Chapter 14- X Marks Something Else
Starfire stood in front of the kitchen sink with a distressed look on her face while she left the water running through the faucet. She placed her hands on the edge of the counter and leaned against it, letting her upper body slouch forward as she continued starring off into space. It was only 8:30 in the morning and already she was up preparing the tea kettle for Raven while everyone else slept. Although she had went to bed late last night, or rather this morning, she felt like getting up because something heavy was weighing on her mind. Robin never said anything to her after she gave him that kiss, and she was beginning to deeply regret it. What if she came on too quickly to him, she thought to herself. What if Robin wasn't ready or prepared for that? What if Robin didn't like her that way? What if—her train of thought was interrupted and she gasped as a warm hand slithered onto her shoulder.
"Hey Star," said Robin as he came to the other side of her with his arm around her.
"Robin, thank Zall it is only you" she said surprised to see him up this early.
"Sorry I kinda snuck up on you like that. I didn't mean to scare you."
Starfire giggled and said, "You are forgiven. Please, why do you awaken at such an early time? Where you not the tired from last night?"
"Oh I was plenty tired," he said. "But I was…actually hoping that maybe…I'd get up before you did and cook you some breakfast. Have you eaten yet?"
Starfire smiled at him and said, "I have not. Perhaps we could have breakfast together before everyone else awakens?"
"Sure," said Robin with a smile. "What would you like?"
Starfire paused and thought for a minute on what she would like to eat. "Perhaps…the balls of meat with the boiled strings," she asked sheepishly.
Robin smiled at her and said, "Well, then spaghetti and meatballs it is," and went to one of the cabinets and pulled out a large pot and filled it with water then placed it on the stove.
"May I assist you," Starfire asked.
"Of course," said Robin. "Could you get out a smaller pot and the tomato sauce from the refrigerator?"
"Certainly," she said. "I shall retrieve the sauce of tomatoes."
Robin turned the burners on and began cooking the spaghetti, then went to the freezer and pulled out the bag of frozen meatballs Cyborg got on his last trip to the grocery store. He and Starfire began cooking their breakfast together but nearly ruined the meal on account of how much flirting they were doing. Robin would feed her noodles to make sure they were done, and they'd gotten in several food fights where they'd throw and put spaghetti on each other's heads.
"Oh no you don't," Robin chuckled as he tried to keep Starfire from putting more spaghetti on him.
He gained the upper hand and spun her around and pulled her in against the his body. He kept her arms crossed around her waist so she could not move and held them down with one hand, then with the other, reached into the strainer and pulled out a handful of pasta.
"No, No Robin," Starfire laughed as she struggled to break free. "I don't want; I don't want to…No! No! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Robin, Stooooooppp HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AH HA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" She squealed as she felt a glob of warm slimy noodles fall on top of her head.
Suddenly the doors slid open and Raven came through with her book in hand. The flirting couple stopped laughing and looked at Raven with guilty faces while she stared at Robin leaned over Starfire with his arms wrapped around her.
She looked at them with raised eyebrows and said, "I'm not even going to ask." Raven went to the kitchen counter and poured herself a cup of herbal tea without looking at them again. "I'll leave you two alone," she said as she walked out of the room.
Starfire, still in Robin's arms, turned and looked back at him unsure of whether or not they should quit horsing around, but Robin shot her a mischievous smile and grabbed another handful of spaghetti.
Red X had never pulled off a bank heist in the middle of the day before, but the thrill of a new challenge excited him. He knelt patiently on the roof of the adjacent building watching pedestrians and bystanders enter and exit the bank as he planned his means of breaking in. A traditional hold up was too risky and he wasn't in the mood for playing cops and robbers; that and taking hostages wasn't his style. He could simply turn himself invisible, steal one of the worker's security key-cards and walk right into the vault, but where was the fun in that? Perhaps stealth would be a better choice; besides, the chance of getting caught was half the thrill. Red X decided that would be his best option, but how would he go about sneaking past security guards, bank clerks, and civilians to get to the vault? He rubbed his chin with his index finger and thumb then snapped his fingers at an idea. He placed his hand over his belt buckle and pressed the button on it then vanished into thin air.
