Chapter 4: "Triple Trouble"

Cyborg adjusted a dial on a large console with his right hand, looking up as he finished doing so to see Rith standing at the front of a unique alcove, the other Titans scattered behind him and Cyborg both. The air beyond Rith was distorting toward the far wall, a copy of Cyborg's sonic cannon firing constantly on the blind boy's right, the beam vanishing as it touched the distortion. The half-robotic boy whistled. "My sonic beam reduced to a distracting buzz in a confined space… The air molecules are slowing down in a controlled spatial field. How can you keep track of this stuff, Rith?"

The blind boy smiled faintly. "No eyesight to distract me."

Raven loomed back seriously, but Robin smirked a bit, Starfire was curious and enthusiastic as she listened, Beast Boy just blinking at the jargon, and Cyborg chuckled. "So let's test something."

A cement block rose up on a platform inside the alcove where the air was so distorted.

"Use my beam to hit it from behind," Cyborg said with calm emphasis.

Rith only nodded, and the cannon's beam appeared clearly as the distortion vanished, but the blue-white beam bent, wrapped through the air behind the block, and pierced it from behind, shattering the cement into dust before the distortion returned.

"Your control is very precise," Raven commented, her arms crossed as she watched.

Without turning, Rith tipped his head to her comment appreciatively. Cyborg, however, grinned dangerously, and pushed a flashing red button. Rith raised his eyebrows, the others moving in closer to see what was happening, and the back of the alcove rose up into the ceiling, exposing a target dozens of meters away, in a large chamber.

"It's my workshop," Cyborg explained, his car visible off to the far right inside the newly revealed chamber, "so try not to wreck the wallpaper. Hit the target as hard as you like."

The blind boy smirked a bit. "As hard as I want, hmm?"

He just pointed, and the sonic cannon beside him released its beam, angling faintly to line up with the bull's eye. Abruptly it warped, bulged, and accelerated through the target, the beam vanishing into the simple distortion near Rith once again. The others looked to Cyborg for the report, but saw his slack-jawed sweat-drop instead. Raven's brow creased.

"Well…?"

Even Rith became a bit awkward as Cyborg remained silently stunned for a few more seconds, finally shaking his head free of the trance. He replied, "That blast hit with nearly thirty times the raw impact force as my normal blast."

Everyone focused back on Rith, the boy finally turning as the cannon shut off and the distortion vanished. He scratched the back of his head, embarrassed.

Beast Boy stared with spinning, blank eyes. "…You weren't even trying, dude…"

"It's easy when the sound is already there, Beast Boy…" he trailed off weakly, realizing he was just making it worse.

Raven's expression was stern. "That's quite a bit of power you can manifest."

He calmed, easily sensing her attitude along with the others. "It has its price. I very rarely find a location where I can relax without having to focus some of my ability to drown out noise. And if loud sounds do surprise me… well, you've seen the result of that."

Cyborg shut down the console, stepping around to join them. "So you're basically hyper-sensitive to sound, right?"

Rith nodded. "Any kind of vibration through matter, whatever the state. Underwater is a bit overwhelming for me… Whales are very loud," he admitted with a nervous smile, blushing a bit.

Robin stroked his chin, one arm supporting the other elbow. "That reminds me. I'm glad you did, but just how did you catch Red X that first time, down at the vault? Were you down there already?"

The boy became more gravely hesitant, everyone noticing, especially Raven. He cleared his throat, raising his eyebrows. "…I was on the roof."

Starfire blinked. "…You mean the Red X came in through the roof as well?"

"…Not exactly," he continued, still a bit anxious.

Cyborg's eyes widened. "You mean you heard him down in the basement?"

Raven's eyes were widened in controlled panic, but she was behind the others, so only Rith could sense it. It was precisely the reason for his anxiety. He remained honest and sincere, answering, "Yes," simply to Cyborg's question. "There's a car accident on fifth street right now, and there are five boats out in the bay around this island."

Everyone just gawked at him, even Raven sweatdropped a bit. Beast Boy blinked. "…You mean you can hear like that… for miles?"

"More if the conditions are right," Rith answered seriously, his head looking down.

