AN: Robin returns, and the Titans face a new enemy in Red-X. But Robin is Red-X…isn't he?

Outta This World: The Call Beyond Edition

Arc Two: Deathstroke

Chapter Thirteen: I Keep What I Steal

Entry #64

Couple'a days passed since Robin left and the mystery of the Raki brothers was unveiled. I've supervised Mikumo's training, alongside Raven and Cyborg. As it turns out, Mikumo's power is also fueled by emotion—or rather, one specific emotion: rage.

This can come from righteous fury, or from something far darker. It doesn't matter, so long as he's feeling some sort of frustration. However, if he can't control his anger…it's like Raven vs the Doctor Light copy-cat, but on steroids. Stuff gets tossed everywhere, and there's no way to stop it until he calms down.

He's gotten better at it, and he's been trying to figure out the whole Spiderman thing that I had going on with my grappling hooks. In other news, Slade's been trying to get his hands on more microchips, probably to continue this 'Project Legacy', whatever it may be. Emotionless drones don't seem like much of a legacy, so maybe…

I digress. Robin is expected to return home soon, so—

I sat up in my desk as the alarms blared, then grabbed my flight disk and quarterstaff, charging out of my room and to the common room, where the other Titans were already assembled. Each of them had grim looks on their faces and were facing a now blank monitor.

"Was it Slade?" I asked Cyborg, who stood at the front of the group.

He shook his head. "Not this time, but whoever it was might be working for him."

The monitor powered back up. On it was an image of a man in some kind of black skintight suit with a red X on the chest and the helmet, which was also decorated with the image of a skull. Said man also wore a black, ragged cape, grey gloves, and a grey belt with a red X on the centerpiece.

He was standing in some kind of high-security vault that I recognized as Slade's most recent heist target. The thief—for that was certainly what he was—seemed to fade in and out of existence as he approached the micro-chip, eventually reaching it and taking it once he reached its location. The clip ended.

"Where's he going?" I asked.

"East. Luckily, he seems to be going in a beeline, and he's making no effort to hide."

I smirked. "Shouldn't be hard to catch him then."

Jump City Rooftops. From the view of no one.

As the Titans would soon discover, it would be very hard to catch this 'Red-X'. At first, the confrontation had gone well. They had managed to keep the thief on the defensive, giving him no opportunity to attack. But the thief was nimble, almost as nimble as Robin was, and eventually he managed to pick them apart with use of his martial arts and gadgets. First Cyborg, then Beast Boy, and now…

Starfire let out a pained grunt as she crashed into a wall, a massive red X pinning her to it. She pulled against the object, using her powers of flight and her considerable strength to try and break free of its hold…to no avail.

"You know…" The thief began, his smooth voice made a bit scratchier thanks to a hidden voice modifier. "I would make some sort of line saying that we should go on a date…" The thief trailed off, holding his palm towards the redhead. "But I'm into blondes."

Before Red-X could activate whatever gadget he was trying to use, the black-clad form of Blitzkrieg slammed into the gadgeteer, attempting to get him into an armbar. However, the thief pressed a button on his belt, and he disappeared. As the electro-kinetic's head began darting around to find the criminal, he heard a slight pop, and then felt mind-numbing pain as something slammed into the back of his neck.

"What was that thing that edgy anime fans enjoy saying? 'Sorry, nothing personal kid?'" The thief quipped, a small chuckle erupting from him. So focused was he on his victory that he almost didn't notice a certain mage uttering her favorite phrase…

"Azarath Metrion Zin—!"

"Nope!"

The thief spun around and extended his hand out in her direction, firing a red X that wrapped around her face, cutting off her spell.

"Now if you excuse me," The thief began, heading for the edge of the roof. "I've got a train to catch!" Then he was gone, having used the belt to vanish as soon as he jumped.

Titans' Tower. The Titans.

The Titans returned home after the thief's escape, hoping to recover from the battle and look for clues on who their new enemy was and where he might strike next. At least, most of them were concerned about the latter part…

"Aw man!" Beast Boy cried, trying to pry some of the red adhesive substance out of his hair. "Look what he did to my do!"

"I dunno…" Cyborg began, a smirk on his face. "That seems like a pretty good look for you B."

"In all seriousness," Blitzkrieg interrupted. "Where do you think Red-X will strike next?"

Cyborg propped his chin on a closed fist, seeming to ponder the question for a moment. "If I had to guess? Either LexCorp or WayneTech."

Starfire raised a hand. "Both of these establishments have the chips of micro?"