At around 11 a.m., Cyborg and Beast Boy woke from their slumber and headed to the kitchen to fetch themselves some breakfast.
"Hey BB," said Cyborg in a yawning voice as he met up with him in the hall.
"Morning Cy," Beast Boy said rubbing his eyes and scratching his butt.
The two walked side by side till they reached the doors to the living room where they stopped and listened to the sounds of laughing and shouting from inside.
"Is that…Robin and Starfire," Beast Boy asked with a peculiar look on his face.
"I don't know," said Cyborg. "Sounds like em' but I've never heard them laughing like that together."
They shrugged their shoulders and entered to the sight of Robin and Starfire having a water-fight at the sink. Beast Boy and Cyborg looked at each other trying to pay little attention to them and made their way over to the couch. They sat down and starred ahead at the blank screen in front of them listening to the laughs and screams of their flirting friends in the kitchen.
"I take it from the way they've been acting towards each other," Beast Boy whispered over to his friend. "Their date must have gone really well."
"Oh that's not even the half of it," Cyborg agreed with a lame stare on his face. "From what I saw them doing in the garage last night…trust me you don't want to know!"
"Good," said Beast Boy cringing. "Cause I really didn't want to………So what'd they do?"
(The Bank)
"Hi there, how may I help you," said the lady at the front counter.
"Hello," said the man placing an envelope of money on the front counter. "I'd like to make a deposit in my savings account please."
"Sure, just let me…" The lady paused and pressed a few buttons on the computer in front of her but still it did not respond. "Huh," she said. "I'm sorry sir,
we've had a few glitches in our system lately and the computers freeze up like this from time to time."
"Oh…really," said the man with a surprised look.
"It's nothing too serious we'll have it up and running in just a minute." The bank clerk called over a security guard and told him the problem then had him go in the back room to the mainframe.
The security guard swiped his keycard through the electronic lock and the doors hissed open. Inside he looked about the huge servers and machines and came to a lone computer sitting at the end of the dark room. He sat down at the chair and typed in a series of codes and commands which brought him to the main menu. Suddenly a warning flashed on the screen that one of the local network connections had been severed, thus indicating the glitch in the system. Using the computer, he located the source of the problem and got up from his chair and headed for one of the main servers.
"Cord must've come out again," he mumbled to himself.
He came to the huge machine but stopped and looked at the wires in back of it and noticed something he had never seen before. Most of the cables had been cut.
"What the—"he whispered to himself.
"Sorry Bulletproof Barney," a sinister voice from behind him said. "Looks like you'll be closing early today."
Suddenly the security guard was zapped in the back and fell to the floor as Red X emerged from the shadows behind him.
Red X looked down at the unconscious guard with smoke coming off of his back and took the keycard from his pocket. "Take five porky," he said. "Smoke if ya got em.'" He came over to the mainframe computer and began typing in a list of commands.
"What's taking Ernie so long," said the bank clerk.
"Um…excuse me, ma'am," said the man waiting impatiently. "I have a doctor's appointment in—"
The lights abruptly went out and the doors to the back room opened. A set of small metal balls bounced out and rolled to a halt in the middle of the room. Suddenly the ball-bearings hissed and shot out a vile smelling green gas that began knocking everyone unconscious. Once everyone was lying motionlessly on the ground, Red X emerged from the back room and headed for the bank vault. He slid the keycard he had stolen from the security guard through the lock and typed in a code. The vault let out a series of clanks and hums then the massive round door slowly came open revealing another set of blast doors and locks.
"Aw man," moaned Red X at the sight of this.
He quickly went over to the lock and slid the keycard through it, but instead of granting him access, a fingerprint scanner opened in front of him and requested identification.
