DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, this would be on TV and not here.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This doesn't take place in the same storyline as my "Forced Base" and "Fractured Heart" stories, so forget those when you're reading this. Also, this takes place after the fourth season, so anything that happens in the show after that isn't applicable to this. Also, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.

O-O-O

Sanza had fallen asleep almost the moment he'd closed his eyes the previous night, but he still felt extremely tired as he awoke. Normally, he would've slept in, but it was a school day. So, he drug himself out of bed and trudged down the stairs to the breakfast table.

Sanza's mother had rented the top two floors of the apartment building, having received the middle floor at a bargain price after its previous tenants had moved out. At the moment, no one lived in the first floor of the building, so the Salazars were, for the most part, alone in the old building. Mrs. Salazar, a divorced widow in her mid-40s, worked extremely hard to provide a good life for her two children, whom she loved dearly. This morning, she was working hard to provide the two of them with a good breakfast.

Sanza's little sister, an eleven-year-old with a vibrant and precocious nature, long, raven-black hair and hazel eyes just like her brothers, had already seated herself and was already halfway through with a large stack of pancakes she'd placed on her plate. Sanza sat across from her at the table and sighed.

"Maddy, you're supposed to wait until I get down here," Sanza said, using his fork to spear a pancake and drop it onto his own plate.

"And you're supposed to get up at seven o'clock," said Sanza's mother, looking down at her watch. "It's seven-twenty. The bus gets here in ten minutes."

"At least I'm dressed," Sanza replied, looking down at his black t-shirt and baggy blue jeans that barely fit on his slim legs. "Maddy's still in her PJ's."

Maddy (short for Maddalena, but no one ever called her that, save sometimes her mother), stuck her tongue out at Sanza and poured a large amount of syrup on her half-eaten pancakes.

"I don't have to go to school today because I have a cold," said Maddy, sniffling. She raised her arm to her nose and wiped it off with the sleeve of her pink nightgown.

"Then why are you down here eating pancakes and not in bed?" asked Sanza, angrily pointing his fork at Maddy.

"Because mommy's pancakes are good!" said Maddy, smiling a precocious smile that Sanza found absolutely irritating. He shriveled up his nose in disgust, and Maddy looked over at her mother. "Mommy, doesn't Sanza have five minutes to eat his breakfast and catch the bus?"

"Yah... Sanza, you'd better hurry up and finish, I'm not driving you to school today," said Mrs. Salazar, walking over to the table and sitting down in the third chair, placing a large plate filled with bacon next to the nearly-depleted stack of pancakes. "I've got a big sales report that needs to be turned in to my boss as soon as I come in today, and I can't be late."

"Speaking of reports..." said Maddy, in that same sickeningly, precociously sweet voice that brought her brother so much grief, "don't you have a big report due on Thomas Jefferson today? You were telling me about it all last night, but I didn't see you working on it any..."

"Dammit... the report!" thought Sanza, realizing his late-night excursion had prevented him from getting his homework done. He dropped his fork, a small amount of chewed-up pancake falling from his lips. "That Xynothium reactor could've waited, but this report is due today"

"Sanza, how many times have I told you to do your homework right when you get home?" shouted Mrs. Salazar, standing up from the table and staring angrily into her son's face. "If you flunk history class again, you are going to be in so much trouble..."

A soft rumbling from outside quickly shifted the focus of the conversation. It was the school bus, and it was approaching fast.

"Sanza, there's the bus, get out there right now!" shouted Mrs. Salazar, pointing toward the door. "If you want to go to the school dance tonight, I'd better see you doing your homework, and I'm going to check it too! And you see about getting an extension on that report, you're not getting another F, Sanza Salazar!"

"Yes, mom..." said Sanza, grabbing his backpack and running out the front door toward the bus. "Maddy, you're such a little snitch..."

As Sanza climbed onto the bus, his mind began to wander. Not just on what he'd done last night as Red X, but on how much of an annoying little brat Maddy was. She didn't have to tell his mom about the report... what Sanza did in school was none of her business!