Starfire poked her index-fingers together, blushing a bit as she floated in front of him. "…You can hear us in our rooms even on the roof?"

He immediately shook his head. "I would never violate your privacy. I make myself deaf to your rooms if I know you're in them. I let myself listen to the rest of the tower for security reasons, trying to be helpful while I'm here."

Raven touched a hand to her sternum with relief. Robin stepped forward. "I had no idea… How can you sleep at all?"

Rith smiled faintly. "I use circadian meditation. The benefits of sleep, less time used, and it lets me maintain a controlled deadening of my hearing."

Beast Boy blanched. "You never sleep?"

"I may as well be sleeping, my senses are all but closed off while I meditate in that fashion. It's not the only method I use, but the usual one. I can fall asleep if tired enough, like anyone on an airplane or in a busy building. The sounds eventually just drone into a white mass of noise. Car horns usually wake me up, though. Sudden and loud."

Thoughtful, Raven focused on him calmly, her suspicions eased a bit by his honesty. That would explain his wandering. Isolated places, far away from cities or other people would be the only places he could really rest… He was almost a kindred spirit… but she quashed that idea quickly, closing her eyes. Don't even start. Starting for the exit, she said, "Speaking of meditation, I'll be busy for a while."

Everyone looked to her, but Robin spoke with calm surprise. "You're not going to watch Rith's run through the training course?"

She stopped, turning with a consternated expression, but Rith himself smiled calmly. "I hardly consider myself that entertaining. Her meditation should prove more rewarding. I look forward to seeing how I do myself, but I won't ask any of you to stick around and watch."

Cyborg patted Rith's back, which almost knocked the blind boy over. "No way, Rith! It's a tradition! We all watch each other run the course, at least on the first run!"

The blind boy laughed a bit. "If it looks like I can join the team, why don't we wait until then to try guilt-tripping her into watching me, mmm?"

Starfire popped up beside Raven, making the darker girl jerk and twitch away. "Oh please, Raven! Let us all watch Rith demonstrate his skills! I am most eager to see him show versatility with his powers!"

Raven calmed into an annoyed, closed-eyes stance, her head bowed. "Like he said, my meditation is important."

Beast Boy smiled, sighing a bit. "Nice try, Cy, but I think we should let her go this time."

She looked up with silent surprise, and the others focused on their green friend. Robin smiled easily. "I guess you're right. Sorry, Raven. Have… a nice meditation."

Raven smiled a bit, tipped her head, and left finally. Rith laughed at himself. "I suppose I better be impressive now…" The others giggled or laughed with him.

Outside the room, Raven paused, her eyebrows rising up in the middle. She sighed wearily, her head sinking, and walked back. "…Well are we going outside or not?" she asked with a faint smirk, leaning on the door-frame.

Everyone was happy to see her agree, but she saw Rith's sincere surprise. He quickly softened it into an appreciative smile, and Cyborg led the march out to the tower grounds, where the practice course was built-in.

(Outside the Tower…)

A few minutes later, Rith stood with staff on the rocky ground beneath the controls for the course, the other Titans standing up there with Cyborg. "It's real simple, Rith. Just go through the obstacles as they pop up until you get back here as fast as possible."

The tan-cloaked boy nodded. "Ready and waiting."

Raven leaned against the rock wall behind Cyborg, one foot tapping off the ground lightly as she looked down at Rith. After Terra and Malchior, she wasn't any better disposed to trusting than before, but at this point she had to admit Rith had a sincerity about him and gave off none of the threatening sensations she'd felt in Terra. Malchior… if she'd been thinking reasonably she would have noticed certain signs, too, but that didn't matter anymore. The idea of just relaxing a bit around Rith seemed appealing, but she couldn't let it happen… not with Slade lurking in the shadows, waiting…

Cyborg booted up the sequence, and pressed the final confirmation. "You're hot! Go!"

Rith sprinted forward, his staff held along his back with his right hand, and reached a series of crashing gates. The first one blew apart at his gesture from a sonic blast, but then he flew off the ground and shot through the remaining four, skidding to a halt in front of a field of stone spikes that suddenly fired target-locked missiles at him, dozens of them.