"Now this is just getting ridiculous," he groaned.
He quickly grabbed an unconscious bank clerk and dragged him over to the scanner and placed his hand on top of it. It read his fingerprints and the words "access granted" flashed across the screen.
"He shoots, he scores," said Red X cheerfully.
The blast doors hummed open and Red X began panting like a dog with widened eyes at the sight of the huge loads of money, jewelry, and lockboxes with priceless valuables inside the vault.
"Happy birthday to me," he said to himself before grabbing two duffle bags and filling them with cash.
Fifteen minutes later, and eight million dollars richer, Red X strolled out of the vault and lazily closed the doors with his foot and made his way to the front. He paused for a moment and looked around him at the unconscious people lying on the floor…something wasn't right…something was missing!
"No way it's that easy," Red X said to himself. "Wait a minute…where's that little punk kid and the rest of his friends, shouldn't they have been here by now?"
They weren't though. Where could they have been? Having the Titans absent made him extremely uneasy, so he dropped the duffle bags of money in his hands and went over to one of the front counters. He leaned over and looked under the table at the red button marked: "alarm." With one hand he reached under and slammed his palm down on it and the room was filled with loud high-pitched ringing.
"Sure hope I'm not going to regret this," he said to himself.
He stood up and gazed out the front windows of the bank from where he was standing and waited.
"Oh I got cha now, I got cha now," cheered Cyborg as he sped past Beast Boy.
"Hey that's not fair, you're cheating," Beast Boy yelled back at him.
"I can kick your butt in this, and I most certainly can kick your butt in anything else little man!"
"Aw you are so going DOWN Cyborg!"
As Cyborg and Beast Boy were playing their video game, Robin and Starfire sat at the kitchen table talking to one another. Robin sat there listening intuitively as Starfire went off on a time when she and Blackfire were "bungorfs" and had nearly trashed the Royal palace of Tamaran fighting over her zornik. Robin had trouble concentrating though. He had this sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that something was wrong, that something wasn't right. He looked over to the window that gave a clear view of the city and gazed out it as Starfire continued talking.
"Robin," said Starfire in a gentle voice as she put her hand on his from across the table. "Something troubles you, or…perhaps I am boring?"
Robin met her gaze and said, "Oh no Star it's just that…" He turned his head and looked at the city through the window. "Do you ever get that feeling like…something's wrong or…you know something bad is going to happen?"
Starfire thought for a moment and said, "Indeed I do. I often get the bad feelings after Beast Boy has spent almost an earthly hour in the room of the bath." She leaned in and whispered to him, "He generally leaves an unpleasant smell."
Although Robin thought her remark was funny, he couldn't laugh. "I didn't mean it exactly that way Star." He looked at the window for another moment then turned back to Starfire. "So you were saying something about your zornik?"
"This is the police! You're surrounded! Come out with your hands up!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever pops," said Red X leaning against the counter tapping his fingers impatiently.
It had been several hours since he hit the alarm on purpose, and still there were no Titans. The police had shown up and were now "surrounding" the building but they offered no challenge or amusement to him.
"Well…I guess they must've overslept or something," Red X said to himself. "I think it's time I bust a move and get out of here."
He walked around the counter and came to the front window and pulled out a handful of X-stars (those little throwing stars he has). He cocked his hand back, and in a swift motion, threw his weapons through the window; barely missing one of the officers outside. The X-stars impacted on one of the squad cars each setting off small explosions until finally KABOOM! The gas line ruptured and the squad car ignited in a huge fireball sending most of the officers around it leaping for cover. Red X grinned under his mask then made a mad dash for the back door scooping his duffle bags up along the way as police men and S.W.A.T teams outside began infiltrating the building. He heard a loud BANG and slid to a halt pressing his ear against the back door and listened. He could hear footsteps and men's voices making their way cautiously through the server room and coming up behind the door Red X was leaning against.
"Uh oh," Red X said to himself. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all."