But as annoying as Maddy was, Sanza still loved her very much. In fact, he loved her enough to steal for her... to steal is to protect... to protect Maddy...

O-O-O

A few months earlier, and just a few days before Maddy's 11th birthday, she and Sanza were walking down to the nearby magic shop. Maddy had just received a birthday card from she and Sanza's aunt, and she wanted to spend the money on a set of magic cards that one of her friends at school had shown to her.

"They're really cool, Sanza... you flip them one way, and they're like normal cards, but if you flip them another way, they're all the same! They're really, really cool!" said Maddy, walking down the sidewalk with a spring in her step and a new ten-dollar bill in her hand. "Doesn't that sound cool?"

"Can't you just borrow them from your friend instead of wasting your money on a set of your own?" asked Sanza, angry that his mom had made him accompany Maddy to the store. He was missing an episode of Jerry Springer for this. "I can't believe mom's actually making me come with you."

"Aww, big brother... you're here to protect me from kidnappers, silly!" Maddy said, wrapping her arms around her big brother's waist. "They're like everywhere, crawling in the shadows and-"

"The only one here that came from the shadows is you, ya little twerp," said Sanza, gently pushing his sister away. "Now let's hurry, maybe I can catch the last half of my show."

Maddy's lips began to quiver, and she stopped right where Sanza had pushed her. Then, she began to cry. Sanza had seen it before, and wasn't buying it, but he knew his mom probably would.

"I'm telling mommy you pushed me!" Maddy shouted, loud enough to get the attention of several passers-by. She pointed her finger at Sanza. "You... you pusher!"

Sanza sighed, bracing himself for a full-blown temper tantrum, accompanied by fake waterworks. He looked up toward the sky... and saw the top of the magic shop sign. He turned toward the building, and realized that they'd arrived at their destination.

"Look, Maddy... we're here, at the magic-"

"Yay!" shouted Maddy, pushing past Sanza and running into the store before he could even finish his sentence. With a sigh of relief, Sanza followed her into the store, his hands deep in his pockets.

"Just a few more minutes..." thought Sanza, half-heartedly watching his sister as she ran over to the shelves of magic cards. She searched through the shelves for nearly a minute before finally picking out what she wanted and running up to the counter to pay.

"Okay, Sanza, I'm all done!" Maddy said, walking over to him with a set of 'magic' cards in her hand. "I bet I can do all kinds of tricks with these!"

"Can you send us back home in a puff of smoke?" asked Sanza sarcastically, turning toward the door. "I didn't think so. Let's go home."

Suddenly, an enormous puff of purple smoke engulfed the entire entrance of the magic shop. As Sanza, Maddy, and the friendly old man behind the counter began to cough and wheeze, a tall, blue man with a big white mustache and a black top hat appeared in the middle of the smoke. It was Mumbo Jumbo, half-supervillain, half-David Copperfield, all-criminal.

"I always love to make an entrance!" shouted Mumbo, twirling his wand and striding into the small magic shop.

"Sanza, I'm scared..." said Maddy, trembling as she wrapped her arms around Sanza's midsection. Sanza placed his hands around his sister, trying as best he could to comfort her, realizing that both she and he were in serious danger.

With a wave of his wand, Mumbo teleported from the front of the store to the back, pointing his finger at the man behind the counter. Now that nothing stood between Sanza, Maddy, and the exit, the two tried to make a break for the open door. Suddenly, Mumbo extended his hand, immediately causing the door to slam shut, magical chains appearing around the door to keep it closed. Maddy let out a scream, turning back toward Mumbo and the counter, her eyes wide with fear. Sanza began trying to kick the door in with his foot, but the chains held firm.

"Can't have two-thirds of my audience leaving before the act even begins, now can I?" quipped Mumbo, turning his attention back to the man behind the counter. "And you... I'll be taking all of your money now!"