Deciding to use a little flare rather than necessity, Rith smirked and shot off again, coiling and swirling through the missiles, arcing over the field. He landed, the missiles curving around to chase him, as a massive robot pulled itself out of the ground beyond, aiming glowing optics at him as they tried to build to fire lasers. Rith snapped his fingers as the first missiles came close, and they exploded… without a sound. The shockwaves pulsed back, blowing up the whole nest of missiles, and Rith shoved his arms forward, staff gripped in his right fist. A blasting wave of distortion rushed past him, swirled into a beam, and blew the robot apart.

He flew through the collapsing remains, and flickered into a sequence of rings that opened within a certain time scheme. At the second to last ring, his body swinging right from just twisting through the previous one, he shuddered to a halt in mid air, distortions swirling past his body, as the ring shut, then sprang back up, letting him shoot through, rushing back toward the console, where the Titans waited. Cyborg smirked, and touched a few controls. "Let's see how he handles this."

Spheres rose up on long poles, and gave off dull chimes, distortions pulsing out from them all around Rith. He flipped over, crashing to his haunches, gripping his staff securely. Raven's brow creased, realizing Rith was braced for a fight. "…What are those spheres doing?"

"The sonic version of a hologram. All the right sounds of a small army of droids, but nothing's actually there."

Rith finally lunged forward, sweeping with his staff. When he hit nothing, the boy immediately laughed, and shot ahead, his staff ramming through the stalks of the raised spheres in his way. Cyborg pouted. "…Figures…"

A cluster field of energy cannons popped up on the final stretch, and Rith let himself land, dashing toward them. As they fired, he let shots bounce off a bubble of sound around his body, ducking and weaving around others, finally taking his staff to the guns as he came close. With a flurry of strikes and precise leaps and spins, he skidded to a halt in front of the console, a trail of flaming cannon-stumps in his wake.

Cyborg hit another button, and all the hidden weaponry descended and shut off. "Not bad at all, Rith. You came second for the best record. Robin's," he finished with amusement.

The blind boy feigned arrogant dismissal. "Oh well, what can you do?" He shrugged and tossed his free hand, then grinned. "Nice trick with the sonic emitters, by the way. They were a little squishy though."

Cyborg blinked. "Squishy?"

"Yeah, they looked kinda like jell-o gnomes…"

Beast Boy visualized the idea, and burst out laughing, rolling on the ground as Raven rolled her eyes. She stepped down to Rith's level, her cloak rustling gently. "You're disciplined, but you don't mind showing off, I see."

"I tried to have some fun with this, yes. Should I not have?"

She shrugged, starting to walk past him. "Just means you're hiding your serious focus from us," the purple-haired girl added, actually smirking a bit with her dry humor.

Rith, however, stopped-short, blushing a bit. "Oh… you're right… sorry."

As the others came down, Raven turned around, slightly puzzled. "I was joking… as hard as that is to believe," she finished with a faint dry turn to her voice.

He smiled. "Oh I know, but you're right, too. I didn't mean to, sorry."

She continued to look at him quizzically, but finally smiled a bit, and walked off. Starfire flew down and giggled. "Very impressive, Rith! A glorious display!"

The blind boy smiled back. "I'm glad you liked it, Starfire." Her warm attitude charmed him easily. She was very good and cheerful, it was a relief in a harsh world.

"The way you dodged those missiles was… inspirational," Robin added wryly.

Rith laughed a bit. "Glad to be of service."

Cyborg's arm beeped before he could offer his own comments, and he checked it. "Ah, now we're talkin'! That data we swiped from the robot in the metal works is finally decrypted. I'll go check it out, see what I can find."

"Want me to help?" Rith offered immediately.

Cyborg waved it down. "Don't worry about it. And, no offense, but it'll all be screen work anyway."

Rith just nodded, not taking any. Robin smiled for his friend. "Great, Cyborg. Call us all in when you think you've got something."

"You got it!" the half-metal boy gave a thumbs up to them as he walked off.