Suddenly, the door blow open and a hoard of S.W.A.T teams poured through with their weapons and lasers pointer aimed at him. He slowly backed up but was sandwiched in by the police officers who came through the front.
"FREEZE," one of the officers yelled. "DROP THE BAGS AND PUT YOUR HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM!"
Red X slowly turned around and starred back at the police men behind him then faced the S.W.A.T teams in front of him. "Sorry folks," he said in his usual sarcastic tone. "I'd love to stay and chat but I've kinda got my hands full at the moment. Perhaps," he reached for his belt, "another time," and suddenly disappeared.
"What the—"one of the S.W.A.T team members yelled. "Where…where'd he go!"
Red X reappeared safely outside behind the bank with his duffle bags full of cash in hand. Red X looked down at his spoils and said, "Easy money—"suddenly he noticed an envelope with the words "Mr. X" written on the front of it hanging on a brick wall. He looked both ways down the alley then made his way over to the note and dropped the duffle bags next to him. He picked off the envelope and opened it.
"To whom it may concern," it read.
"Although it has been some time since we last spoke, I hope you haven't forgotten about your little down payment for your next assignment."
Red X looked up from the letter and said, "down payment…oh yeah, the diamond," and continued reading.
"I require a generous supply of uranium ore and kryptonite for my own purposes. I also request on your behalf that you gather, for me, a canister of mustard gas and anthrax. You will infiltrate the small arms dealership on the North side of town at exactly 9:20 p.m. or the deal is off and I will find you to recollect my money. A drop off point will not be necessary. I will meet you there in person to deliver the rest of your payments and to collect my items."
Red X looked up from the note and crumpled it in his hands. He wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to take this assignment for he would have to steal from a place that brought back too many bad memories. The "small arms dealership" known as Heckler and Koch with which his "employer" was referring to was indeed a military weapons manufacturing company, but they secretly produced and tested weapons of mass destruction. Red X knew this because his dad used to work there, that is, before he died during a "routine firearms check" as they so told him. He was somewhat angered by this contract and felt somehow bound to it without his consent. He decided he had to do it; after all, he was getting paid more money…that, and this Deathstroke guy seemed to be able to track him down easily.
"Well, it's already quarter after six," Red X said aloud. "Maybe I'll get a bite to eat to kill some time."
He picked up the duffle bags next to him and slowly walked out of the alley, thinking to himself how he would break in and bypass the building's security systems.
"Hi welcome to the—"the waitress stopped as she came to the table Red X was sitting at and looked him over with peculiar eyes. "May I take your order…sir?"
"Well darling," said Red X in a seductive voice as he shifted in his chair to face her. "I think I'll take a large pepperoni pizza and a peach iced-tea; if you don't mind."
"Alright then," said the waitress as she jotted down his order on her note-pad. "One large pepperoni pizza and a peach iced-tea," she paused for a moment and looked him over one last time. "Um…may I ask you something sir," said the waitress.
"Go right on ahead gorgeous," said Red X.
She put aside his comment and asked, "Do you by any chance happen to know Mark Dunsing?"
"Can't say I do, why do you ask?"
"Well, because he's supposed to be in a play tonight at the theatre here in town and I assumed that's where you were off to since you're wearing a costume."
Red X chuckled and said, "Sorry toots. Actually, the costume is so that people won't see me blushing when I'm in the presence of a beautiful girl, like you."
The waitress blushed and said, "Oh well…I see. I'll uh…have that pizza out for you momentarily."
"Sure thing cutie," he said pointing his thumb and index finger at her in the shape a pistol, and winked. "I can't wait to see your gorgeous face again."
The waitress walked back into the Pizzeria as Red X slouched on the bench and leaned his back against the table. He could tell people were starring at him, but he didn't care, he was feeling a little bold after evading a hoard of police officers and S.W.A.T. teams.
"Hey everyone check this guy out."