Fearfully, the old man shook his head.

"Most of our money's in the safe in the back of the store, and I don't have the combination!" shouted the cashier. "Please, I wouldn't lie to-"

Mumbo quickly pointed his hand at Maddy, shooting out a long, multicolored cloth band that wrapped around the girls' arms and chest, immobilizing her and pulling her over to the evil magician like a yo-yo.

"SANZA, HELP!" Maddy shrieked, struggling to escape Mumbo's grasp. Sanza gasped, his eyes wide with horror. A feeling of rage slowly began sweeping through the teenage boy.

"Now, if you don't open that safe, and quick," said Mumbo, pointing his cane at Maddy's face, "I'll turn this little girl into a little mouse, and feed her to a snake in the pet store I'm about to rob! That's a disappearing act I'm sure everyone will love!"

As Mumbo began to laugh, Maddy let out another loud, horrified scream. Immediately, Sanza reached down to his pant leg and pulled out a small, brown object. With a flick of his wrist, a four-inch switchblade emerged, gleaming in Sanza's hand. The blade had belonged to Sanza's father, but after the man's untimely death, the blade was now in Sanza's hands. Sanza charged Mumbo with the blade, but Mumbo's reaction time was faster. He spun around and pointed his wand at Sanza, zapping the boy in the chest with a powerful bolt of lightning that sent him flying back into the chained door. He slumped against the door, barely conscious and groaning in pain, his eyes locked on his baby sister's terrified face.

"SANZA!" Maddy screamed, tears streaming down her face. Sanza, too weak to speak, could only look back at his sister with deep sadness, silently mouthing an apology.

"I... I'm too weak to help her..." thought Sanza, deaf to everything but his sister's horrified screams. "Maddy... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

O-O-O

"Hey Sanza, did you get that Thomas Jefferson report done?"

Seventh seat from the front, on the left. That was where Sanza sat on the school bus, along with his friend Rob. Unlike Sanza, who was Hispanic, Rob was white, with brown hair that he'd bleached and spiked, the smell of hair gel still emanating from his head. He wore a long string of silver beads around his neck, with his girlfriend's class ring hanging from the center.

"Sanza, didja hear me? Did you-"

"No, Rob, I didn't," said Sanza, looking out the window at the city as it passed by his face. "It's a big grade, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but you know how Mr. Winterstein is... he lets you turn stuff in a day late for a 10 reduction in credit," said Rob. "So I guess you can work on it tonight... unless you're going to the dance tonight. Oh wait, you are going, aren't you?"

Sanza nodded. The school's fall dance was that night, the first big dance of the year. Of course, the memory of the last big dance the school had had was still fresh in the minds of many of the students. Sanza, a sophomore at the time, had been a grade too young to go to the junior prom, but he'd hurt plenty about it. A spider monster had attacked, and the Teen Titans showed up to save the day. Well, two of them at least... Robin and Starfire, who had been made de facto prom king and queen after their heroic feats.

"Yeah," replied Sanza. "I'm going with Cleo, you know that."

Cleo Encina, one of the girls in Sanza's Algebra II class. The two weren't really dating, just going to the dance as a couple of friends who wanted to have a good time and didn't have anything else to do. Well, Cleo didn't have anything else to do... Sanza could still do his report and turn it in late. Whether he would or not remained to be seen.

"Hey, you think the Teen Titans will show up like they did at last year's junior prom?" asked Rob, a hint of excitement in his voice.

"Uh... I hope they do," replied Sanza, just following along with the conversation. "That Starfire sure is hot."

"Heh, you know it... uh, don't let my girlfriend hear that, though," chuckled Rob, high-fiving Sanza for the Starfire remark. "I bet she's slammin' that Robin guy, though."

"I bet she is," thought Sanza sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Starfire probably doesn't even like him..."

Sanza knew all about the Teen Titans... not just as Red X... he'd met them even before that.

