symbols.
The spell cast upon the weapon made it more durable than it should have been and I also placed symbols upon it that should allow me to kill anything that lived using the sword. I'd not tested it yet, but I had faith in my work, and I also figured that I was going to need it.
Also I carried a collapsing staff I'd gotten from Slade, the knife I'd gotten from the Predator known as 'Orion' and the blaster pistol that I had rarely ever used. On top of all that I still had the throwing Xs and the rotary Xs on the back of each glove.
Another way the new suit was different than the old was the hood. If I didn't wish to wear the skull mask and I still wanted to hide my face I could put on a smaller mask that only covered around my eyes. That combined with the hood would hide my features.
"Gizmo certainly went the extra mile" I said to Jinx as I put on my new skull face mask "Biometrics, infra red, and night vision".
I then turned to Jinxy who was waiting for me to finish getting dressed and I switched to what was call penetrative vision, and I saw under Jinx's clothes. It worked a lot like Superman's X-ray vision in that it allowed me to see behind layers, and even clothes.
"Yeah this suit is awesome!" I then cheered "and judging by the thong you're wearing I am getting laid tonight".
Jinx blushed crimson red and then covered her most private area with her hands, only that did nothing to stop me looking.
"You look sexy" I told her "and good work on not wearing a bra, you know I hate those things".
Jinx blushed some more before slapping my arm, not I felt it much thanks to the padding I was wearing.
"You're being a pervert" she accused while smiling at me "But I don't mind as long as it's you, and you can look some more later".
I would have to wait until later as the Shadow Squad had one last job. No one had hired us for it, this was just for ourselves. We were going to rob the largest stockpile of gold in Jump City.
While this wouldn't make us as memorable as if we'd knocked over Fort Knox, or stole the Crown Jewels right out of the Tower of London, but that didn't matter as this more about the money than anything else.
"Yeah lets go" I said "One last job".
(Line Break)
Gold Depository. Jump City
Mammoth groaned as he picked up more bars up for Kid to transport, gold wasn't that heavy when compared to other metals, but it given the amount they were stealing it was putting some strain on the big guys muscles.
"We shouldn't be too greedy" Red-X said to his team "I think that's more than enough. We'll fill up the safe house at this rate".
No one knew how Kyd moved things around, and he couldn't explain why because frankly he didn't know, however it wasn't important. What did matter was that the gold he was sending away would appear inside the safe house that was outside Jump City.
It was important that it go there rather than the group's soon to be abandoned headquarters because that was the first place the Titans would go looking for it. They'd no doubt storm the place, and perhaps even call in back up, but they'd find nothing.
The different members of the Shadow Squad weren't going to simply divide up the loot once they got the safe house because that would have been impractical. Rather they would hand the whole lot over to a guy called Midas who had a great love for gold.
In exchange for the costly metal the ten members of Shadow Squad who were involved in this job would get paid. Some would take money in cash, while others would take payment into offshore accounts. Red-X would be taking his share in jewels as they were easy to transport and also easily turned into regular money.
This was an important stage of the plan because then there would be no evidence linking the Shadow Squad to the robbery. None of them show up on camera and the security forces, who were all currently taking a nap, would suffer short term memory loss due a clever use of magic.
Even the heroes did chase them from the scene, and they thieves got arrested it wouldn't matter as the lack of evidence combined with well paid lawyers would ensure that no charges were pressed.
"Oh this is so much fun" Kitten cheered "I am so glad I joined you guys, my Daddy's going to be so impressed I'll make money from this one job and he made in his entire career".
Kitten, who was dressed a sexy catgirl for some reason, was the daughter of Gotham villain Killer Moth, who thanks to Batman had never really made it to the big leagues.
Gizmo then heard his pack go off.
"CRAP!" he yelled "the damn Titans are here".
While the crook team had planned for this, that didn't mean they wanted to fight the local heroes. What they wanted was to pull of one last successful job, and get the hell out of town.
"Kyd, get the loot out of here!" Red-X ordered.
Mammoth grinned and flexed his muscles, unlike everyone else he was looking forward to the coming fight.
"Last chance to leave before they arrive" Jinx said to her boyfriend "Think we should just go?"