Red X turned his head and looked back at a group of kids his age starring at him as they made their way towards the Pizzeria. "I think someone aught to tell him it's a little early for Halloween," the biggest one in the group said. Everyone laughed as they closed in on Red X's table. "What's he supposed to be some kinda—"
Red X stuck his foot out and tripped the guy poking the remarks at him as he and his group walked by. "Oops," he said sarcastically. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be some kinda klutz."
"HEY MAN WHAT'S YER PROBLEM," the guy got up and yelled.
"Sorry Goofy," said Red X. "My foot's got a mind of its' own."
He grabbed Red X by the collar and yanked him off his bench. "What did you just call me punk," he yelled in his face.
"You had better lay your filthy hands off the suit pal," Red X said in a threatening voice. "Or you just might get hurt."
"The only one who's gonna get hurt around here is you slime ball!" The guy holding Red X cocked his fist back and swung.
Red X slipped out of his grasp and dodged the attack then knelt and kicked the kid's legs out from underneath him sending him hurdling to the ground. Red X stood up and one of the guy's friends wrapped his arms around him to keep him from escaping. Red X squirmed in his tight grip and the kid he had just tripped rose to his feet with a face full of anger.
"You really don't know who you're messing with do you punk," he said as he made his way over to Red X.
"Let me guess, the Partridge Family," Red X mocked.
"I'm Big Bernie Brown," his attacker said cracking his knuckles. "And I own these streets, but since you didn't know that, I'll only break one of your arms."
Red X grinned at him and said, "Likewise buddy." He reached down for his belt buckle and put his finger over it. "You REALLY don't know who YOU'RE messing with either." Suddenly, he vanished into thin air.
"Where'd he go," someone in the group said.
Bernie turned around to see if he could spot Red X but couldn't. "HEY," he yelled to no one. "Where'd you go ya little punk! Come out here and fight me like a—"he turned around and found all of his friends lying unconscious on the ground. "What the—"he said to himself. Suddenly, someone from behind tapped his shoulder.
"Boo," said Red X before grabbing Bernie by the collar and pinning him against the wall. Red X clenched his fist and put it up to Bernie's neck, then suddenly a red X-blade (his wrist blade things) shot from his forehand.
Bernie's eyes widened and a look of fear came across his face as Red X said, "Look pal. It's been a long day for me and you're not making it any better." The X-blade began spinning like a table saw and Red X inched it closer towards his neck.
"Alright, Alright I give up," Bernie cried in terror.
"Sorry chubby, but I think you're gonna have to learn your lesson now." Red X lowered the spinning X-blade from his neck but inched it closer to Bernie's crotch instead.
"NO, NO, I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY," cried Bernie as he wet his pants. "I'LL NEVER BOTHER YOU AGAIN! I SWEAR, I SWEAR MAN!
"I told you, you were gonna get hurt if you didn't lay off the suit. Do you know how much I pay for dry-cleaning on this thing," Red X said sarcastically. "Now I'm gonna take it out of your pants."
"No, no, no, NO, NO, NO!" Bernie let out a cry of terror as Red X pressed his spinning X-blade against his terrified victim's belt and let his pants drop to his ankles.
Red X stopped his blades and retracted them into his forehand. He let go of Bernie's collar and stood back looking at him with an evil grin. "I suggest you run now..."
Bernie screamed and with his pants still at his ankles, ran off like a little school girl across the street.
"Um…excuse me sir," a feminine voice from behind him said. "Your…pepperoni pizza and peach iced-tea…"
Red X turned to her and said, "Oh…I forgot all about that, thanks beautiful." He sat down at the table he was sitting at earlier and began eating his meal.
Heckler and Koch Inc, 9:07 p.m.
Red X sat on the roof and sighed as he looked down at his watch. "Not much longer now," he said to himself.
He froze in his place as he heard voices below him, then stealthily made his way to the edge of the roof and peaked over. He watched as the last few workers retired for the night and locked the doors behind them and made their way to the parking lot. He sighed with relief then went back to his spot and continued waiting. Some time had passed and he looked down at his watch again, 9:19; it was almost time to begin. He got up and went over to the ventilation shaft in which he would infiltrate the building through then pulled out a laser cutter from his utility belt.