O-O-O

The cashier had gone to the back to bring out the safe for Mumbo, who still had Maddy tied up next to him, his wand resting on top of her head.

"C'mon, Sanza... get up..." whispered Maddy, trying to coax her beloved brother from his slumped position in front of the door. "If there's anyone who can save me, it's you..."

"She believes in me..." thought Sanza, forgetting the quarrel he'd had with his sister earlier that day, in fact, forgetting everything but the fact that Maddy's life was in danger and it was up to him to get up and save her life. Slowly but surely, he began to pull himself up from the ground, groaning in pain.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said Mumbo, raising up his cane and pointing it at Sanza again. "Maybe I'll just turn you into a mouse instead..."

"You'll be sorry... you messed with my big brother!" shouted Maddy, standing up and kicking Mumbo in his ankle. As Mumbo let out a howl of pain, Sanza ran over to Maddy and took out his switchblade, using the knife to try and cut away the cloths from Maddy's arms.

"Hurry, before he-" Maddy began, just before Mumbo pointed his wand at the chains covering the door at the front of the shop. Two long chains reached out from the main group and wrapped around Sanza's wrists, pulling him back to the door and holding him in place. The switchblade dropped from his hand.

"How DARE you try and break up my act!" shouted Mumbo, turning his attention to Maddy, who Sanza hadn't quite been able to free from her bonds. "As punishment, I think I'll skip right to the grand finale! It's mousie time for you, my dear assistant!"

"NO!" shouted Sanza, furiously tugging at the chains that held him to the door. "Leave Maddy alone, you twisted son of a-"

"Presto, cha-"

Suddenly, a boy in a red suit and yellow cape crashed in through the ceiling, kicking the wand from Mumbo's hand before he could finish the spell. He was quickly followed by four other figures, leaping in through the hole their leader had made. The cashier, who'd just come in from the back room, immediately recognized the five heroes.

"The Teen Titans!" shouted the cashier, dropping the safe on the counter and throwing up his hands in joy. Meanwhile, Maddy's face lit up as well, delighted that her saviors had arrived.

"Yay! Go Teen Titans, go!" Maddy cheered, watching as the five Titans easily dispatched of Mumbo Jumbo, leaving him tied up with Batcables in the center of the room.

Sanza, who also watched as the Titans made quick work of the evil magician, was relieved of course, but at the same time, he was dismayed that he hadn't been the one to rescue his sister. She'd looked up to him, begged for him to save her... and instead, here he was, uselessly chained to a door and forced to watch helplessly as the Titans did what should have been his job as a big brother.

"You are safe now..." said Starfire, easily snapping the chains that held Sanza's wrists. "Are you damaged?"

Sanza shook his head.

"No... I'm fine..." said Sanza. He looked over and saw Robin cutting away his sister's bonds, Maddy leaping into the Boy Wonder's arms as soon as she was free.

"Thank you, Robin!" said Maddy, leaning over and kissing the heroic masked boy on the cheek. Robin blushed, gently setting the girl down on the floor.

"Uh... it's our job..." said Robin, smiling a slightly-embarrassed smile. Starfire giggled, knowing that she had no competition from the cute, but ultimately too young ten-year-old, while Cyborg, Beast Boy, and even Raven couldn't help but smile at a job well done.

"It's always fun mopping up the bad guys," said Cyborg, patting Maddy on the shoulder.

Meanwhile, Sanza was beginning to feel the overwhelming weight of humiliation setting in. He walked around the front of the store in a daze, rubbing the back of his neck and shaking his head.

"Are you sure that you are undamaged?" asked Starfire, a look of concern reflected on her face. "The hospital is very close... if you are injured, we-"

"Dude, don't you know Raven's a healer?" asked Beast Boy, looking over at his blue-cloaked friend. "If you're hurt, Raven can patch you up, right, Raven?"

"Healing takes a lot of my energy," replied Raven, "though I guess I could-"

"I told you, I'm fine," said Sanza, now staring up at the ceiling.