(Later…)

That evening most of the Titans were in the living area. Rith was in the kitchen washing the dishes, Beast Boy and Robin were playing video-games under Starfire's energetic cheering for whoever was losing at a given point in time, and Raven was sitting back on the right side of the room, smiling a bit as she read the book Beast Boy bought for her, her legs crossed and her mind engrossed.

Rith smiled to himself as he cleaned the dishes, drying a few off with a towel. Though the sounds of the game and the others' shouting were a bit harsh, they still showed him Raven's soft face, her lips in a faint smile. She had such a lovely smile, however subtle. After a few minutes, he started to brew up some tea, pleased to sense her still focused on her book and the others playing. Robin had traded out with Starfire, both he and Beast Boy happy to teach her more about playing as she bravely attempted to best Beast Boy in the racing game.

"Go, Star, go! You can do it!" the boy wonder yelled happily, batting his fist in the air.

Starfire focused tensely, Beast Boy and she both braced on their knees, leaning closer and closer to the screen on the final stretch. At the last second, Star shot ahead of Beast Boy by a nose on their vehicles, and she squealed with glee, raising her arms up. "Glorious victory! I see clearly why the video games are so much fun!"

Beast Boy gawked at his loss, but then grinned as he and Robin goaded her into playing another race, this time against Robin.

Raven finally broke her focus and glanced over to them with a soft addition to her smile. It was good to see her friends happy and enjoying themselves. When a soft thud sounded beside her, she quickly looked up on her right, and blinked as Rith stood there, setting a cup of tea on the table beside her right elbow as she held the book. For some reason she found herself awkward as he smiled gently.

"I thought you might want some tea. Is that alright?"

Raven calmed her expression to mild amusement. "Oh no, I can't stand it when people wait on me…"

He shared her humor perfectly, smirking a little, and tipped his head sincerely before starting to return to the kitchen. Noting her place in the book, Raven folded it closed over a finger, and focused up on him. He stopped, apparently 'seeing' the gesture, and turned back to her, mildly curious.

"I'm sorry about what I did when Red X first tried for the belt. Suspicion is one thing, but… I went a little over the top on you."

Her expression was apologetic, calm and reserved, but he felt the deep sincerity in her voice, and the shapes of her eyes. The sounds washed over him, and he was smiling easily. "You already apologized for that, and I told you it was quite understandable. You were protecting your friends."

Raven nodded faintly, but added, "I apologized again… because I feel like I was attacking a friend…" She turned a bit sympathetic and curious as his expression became deeply wistful, his whole body seeming to slow down and stop. "…Are you okay?" she asked quietly, knowing he, of all people, would hear her.

His smile returned brightly, simply maintaining the wistful attitude that had fallen over him. "Oh yes… thank you. I'm wonderful." As her head pulled back in mild anxiety, he quickly regained his composure. "Please, continue to enjoy your book. I didn't mean to interrupt so much."

Raven smiled a bit, nodded, and looked down to her book as he walked to the kitchen finally. Her eyes glanced back up at his back, somewhat troubled. She knew what the subtle shift in his expression had meant. …I guess it's too late to not drag him into my problems anyway… but… she blushed a little, and quickly cleared her throat, truly focusing on her book to avoid the issue in her head.

Just a moment later, Beast Boy, Robin, and Starfire were walking toward the kitchen area as well, the last game ending with Robin losing by a shy margin himself, and they were intent on treating Starfire to a victory snack. Beast Boy paused, letting Robin and Star continue on as he realized Raven was reading the book he gave her. His eyes flared and he grinned, leaping over to her. Raven jumped, her hair flailing up as her tea-cup shook dangerously from her surprise, a blush of embarrassment on her cheeks, but Beast Boy quickly caught the cup, steadied it, and returned to grinning. "You're actually reading it! Awesome!"

The others paused near the kitchen, looking back to watch.

Raven calmed with a mild laugh and faint smile, nodding. "It's actually pretty interesting, Beast Boy. Thanks."

"No problem!" he yelled happily, springing in the air and making her wince, though she was still amused.

Robin grinned, leaning back on the counter. "Beast Boy, you bought Raven a present?"