"Yep." Cyborg replied. "As far as I know, LexCorp's been trying to make robots for the military—calls them OMACs I think—and WayneTech's been trying to use them to power those electric cars that everyone's been talking about."

Raven tried to say something, but the red X on her face muffled her voice, causing any word she tried to say to come out as unrecognizable groans.

Cyborg turned to her, grabbed one of the X corners, and yanked.

The force of the pull left a red X mark on her face as she barely managed not to let out a scream of rage and agony.

Blitzkrieg winced, and Beast Boy gave a nod of sympathy. Then, the changeling cleared his throat. "Okay then, where do we find—!"

The monitor in the center of the common room sprung to life, showing an image of Robin.

"Titans, if you can hear me, I'm in pursuit of a high-tech thief who has just escaped the WayneTech building. I am in need of backup!"

Outside of WayneTech. With Robin.

"Goddamnit!" The Boy Wonder cursed as Red-X fired another one of his projectiles at the teen vigilante. "How did you even get that suit! It was sealed under the highest security measures I could install!"

"Then they were really shitty measures!" Red-X yelled as he fled from the Boy Wonder. "Thank you for the toys, by the way!" The thief turned, throwing a red colored net that enveloped Robin, causing him to trip and fall on the pavement.

Robin cursed again as the thief fled the scene. Then he heard the rapid approach of footsteps and turned around. The other Titans—who looked like they had their own encounter with the mysterious thief—rushed up towards him. "Robin—!"

"I'm fine! Get him! Go now!" He commanded, pointing towards a subway that the thief had fled to.

The Titans rushed to obey, all save for Blitzkrieg, who observed Robin for a moment and then left with the others, who were hot on the trail of the thief.

The Subway. With Blitzkrieg.

Cyborg grinned as we entered the darkness of the subway. "I've adjusted my ocular implant to scan at multiple sub-harmonics in the EM spectrum." He informed us as his cybernetic eye began to glow.

Beast Boy blinked. "Could somebody translate that?"

I nodded. "I think that he means that if X is invisible, he'll be able to see him."

Cyborg's grin widened. "Exactly. He's not sneaking up on me this time."

A dark chuckle echoed throughout the tunnel. "Are you sure about that?"

Cyborg let out a sudden grunt of pain as he was sent flying towards Starfire, who caught him.

Beast Boy shifted into a tiger while I took out my quarterstaff, and Raven's hands began to glow black with magic. X chose this moment to unveil himself, letting out a confident chuckle. I grit my teeth as Starfire spoke.

"Please surrender! We do not wish to fight you!" She pleaded.

The thief chuckled once again. "You might not. I kinda do."

He threw an X at her, which was blocked by a barrier from Raven. Cyborg then charged, throwing multiple blows at the thief, only for him to turn intangible at the press of a button. Cyborg turned around but was hit by Starfire when she tried to low-altitude bulldoze the black clad thief. Beast Boy and I tried to rush the thief while Raven tossed a bench at him. He ducked under the flying bench, hit Beast Boy with one of the X projectiles, and then grabbed my staff when I tried to take a swing at him and threw me on to the railroad tracks.

I landed there with a pained grunt, and then felt light sting my eyes as I felt the ground rumble underneath me. I turned towards the light, recognizing the shape of the train as it rushed towards me, and I sucked all of the air I could into my lungs as—!

A hand grasped the back of my collar, pulling me off of the tracks and out of harm's way. I looked up to see that my savior was in fact the thief. I blinked. "You…saved me?"

Air made a hasty exit from my lungs as he kicked me in the chest. Red-X scoffed.

"I'm a thief…not a killer."

And then he was gone…again.

Titans' Tower. The Teen Titans.

The common room was silent as the Titans sat on various surfaces. Beast Boy and Cyborg on the couch, Blitzkrieg and Raven at the table, and Starfire on one of the counters. Robin was not in the room, as he had gone 'to check on something'.

Blitzkrieg was staring at the center of the table, his face hidden behind his mask and hands steepled, giving him an air similar to a certain Detective. Cyborg and Beast Boy stared at the blank TV screen, equally silent. Raven was reading a book but was clearly focused on something else.

Starfire simply sat on the counter…until she got down and began a slow flight towards the dorms.

Blitzkrieg's head snapped upwards and towards Starfire. "Starfire, where…?"

She turned to stare at him. "To ask what you will not."

Starfire floated down the darkened hallway towards Robin's room, until she stood at the threshold of the closed doorway. The Tamarainian took a deep breath, and let her tense body relax. She wasn't talking to a criminal, merely her friend, her leader, her…

She shook her head. That didn't matter right now.