Everything should have been fine... Maddy was safe, Sanza was safe, Mumbo was caught... but Sanza couldn't shake the pain of humiliation from his psyche. A big brother should be able to protect his baby sister from anything... Sanza couldn't even save her from a blue freak in a tuxedo. He'd failed Maddy, and at the same time, his promise to his dying father, whose last words to him were 'take care of Maddy and your mother'. The sacred charge of familial duty... Sanza had failed his familia... with that weight on his chest, he'd never be fine.

"Hey, um... can we visit your big T-Tower?" asked Maddy, completely out of the blue. She stared up at Robin and went into her sweetest, most pleading voice. "Please? Please?"

Again, Robin blushed. He didn't usually have fans asking to visit the T-Tower... it wasn't completely out of the question, but nonetheless, he was taken aback.

"Is it all right with your parents?" asked Raven. "I don't know about Robin, but I certainly don't want to deal with an angry mom or dad yelling in my ear when I'm trying to meditate."

"I'm sure mom wouldn't mind," replied Sanza. If he couldn't protect Maddy, he could at least do something nice for her... besides, Springer was probably over by now, and if a visit to the T-Tower would mean that Maddy wouldn't have nightmares about the Mumbo incident, then... "And if she does, all the blame will be on me, not you guys."

"Well... okay, you can come for a visit," said Robin. "We'll drop Mumbo off at the police station, and then we'll go right to the tower."

"Yay!" Maddy cheered, hugging Robin for the second time in the last few minutes before dashing out to the T-Car, happily singing the whole way. "When there's trouble, you know who to caaaaaaaaaaall... TEEN TITANS! From their tower they can see it aaaaaaaaaaaall... TEEN TITANS!"

Sanza smiled. As annoying as Maddy was, she was still his little sister... and seeing her safe and happy brought great joy to Sanza's heart.

But he knew he'd still failed to protect her... he'd still failed as a brother.

O-O-O

"So tell me again how Mr. Winterstein reacted when he saw your paper that said Thomas Jefferson slept with one of his slaves," said Sanza, smiling and poking his elbow into Rob, who was seated next to him at the lunch table. Rob's girlfriend, Marcy, was seated on his other side, and next to Marcy was Cleo, a tall girl with long, straight red hair tied into a ponytail behind her head. She giggled at Sanza's last comment, while picking up a chicken finger from her tray.

"It's historically accurate, but the dude totally gave me an F," replied Rob.

"That's because you copied the whole report off the internet," said Marcy, playfully messing up Rob's hair with her fingers. "Teachers can check for that now, you know."

"They shouldn't be able to!" shouted Rob. "It's totally cheating... gives the teacher an unfair advantage over the student!"

"So, Sanza... are you going to do your report tonight?" asked Cleo, using her fork to play with the spaghetti in a bowl next to her tray. "You'd better get it done quick... you're taking me to the dance tonight, remember?"

"I remember," said Sanza, "and don't worry, I'll definitely get it done in time."

"So, Sanza," said another boy at the table, a tall, muscular boy named Jeremy, "are you and Cleo going out now? Officially, I mean?"

Cleo giggled.

"Jer, we're still just friends..." said Cleo, though she still kept one eye on Sanza's face. "I mean, aren't we?"

"Yeah, sure," Sanza said, nodding his head. "Of course we're friends. If we weren't, we'd be enemies, right?"

Cleo giggled, while Marcy and Rob rolled their eyes.

"Wasn't that funny," Rob groaned. "Here's a good one, though. What happens when you take two Mexicans, stick them on a boat, and-"

Sanza reached over and covered Rob's mouth, and everyone at the table began to laugh. Sanza didn't mind racially insensitive humor... he knew plenty of jokes himself. Of course, he liked the jokes better when he was the one making them... a fact that Rob had conveniently forgotten.

"It was a funny joke," chuckled Rob as soon as Sanza had removed his hand. "I'll let you make a white guy joke if you want!"