Before he could reply Private Hive rushed in to report to Red-X
"Only four Titans, Sir" he told his boss "Red Robin, Terra, Beast boy and Cyborg!" He came up. "I don't see anyone else, no Raven and no Starfire either, Sir!"
No one was surprised by the lack of Raven, but there was confusion as to why Starfire wasn't around.
"We can take them!" roared Mammoth
Red-X agreed. Humiliating the heroes one last time was too tempting to pass up, and the Shadow Squad had numbers on it side.
"Private, Mammoth, Jinx and Gizmo will attack along with me" he ordered "everyone else hold back in case the Titans call in backup".
Private Hive and Mammoth ran outside as quickly as they could while Red-X headed up. Meanwhile Jinx and Gizmo went went out the back with the intent of separating once they were outside. They would each make their own way around building so they could attack the Titans from unexpected directions.
Outside, Terra, Red, Robin, Cyborg and Beast Boy landed in front of the bank and upon seeing Mammoth and Hive Cyborg, aimed his Sonic Cannon at the bad guys.
"Give yourselves up, and maybe we'll go easy on you" he said.
Mammoth chuckled.
"Sorry metal head, not gonna happen!" the big crook shouted.
The strongest member of the Shadow Squad grabbed Hive and threw him at Cyborg, shield first. He flew like a missile at Cyborg. Before there was any impact Beast Boy turned into a Gorilla and caught Hive, falling back and slamming him into the ground as Cyborg jumped on Beast boy's raised legs. Red Robin, having spotted Red-X headed for the roof
Using her powers Terra lifted up the ground Mammoth was standing on threw both the concrete and the villain, at Gizmo.
At the last moment Gizmo jumped into the air and fired at Beast Boy, Mammoth, after hitting the ground had grabbed the concrete slab he just been riding on and was now using it to smack Cyborg with.
Jinx had caught up with the others and was now keep Terra occupied, just as Mammoth kept Cyborg busy, and Private HIVE distracted Beast Boy. They were trying to win they were simply buying time for the other members of Shadow Squad to finish transporting their booty.
By far the most exciting battle was taking place on the roof. Red Robin was facing off against Red-X for what could be the finally time. Neither of them was fighting to kill, or to even wound, their battle was more about proving which was better. However this wasn't going to be the time that was decided as someone had called for backup.
"Let's go! There back up is here!" Red-X shouted.
The flash of light the thief had just seen signalled that the either the Justice League had sent a team to aid the Titans or that more of the younger heroes had just arrived. Either way it didn't really matter as the Shadow Squad wasn't going to stay long enough to find out.
(Line Break)
Shadow Squad HQ. Jump City
Everyone was enjoying the spoils of their success, Jinx was flipping through some of the cash as mammoth lifted the gold around, as a workout and as a way to feel the weight of their success. Gizmo was grinning and counting every single cent, while Kid was just staring at the bars intently.
Private Hive was trying to stick some gold bars on his shield, and no one had a had a clue why. Everyone else was sitting around and waiting.
"Midas will be in less than a hour" I said to the other crooks "Until then we just sit back and relax".
The safe house was an abandoned house far outside of Jump City, and there was no reason for the heroes to look for the villains here. Plus with the warding magic they'd be no way to tell if the bad guys were inside the building unless someone popped their head inside the door and looked.
"So where are you going next?" Jinx asked once I had taken a seat.
That was a complex question as I had no idea where to look for Raven. My only hope was that Doctor Fate could help me find her, which he should be able to do given how powerful and knowledgeable he was, however I had no clue how to get in contact with him. Finding the city would be a challenge, but there were plenty of magic users around, and one of them had to have the information I sought.
"I heard of this magical city somewhere in Turkey" I told Jinxy "If I can find the place then someone there might be able to assist me".
Jinx seemed to know what I was talking about, but since she didn't offer me directions she clearly didn't know where the magical city was either.
"So do you wanna go upstairs" she then inquired.
Since we had some time to kill that seemed like a good idea to me. Plus it might be the last time she and I had a chance to do it.
"Sure" was all I said.
With that I followed Jinx to one of the bedrooms, and I didn't intend to leave it was time to make the deal.