Raven blushed a bit under the attention herself as Beast Boy flushed with pride. "Yeah, yeah! And she likes it!"

Starfire shot over, Raven reeling back in her seat. "Oh show me the wondrous gift Beast Boy has bought for you! Please, please!"

A bit stuck for words, Raven slowly held the book up, showing the cover. "It's just… memoirs of famous witches here on earth, basically…"

Starfire glowed with happiness, floating curled up in front of the sitting, pallid girl. "Oh a perfect choice! It is a subject you find most interesting, yes?"

So much direct attention on her interests was a bit awkward for Raven, so she actually patted her hair down the back of her head, looking down and off. "It's worth looking into, yes… I… tend to read spell books or histories… this one… just… It's something new, I guess."

Starfire giggled, and latched onto Beast Boy. "Then we must let Raven enjoy your lovely gift, Beast Boy. Come, come!" She yanked him off so fast his spinning eyes waited in the air for a split-second after they zipped to the kitchen.

Raven's smile flashed a bit brighter, but she was relieved in a certain sense to just focus back on her book. Still, she found herself smiling as the others chatted with Rith about their videogame exploits.

(Later…)

Cyborg charged into the living room from the main entrance, marching down the stairs with a disc raised in his hand. "I got something. Y'all might wanna take a look."

Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Rith moved from the kitchen, and Raven set her book down, everyone walking over to the TV area as Cyborg slipped the disc into the computer console, bringing it up on the main screen. It showed a grid-map of a section of the city, and five different buildings were illuminated, several blocks away from each other. "The robot used a scrambler in case anyone, like us, tried to backtrack its boss, but because of the direct connection, it had to use a limited range encryption."

Beast Boy drooled with blank eyes, then snapped out of it. "Say what?"

"The signal bounced around five places, but the hideout is one of the five," Raven explained flatly.

"Booyah," Cyborg muttered calmly, adjusting some controls to bring up images of the five buildings. Most of them were warehouses, one was an office building, and another was on the harbor, a pier building.

Robin stroked his chin, eyeing the images thoughtfully. "I'm not sure what would be the best plan. Splitting up would put each of us in danger, and taking each building could give Dr. Gear time to escape."

Abruptly the tower alarm went off, the Titan's respective comm devices blinking in unison. Robin ran to the secondary console, booting it up to see what the situation was. "Unbelievable… Three places are getting hit at once. Red X and more machines are attacking three separate computer manufacturing facilities in the heart of the city."

Rith raised an eyebrow. "X is working with Dr. Gear?"

Robin shook his head. "Can't say yet, might just be a coincidence."

Raven pulled her hood up. "We should split up, a pair for each problem."

"I agree," the team leader said with a nod. "Starfire, you and I will handle Red X. Cyborg, Beast Boy, you two handle this place," the main screen shifted, showing a blow up of one building, "Raven, take Rith with you to the other," and that building appeared as well.

Rith hesitated fractionally, but when Raven turned to him, he sensed no hesitation on her part, so he nodded calmly. "At your leisure, madam."

She quirked an eyebrow, but raised her cloak on the left, her soulself engulfing them both. An amorphous black effigy shot out of the tower, flying to the city. Cyborg and Beast Boy ran to Cy's car, and Starfire grabbed Robin, flying him out of the tower.

(Later…)

A robotic figure just too large to be human threw a large, mechanical door behind it like a paper weight, crashing through the opening and moving past rows of super-computers, toward another vault at the end, the walls and computers black with a glistening, white floor. In the clear light, a human face was visible in the head of the robot, obviously a muscular, silver cyborg-body-suit of some kind as the relatively young man marched along, grimly satisfied with his power.

A black swirl appeared on the safe he wanted, causing him to pause as Raven flowed out, Rith stepping up on her left, staff pinned under his arm. Raven's expression turned gravely troubled. "Adonis?"

The boy in the robotic suit grinned. "Well, well. And I was worried you wouldn't come back to me, baby."

Her eyes narrowed to slits, glowing. "And I was going to go easy on you…" Her hands wrenched up, engulfed in black power, and then slammed straight.