He looked down at his watch which now read 9:20 and said, "Well…time to go to work."
He cut through the grate and crawled in, illuminating the dark shaft with a red light from the X on his palm. He made his way through the ventilation system for more than twenty minutes before finally dropping down through a duct and in front of a blast door.
"Hmm," he said to himself as walked to the front of the huge door. "If I remember correctly…"
He reached under the console next to the door and ripped out a circuit panel and tampered with the wires. He came around to the screen and typed in a code, and the doors hummed open, letting out a loud clanking noise at the end. Red X looked around to make sure no one heard the loud noise then proceeded through the door. He walked down a long corridor until he reached an intersection with the biohazard, radioactive, and testing symbols on the walls of each adjacent and parallel corridor. He decided to take the one marked by the biohazard symbol, for he knew security wouldn't be as tight around that area as the sector that harbored all the uranium and kryptonite would be. Red X snuck past scientists, cameras, and a few security guards that worked in labs behind glass windows until he finally came to another vault door that required no form of clearance. He looked around before finally turning a huge wheel on the door and entered the circular chamber. The walls were lined high in a spiraling pattern with every deadly chemical and biological agent known to man; Smallpox, Anthrax, Sarin gas, World War III in a can as he so thought of it. Red X put his feelings aside and slid open a compartment door label "Anthrax" then went over to one labeled "Mustard Gas" and took a canister of each deadly agent and left. He snuck his way back to the intersection he was standing in earlier then made his way down the corridor marked by the radioactive symbol. To his surprise, there were no security guards or scientist around, and the corridor was only a straight passage that led to another massive vault door that towered almost thirty feet over his head. Red X looked around for a key-pad or some form of security he would have to bypass, but found no such thing. He looked around the door and located a red button that he assumed would grant him access and pressed it. There were a series of hums, hisses, and clanks as blast door after blast door opened before him revealing a huge dimly lit room. Red X entered, and made his way towards the light source which, he already knew, was the next item on his list of things to steal; the uranium. The precious ore was encompassed by an enormous glass cylinder that prevented radiation from leaking and spun steadily in midair as if it were displaying its' awesome majesty for being an element of death and destruction. He came to the computer console in front of the display and looked over the schematics to determine the best and SAFEST way of retrieving the ore.
Whoosh!
Red X stopped for a moment and looked up from the screen; he thought he heard something but quickly put those thoughts aside and went back to work.
Whooooosh!
There it was again! He stopped and gazed over his shoulder then looked around the dark room with narrowed eyes in search of the source of the sound.
WOOOOSH!
WOOOSH, WOOOSH, WOOOSH! WOOOSH!
Red X spun around and retrieved a handful of X-stars from his utility belt and cocked his hand back ready to throw.
"ALRIGHT, WHO'S THERE," he yelled. "SHOW YOURSELF!"
But no one answered.
Red X spun around several times looking in every direction, even though he couldn't see much, for whoever was in the room with him, but found no one. Suddenly, a pair of white glowing eyes appeared in the darkness on the other side of the room and taunted him with it's' gaze.
"Who the heck are you," Red X yelled to him, but he did not answer.
Another pair of the same white glowing eyes appeared next to the first, and then another, and another. Red X looked all around the room and saw that he was surrounded by them, all of which were starring him down with evil intentions. He was about to make himself invisible when suddenly he turned around and a fist came straight at him. Before he could duck or evade the attack, he was struck in the face with tremendous force and flew back, but was kicked by someone else before he could even hit the ground. Red X landed on his stomach and tried to get up, but a hand grabbed him by the cape and flung him through the air and into a wall. He slid off the crater he had just made and landed on the floor then sluggishly turned his head only to see the white glowing eyes circling around him.