"Why bother? You are the white guy joke," said Sanza, immediately causing everyone at the table, even Rob, to burst out in laughter again.

A normal life... normal friends, normal problems... Sanza Salazar had all those things... but a piece of his life had been voluntarily ceded to someone else. That day still stuck out in Sanza's memory, spending every waking second in the back of his mind...

O-O-O

The Titans entered the front room of their tower, accompanied by Sanza and a very excited Maddy.

"Oooh... this TV is WAY bigger than ours!" shouted Maddy, running up to the enormous screen at the right side of the Titans' living room and pressing her body against it like a fly stuck to a strip of fly paper. "Do you guys play video games on it?"

"Do we?" shouted Cyborg, running over to the TV and pulling out a large shelf filled with various video game systems. "We got Gamestation, Playbox 2, X-Cube, Super X-Cube, Intellicom 64..."

"Cyborg here thinks he's the man at video games, but he can't even touch my records," said Beast Boy, proudly walking over to his friend Cyborg and slapping him on the back.

"What are you talkin' about, man?" asked Cyborg, spinning around to correct his green gaming buddy. "You know I hold the all-time record for points on Tony Eagle's Pro Boogieboarder!"

"Boys will be boys..." sighed Raven, walking toward the stairs. "If you want to ask me anything, I'll be in my-"

"Raven, we have guests... it is not polite to leave them in the middle of a tour!" said Starfire, gently placing her hands on Raven's shoulder. "Such a thing is rude even on my planet, and I am sure that it is rude on yours."

"Yeah, Raven... don't you at least want to tell Sanza and Maddy about the time you saved all of us from Captain Phantom, or about the time we fought the Granetoids from outer space?" asked Robin, gesturing toward the two guests. "It's not every day we have a visitor in the T-Tower."

"And I'm sure there's a good reason for that," thought Raven, but kept her feelings to herself. It wasn't that Raven was rude, or didn't want to see the two guests... it was something else. Something in her mind was telling her that the sooner Sanza and Maddy left, the better. They weren't in danger, but still, Raven couldn't help but think that something was amiss.

"It's okay," said Maddy, already looking through the Titans' video game collection. "I think I wanna play with Beast Boy and Cyborg... they've got Kirby vs. Final Fantasy Fighter!"

"Are you sure?" asked Starfire, gesturing toward a hallway leading out of the room. "I had already prepared a very nice tour for both of you, and-"

"I could show you my room," said Robin. Immediately, Maddy turned her head, her mouth widening in shock.

"Your... your room? With all your crime-fighting stuff and everything?" asked Maddy, suddenly forgetting the video game and thinking only of how cool it would be to visit the room of the great Boy Wonder himself. "Oooh... cool... okay!"

"Are you coming too?" asked Starfire, looking at Sanza as she, Raven, Robin, and Maddy prepared to head up the stairs to Robin's room. Sanza nodded and began to walk toward the stairs when suddenly, a familiar feeling crept through the lower part of his body.

"Um... you guys have a bathroom, right?" asked Sanza, an embarrassed look appearing on his face.

"Yeah... third door on the right," said Cyborg, pointing down another hallway leading from the main room of the tower. Suddenly, Beast Boy stood up and shook his head.

"Nah, I wouldn't use that one..." said Beast Boy. Immediately, a look of disgust appeared on Cyborg's face.

"Aww, sick, dude!" shouted Cyborg to Beast Boy before turning back to Sanza. "All right then... just keep going until you get to a turn, then go left and it's the second door. Can't miss it."

Sanza nodded.

"Thank you," Sanza said, running down the hallway and disappearing around a corner. As Beast Boy and Cyborg settled into their game, Robin, Starfire, Raven, and a very excited Maddy walked up to Robin's room, worrying little about their other guest.

O-O-O

When one goes to the bathroom, one has a lot of time to think. And that was exactly what Sanza did. He thought about the incident at the magic store, and he couldn't get his mind off of what had happened to Maddy... how he'd failed to protect her and how weak he was that the Teen Titans had to come and save them both.