A beam of soulself blasted into Adonis' silver chest, but he skidded back, tensed, and then flexed taut, breaking her hold on him. Raven groaned faintly, shaking her hands as if stung. "His new suit is tougher than the old one."

Rith twirled his staff, running around her. "Dr. Gear's work, I can tell. Try to find a similar power source to the automaton we fought!"

Raven calmed and focused as he ran into the fray.

Adonis laughed, and sent his fist flying down at Rith's head, but the blind boy flickered, flipping over the attack and slamming both feet into the silver chest, the air distorting with thick waves. Adonis grunted, and then laughed. "You can't hurt Adonis!" He grabbed Rith, who gave a shout of pain as his arms were crushed into his flanks, and threw him into the right set of computers.

Raven snapped out of her trance in alarm, watching Rith crash into the fifth computer away from Adonis, several sparking stumps marking his trail as the boy limply lay on the ground. "…Rith," she whispered painfully, realizing she'd failed to help him. Then her eyes focused on Adonis. "Let's see how you like it when the lights go out!"

She flexed her hands up and forward, Adonis' head engulfed in darkness. He stumbled, clutching at the bubble of shadow, and finally shouted in anger, charging blindly ahead. Raven's eyes widened, realizing she would crushed by his armored body, and released her spell. He smirked at the last second, and wrenched his right hand forward, grabbing her around the waist and slamming her against the wall. Raven grunted, and then grabbed the hand holding her, shoving with all her might. Realizing she couldn't push free, she glowered at Adonis, who leered at her. "How about a kiss for Adonis?"

"I agree with your taste in women…"

Raven was just as confused as Adonis, seeing no body to go with the voice they had both heard clearly on Adonis' left. Raven jerked her eyes left, smiling a bit as Rith appeared on Adonis' other shoulder, staff braced back for a swing, brow firmed, but smirking. "But your method needs some tweaking!"

Adonis took a sonic-powered slam straight to his rather unprotected face, and flew back, releasing Raven into a floating position before he crashed out through the initial vault he'd torn out of the first wall. Rith joined her in watching Adonis try to get up, his face hardly recognizable it was so battered, and finally crash onto his back with a shuddering thud. Raven dropped down lightly, and then looked to Rith with a raised eyebrow as she pulled her hood down. "…Taste in women?"

Rith smiled a bit. "Well I doubt you've never been told you're beautiful before."

He said it so easily and honestly that she was simply stunned, not even blushing at first, her hands hanging down from slightly raised arms. Rith started past her, ignoring the whole matter. "We should make sure that suit doesn't come back to haunt us. Then shall we go see if your friends need some back up?"

Raven watched him walk ahead of her for a heart-beat, abruptly blushed as the meaning of what he'd said before really hit, and then shook her head free of the distraction before hurrying after him. "Sounds good. Let's hurry though." He simply nodded his agreement as they reached Adonis.

(Meanwhile…)

Beast Boy slammed into a wall with a pained grunt, Cyborg skidding back near the shapeshifter on two boots and his left hand. The green Titan picked himself off the wall and took on a stance beside Cyborg. "Alright, this thing is making me mad!"

Hulking down in the large space centered in the highest floor of the computer facility, Dr. Gear's robot flashed its red optics. Smaller than the big one the whole team had fought, It was as large as Adonis' suit, with a similar robotic-muscular design.

Cyborg activated his cannon. "You thinkin' what I'm thinkin', BB?" He looked to his friend with a dark smirk.

Smacking his left fist into his right palm, Beast Boy smirked right back. "Sonic-Rex time, baby!"

Cyborg charged the robot, which gave a roar from its wolfish head, and shot off to meet him. Cyborg fired, skidding to a halt. The robot generated a field of dull white energy beyond its head, dispersing the sonic beam. Lunging through the dissipating blast, the robot had no chance to avoid the angry, green T-Rex. Beast Boy head-butted the machine, sending it rolling over itself, slamming into the far wall with a sweatdrop and dying moan.

When the robot flopped onto its back, Beast Boy returned to his normal shape, eyes still spinning from the head-butt. Cyborg let his arm transform as he stepped forward, a serious expression on his face. "Doesn't wanna play dead…"

Beast Boy shook his head clear, and his eyes just about popped free of his head. "Dude, we took him down already!"