"No…"said Red X in a shaky voice. A sharp pain ran up his spinal column, something must have been broken. "AAGGHH," he cried out in pain as he cradled his back. "No…no, please! NO!"
His attackers did not listen, instead they closed in on him lying helplessly on the floor.
"No, no…NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"TROUBLE," yelled Starfire as the room filled with red flashing lights and the alarm.
"It's the arms dealership on the North side of town," exclaimed Robin sitting at the computer analyzing the statistics of the disturbance.
"Arms dealership," said Beast Boy. "That's odd. We've never had anyone try and break in there before, are you sure it isn't just a false alarm?"
"We'll find out when we get there," said Robin. "TITANS, MOVE!"
"Dude, I'm telling you it was probably just a false alarm," said Beast Boy as the Titans walked down the long corridor marked by the radioactive symbol. "None of the security guards or the other workers said they tripped an alarm! Heck, they don't even know we're down here and from the looks of it I don't think we're supposed to be!"
"We're going to search the place," Robin demanded. "I have a hunch about something…"
"OH, a HUNCH that's REASSURING!"
"Robin, seriously man," said Cyborg. "We've been here for over twenty minutes now and we still haven't—"
Robin raised his hand and Cyborg fell silent. He pointed forward and the rest of the Titans noticed the opened vault door ahead of them; something you would generally find closed on any other day. They slowly crept into the dark chamber, and Starfire raised her arm above her head and created a green aura around her hand that provided some light for the others. A flap opened on Cyborg's shoulder and a bright light came from him too.
"Split up," said Robin as he withdrew his staff.
The five Titans separated and went their own ways, not even sure what they themselves were looking for. Starfire walked slowly through the right side of the room moving her hand back and forth as she scanned the area. She was about to lower her hand and discontinue the search when suddenly she heard something that sounded like a chain rattling behind her. She quickly turned and shown the green light even brighter, but nothing was there. She backed up slowly but suddenly bumped into something soft and sturdy then quickly turned around as a look of terror came across her face.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"STARFIRE," yelled Robin then quickly made his way over to where she was. "Starfire…STARFIRE!" He found her standing there motionlessly as he came up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Starfire what's—"before he could finish, Starfire buried her face in his chest and wrapped her arms around him and began to cry. Robin looked up and gasped at the gory sight before him.
"YO," exclaimed Cyborg as he and the others came to Robin's side. "What's—"a horrified look came across his face too and he gasped as he looked up to see what had startled his friends.
"No…way," said Beast Boy with the same look on his face as Raven and Cyborg.
On a chain hanging from the ceiling, Red X dangled like a limp rag-doll by his wrists as his lifeless body swayed from side to side.
"Is he—"said Robin cradling Starfire.
"I don't know man," said Cyborg with a voice full of uncertainty. "I've never seen someone mangled like that before."
"Ah…guys," said Beast Boy pointing to the wall behind Red X's limp body.
Everyone but Starfire looked at the wall and was awestruck at the writing that read:
"The unyielding justice of Deathstroke: The Terminator."
They weren't sure if Red X were alive or not, but from the way his arms, legs, and midsection seemed to tilt and twist in unnatural ways, they could tell that every muscle, tendon, joint, and bone in his body had been either dislocated or broken.
A/N:
Uh Oh…………Uh Oh…………what does that mean! WHAT COULD THAT MEAN? Unyielding Justice! What the F is going on! Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehe, oh I'm enjoying every last second of this. I'm not gonna say much for this Author's note, but there is something I want EVERYONE TO DO. I'm sure you've either forgotten or maybe never even realized or picked up on a few key details that are important for the dynamics of this story. I've put in some small subtle hints and messages that are important for you to know and pick up on such as Slade's mask, Brother Blood admitting to being Deathstroke, the words "Unyielding Justice" and things like that. If you don't know or understand what I'm talking about I recommend going back and skimming through my previous chapters. If or when you see what I'm talking about, or just for the heck of it,
I WANT EVERYONE TO TELL ME WHAT THEY THINK WILL EITHER HAPPEN NEXT OR WHO DEATHSTROKE IS.