She knocked on the door, making sure to not leave any dents with her unearthly strength. Robin's voice answered her, no expression or feeling in it. "Come in."

The door opened, and Starfire flew inside. She took a small look around, having never been in the Boy Wonder's room before. It was…utterly plain, something that would be expected of the average teenager, not the apprentice of Batman. What was at the back—what Robin stood in front of—was not so plain.

It was a vault of some persuasion, marked with a massive grey X. Inside was a small square room, the back wall marked with the indent of a person…or a suit. Inside of the indent was a sticky note that read: I.O.U.

Robin didn't turn to face her, opting to focus his gaze on the note. "I suppose that you've come to ask about my connection to Red-X?" He asked.

"We heard your dialogue with him." Starfire confirmed. "You created his tools?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Robin sighed. "I intended to use the suit to fool Slade into accepting me into his inner circle…by stealing things that he was looking for and then offering them to him in exchange for a 'partnership'…that was the plan, until today."

Starfire's shoulders sagged. "Were you ever going to tell us of this plan?"

Robin slumped over. "I think you know the answer to that."

There was silence for a moment. Then Starfire spoke.

"I am…disappointed that you did not tell us your plan…but I am glad that you told us now."

Robin let a wry smirk play on his face. "Well, let's hope that the others are as accept—!"

The alarm sounded, and Beast Boy's voice echoed through the intercom. "Rob! Star! Our thief is robbing LexCorp! And we think Slade is there too!"

Robin turned towards Starfire, a grim look on the young detective's face. "Later then."

LexCorp Building. Red-X.

Red-X smirked as he slipped out of the shadows of the OMAC chip room. "Last one." He muttered. "Last one. And then we're sending Insight to hell."

"On the contrary..." A new—and yet familiar—voice spoke, as a man clad in orange and black armor emerged from the shadows. "You'll be giving that chip to me."

Red-X spun around as the lights began to activate around the room, and Red-X found himself surrounded by several robots—both the ones often used by HIVE, and the ones Slade himself used.

"…Well, well, well." Red-X chuckled. "Deathstroke the Terminator. It's a legit honor to meet you."

"I would say the same, but nobody knows who you are." Deathstroke drawled out, drawing a sword from off of his back. "And soon, nobody will even remember you existed."

Red-X laughed. "Oh wow! Did I piss you off that much?! Did me taking those chips you needed make you that angry!?"

"I am hardly angry, child." Deathstroke replied. "But you have proven to be a thorn in my side, so I've decided to take the advice of an apprentice of mine."

Red-X allowed himself a wry smirk under the mask. "And that is?"

"To deal with this myself."

Red-X placed a hand over the X-shaped button on his belt. "Sir, while I would love to get my ass kicked by you, I'm afraid that the Titans will be here in three, two…"

As Red-X spoke the second number, the skylight above them shattered as the aforementioned heroes made their entrance.

"One. Goodbye."

And Red-X vanished once again.

Unknown. Red-X

Red-X gasped as he yanked off the helmet, allowing his dark hair to fall freely over his face. "God damn teleportation system! It's like living in a vacuum!"

The thief stood and examined his surroundings. A dark warehouse in the ass-end of nowhere. Right where he needed to be.

A blur of green lightning entered the warehouse, and a man in a green jumpsuit similar to the Flash's own suit stood in front of the thief. "Do you have the chip, Crowe."

Crowe grimaced and handed the speedster the chip. "Yeah, yeah, I do. Just tell me what the hell's going on, Windwalker."

The now-identified Windwalker examined the chip in his hand, and then muttered a single word. "OMAC."

One of Crowe's eyebrows twitched upwards. "What?"

"It's not supposed to be here." Windwalker replied.

"The chip?"

"What the chip is supposed to direct." Windwalker hummed, turning away from the thief. "A lot of things that are here shouldn't be here."

"…You think Insight's got something to do with this?" Crowe asked.

"No. We already know about his obsession with order." Windwalker responded. "But it's all too…perfectly placed for it to be random. No, someone's pulling the strings on this. Someone else is setting a trap for Team Canon…and they're using this world to do it."

"What do we do then?" Crowe inquired.

"There's nothing we can do…" Windwalker reasoned. "Except wait."

Paradise. The Savior.

"No one knows what it's like~" The Man in Gold sang as he gazed upon the wall once again. "To be the bad man. To be the sad man~"

AN: BUT MY DREAMS! THEY AREN'T AS EMPTY! AS MY CONSCIENCE SEEMS TO BE!

I have hours, only lonely.

My love is vengeance…that's never free.