The robot picked itself up, growling, and flashed its eyes. There was a sizeable dent in the monster's forehead, however. Cyborg smirked a bit. "Time to take this outside. Hey, B, keep him busy for a second!" he called, running off to the left.

Beast Boy blanched, and then saw the robot rip-start toward him, claws tearing at the ground. "Oh man!" Shifting into a cheetah, he sprinted for the back of the ante-chamber into which they'd been knocked initially.

Bounding powerfully with its legs, the robot kept after Beast Boy, actually laughing a bit as the green cheetah ground to a stop in front of the wall. Twisting around, he stared dismally at the charging robot, only to smile the next second, reverting to his human form. "Have a nice trip, chrome-dome!"

Beast Boy vanished into a bird, which flittered off as Cyborg shoulder-rammed the robot form behind with a loud, "Booyah!" It pitched forward, sweat-dropping with shock, and plowed through the wall as Cyborg dropped down, Beast Boy landing in his normal shape on his left. They leaned out to see the machine hit the ground, shattering into hundreds of pieces. Cyborg grinned. "Guess he couldn't keep it together!"

Beast Boy guffawed. "Nice one!"

"Hah, hah…" a familiar, dry voice replied with no humor.

Cyborg and Beast Boy spun around to see a shadow drop Raven and Rith into the building with them. Cyborg waved, walking up with Beast Boy as he said, "We showed it who's bad, no worries!"

Raven pulled her hood down. "Any news from Starfire or Robin?"

Sharing her concern, Cyborg activated his comm device. "Yo, Robin? Star? Any luck?"

Starfire's anxious voice replied in spurts, interrupted with alarmed squeaks. "We have-ah!-found the Red-eep!-X! Robin and he are-ah!-fighting! I can not assist without harming Robin!"

Cyborg focused. "We'll be there as fast as we can! Cyborg out!"

Raven raised her arms. "It's not too far. Come on, I'll bring us."

They all vanished in a bubble of darkness, and a black bird effigy shot into the sky. On the street below, a smaller robot burst out of the wreckage, and looked up with a flash of its optics…

(Elsewhere...)

Starfire floated from one spot to another fretfully. The large storage room was filled with computers, boxes, crates, and part-strewn metal tables, and the lighting was less than fantastic. Robin leapt back from Red X as the thief swiped with his spinning blades. Starfire built power around her fists, but Robin shot back in before she could safely blast the darkly clad villain, who was on her left as she watched them. "Oh," she drew out anxiously, "I can not help my friend…"

Robin rolled backward in mid-air, dodging a swipe from X, and snapped to a crouch before sweeping with his left leg. X flickered out of sight, and Robin leapt up with a spin-kick, catching X in the face as he reappeared. The thief skidded back, facing off with Robin.

"What are you after, X?" Robin demanded, blast discs appearing in his hands.

The filtered voice chuckled. "That's the big question, isn't it?"

Frustrated, the leader of the Titans snapped his arms, unleashing a barrage of yellow-black discs. X just aimed his palms and let a flurry of x-stars fly to meet them, exploding violently. Before he could take advantage, however, a star-bolt slammed into him, sending the thief crashing into an old super-computer. Starfire flew in, eyes glowing. "We will not let you steal from this place!"

Red X picked himself up with a sigh. Focusing past Robin, off to his left, the thief spotted a large vault door in the far wall. There it is… Looking back to Starfire as Robin twirled his staff out at the ready, X replied, "Sorry, beautiful, but I have business to take care of." X dove to his left, Starfire eye-blasting the computer in his wake.

The alien girl squeaked, embarrassed by her mistake, and saw Robin leap ahead, staff rushing at X's face-plate. Red X vanished with a laugh, Robin awkwardly spinning in recovery from the miss. X appeared at the vault… but it turned black, and a claw of shadow grabbed him, slamming him back into a crate. Robin and Starfire shot in, Raven, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Rith pouring out of the swirling black on the vault. Raven stood ready, hands raised. "I think you missed the point of a vault."