Well, that's all I'm really gonna say for now. Sorry if this wasn't as serious as you thought it would be, but rest assure, you won't be disappointed next chapter. I PROMISE…(grins evilly) Next Chapter: Taken
Memorysofawhiterose- I'm glad to see that you've caught up now with all my chapters and I think you'll be very happy you did because of this next one. Thanks for the review.
Infamous One- I got a good laugh off of your review and I'm glad to see that you liked all the DC characters. Sadly though, they aren't sniffing dust from any strange one eyed battle masks but rest assure you'll find out why they can see him VERY SOON. Thanks for the review.
DigiDestined of Courage- Not so much an action packed chapter this time around, I know, but I do think the suspense and mystery I left you off with will rile up your senses and you'll crave more. Don't' worry about my family issues, it's nothing a good workout could fix but I appreciate your concern. Supergirl kissing Robin was something I came up with all of a sudden when I was thinking about Robin and Kitten's date in "Date with Destiny" and I knew it would further develop Robin and Starfire's relationship, especially the kiss STARFIRE gave him at the end of the that chapter. The Slade sightings are something I've had brewing in the pot for a while, and I WANT YOU TO TAKE NOTE OF THEM, but we won't be getting those anymore. Thanks for the review.
KaliAnn- I'm glad you liked the dance party, and I knew I'd strike up some "girl power" when I had Supergirl and Wonder Girl kicking bad-guy butts. I'm sorry to say this, but the romance is pretty much done for and now I'm getting into the Action/Adventure category again so be prepared for…A LOT. Thanks for reviewing!
Aries-Raven- I'm glad you liked those little hints I left about Flash having…ya know with someone. Sorry I left you hanging for so long though, I wasn't planning on it taking that long and I'm sorry but at least I finally got it up. Yes, we will find out why Cinderblock and Overload were fighting each other, every strange and obtuse thing I put in here has a purpose so keep an eye out for them. Prepare yourself for the next chapter, and thanks for the review!
Van Gordan- Good thing I updated before you started taking out a few more magazines of ammo, sorry I got a kick out of that when I read it. I'm glad you liked the chapter but…YOU STARTED LAUGHING AT CINDERBLOCK AND OVERLOAD! That's not exactly the reaction I was shooting for when I wrote that but I guess I could see where you're coming from. They really aren't idiots, there's a reason they were doing that but we won't find out till later. Yeah I got the idea of Beast Boy dressing up like Robin again from that episode, and yes I enjoyed it as much as you did. Sorry the chapter didn't turn out the way you thought it would though with Slade and Robin "Chatting" and then going at it. There's so much I'd like to tell you, but because of the plot and everything and all the action and suspense I've got lined up...I can't. So who says Robin isn't going loco though? Perhaps Robin AND STARFIRE are going loco? Better yet…who says Slade was really there? Sorry If this chapter wasn't as serious as you thought it would be. I had the idea down that I wanted to have Red X get Fed up, but I had nothing in between that to create the action and suspense I was shooting for. So I put in the bank robbing scene and the little confrontation he had with "Big Bernie Brown" to add a little flavor to things. BUT I REALLY PROMISE YOU THIS TIME AROUND, NEXT CHAPTER, CRAP ON A STICK! YOU'LL PROBABLY GET DEPRESSED IT'S SO SERIOUS! So what do you think is the connection with Batman in my story by the way? I'm actually VERY INTERESTED to know, and I was going to tell you something but I'll hold that off till next chapter cause I want to know what you think. Oh, and by the way, NICE JOB ON THE KNEE…AGAIN! LOL, that's twice now man, how does one do something like that…TWICE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA, hope you're okay though, that better not mean I won't see a review for a while. Well I'm gonna proof read this chapter and started on some homework. Thanks for the review!