Surrounded, X slowly stood. "I was never much for following the rules, kid."

Cyborg aimed his cannon, Beast Boy warped into a raptor, Rith summoned distortions on either side, Raven called shadow around her hands in spheres, Robin held his staff forward, and Starfire's fists and eyes blazed with crystalline, jade power. Raven's expression remained flat. "We'll see who's the kid."

"Right," X drew out in amusement. Abruptly, he leapt at Robin, and the boy wonder spun to meet him with his staff. X blocked it with his foot, starting to fall, and Cyborg and Starfire fired at him with their arms. X laughed, sweeping his right arm in an arc behind his body, creating a red field that absorbed their attacks, his left foot snapping into Robin's face. As he started to fall, the sonic beam shooting out at Starfire, the star-bolt at Cyborg, the thief aimed his palms at the other three, and fired off x-shaped blasts.

Rith focused to blast the one flying at him with sound, but it exploded with a sonic wave itself, and he had to concentrate powerfully to avoid it destroying the whole building. Raven just started to chant her sutra when her hands were caught by small x-restraints, which distracted her enough to let another clamp over her mouth, her eyes widening in surprise and alarm. Beast Boy was bowled over by the X that struck his raptor chest, snapping around his limbs and sticking to him even as he reverted, rolling him into a hog-tied green, black, and purple ball on the floor.

X shot past the group, Raven clawing at her mouth-cover, and slammed his palm into the vault. A red flash 'x' marked the door, and it simply fell into four pieces. X dropped, looking down as he realized the falling chunks of metal made no sound. He spun in time to take the sonic ram straight to his chest, flying into the vault-space and smacking into the back wall with a harsh thud. Raven finally started to get her gag off, and it split apart in her grip. The girl felt the rush of precise sound-blades as Rith leapt past her, the others rushing close to help Beast Boy and guard the exit of the vault.

Red X groaned, rubbing his chest as Rith faced him inside, brow creased. X dropped into a stance, but started to glance around inside the vault. Rith raised an eyebrow as he calmed. "I guess you are not looking for anything in here?"

The thief started to ease back. "I guess I got some bad info…"

The blind boy stamped his staff to the ground. "From whom?"

Beast Boy, rubbing his sore wrists, looked to the others. "I didn't think anybody actually talked like that…"

Raven just waved for him to shut up, watching with Robin and the others seriously.

Red X slowly shook his head. "Bad for business to talk about that, kid. You should know that, at least."

"Your business is bad," Rith replied with mild humor. Robin appeared on his right, Starfire floated up on his left, and Raven, Cyborg, and Beast Boy filled in behind them.

The leader of the Titans moved ahead, staff at the ready. "Tell us what you were after."

With a light laugh, the thief raised his right hand. "No can do." Everyone braced, but his left hand snapped out and released a blinding flash and deafening boom. Rith gave a shout of pain, and when the others could see again, the thief was gone, and Rith was kneeling, staff on the floor, holding his head.

Realizing Red X was gone, Robin hurried to the kneeling boy with the others, getting down in front of him. "Anything serious, Rith?"

The cloaked boy shook his head faintly. "…Just need… a few seconds…"

Raven drew back. "Give him some room, your hearts are deafening him at that range."

The others quickly did so, simply not realizing the fact for themselves yet, and Rith gave a soft tip of his head in thanks to Raven as he remained on his knees. At length, he rose to his feet, picking up his staff, but was noticeably wearied. "Thank you very much. I'm sorry I couldn't do much to help."

Robin managed a smile. "You did plenty, and we all did a good job considering. I hope you guys at least had better luck?"

Cyborg and Beast Boy gave thumbs up, Raven simply nodding. "Adonis was sporting a new suit, made by Dr. Gear," she added.

The leader nodded, crossing his arms thoughtfully. "I think it's pretty obvious that Red X is working for Dr. Gear, or was at least hired by him for this job. It's all too coincidental, splitting us up like this."

Cyborg blew out a breath. "It's been a long day. Let's say we call it a night and get some shut-eye?"

Robin smiled, everyone agreeing. "Sounds like a plan. Let's go home."