As he was washing his hands, Sanza began to think that if there was only some way to get stronger... a way he could be more like his father. Sanza's father, who had been in one of the toughest street gangs in Jump City... nobody ever beat him... in a fair fight, anyway. He'd been killed in an ambush when Sanza was only seven years old, and Maddy was just a baby. From that point forward, it was Sanza's responsibility to be the man of the family... to protect Maddy...

He stepped out of the bathroom and began walking down the hall, still berating himself for having not been able to protect his sister. It was all he could think about... it filled his mind, crowding out everything else... including the way back to the main room.

By the time Sanza realized he was lost, he'd walked all the way to one of the deepest, darkest parts of the tower. He reached a dead end in the form of a large, framed picture of the Teen Titans, standing together in front of the tower and smiling.

"Now that's a real family..." thought Sanza, his hand stroking across the picture's surface. "A family who can protect its members... sort of like a street gang..."

Of course, Sanza's mother, horrified that her dear son would fall into the gang life, had tried to shield her son from anyone that might get him involved. He'd been forbidden to fight, only allowing him to take a few boxing and martial arts classes. He'd been suspended a couple times for fights at school, usually with bullies who liked to pick on smaller, younger kids. Sanza didn't fully understand why he was punished just for trying to protect his classmates who were being bullied... it was exactly what his father would've done.

As Sanza's hand traced across Robin's face on the picture, he could hear a loud thumping noise from just behind the wall. He stepped back, only to see the entire wall slide up to reveal a dark room, filled with glass cases and assorted relics of criminals long-since defeated by the Titans.

"That's weird..." said Sanza, looking up to the ceiling. "The wall's gone..."

He worried for a few seconds, wondering how to put the wall back in its original position. Certainly, the Titans wouldn't be happy if they found out Sanza had been somewhere he wasn't supposed to be.

"Maybe there's a control inside the room," said Sanza, walking through the secret passage and looking around. In his mind, he knew that the controls to the wall most likely weren't actually behind it. Curiosity pressed Sanza forward... the room was dark, lit only by a red spotlight hanging from the ceiling. As Sanza continued to look around, he noticed a long hallway leading into the darkness... curiosity continued compelling him forward. He began walking down the hallway, every step leading him closer to a mystery, something secret in the dim red light that began appearing before his eyes, glowing brighter and brighter as he stepped forward.

The hallway ended at a large, metal safe embedded into the wall. On the safe were two things... a skull, and a large, red X. A security code system kept the safe sealed shut.

"Well, that's the end of that," said Sanza, sighing as he stared at the closed safe. "Now I'd really better get out of here..."

But as he turned around, the memories of his sister crept slowly back into his head. Sanza stared back at the safe... and came to an epiphany.

"This door... whatever is behind this door... in this safe... is a secret that whoever placed it here wanted to keep locked up."

A secret... a powerful secret... a secret that could hold the key to Sanza's greatest wish... to be able to protect his family.

The security code keypad contained ten numbers, 0 through 9... there was no way Sanza was getting into the safe without the right code. It was then that he remembered a trick his father had taught him. The fingerprints of the last person to close the safe were still on the keypad... and could be easily lifted with a bit of powder.

Sanza walked over to one of the glass cases and wiped his fingers across the glass... collecting a small amount of dust. He gathered some dust, walked back over to the keypad... and blew the dust onto its surface.

No prints appeared.

"Of course..." thought Sanza, noticing that most of the Teen Titans wore gloves that covered their fingers... or in Cyborg's case, didn't have finger prints at all. But there was another trick... even gloves left a trace of something, and Sanza looked at the keypad even harder. Tiny imprints, nearly undetectable to the naked eye... but Sanza's father knew how to spot them, and so did Sanza. There were miniscule pressure imprints on the keys 3, 5, 6, and 9. Quickly, Sanza tried a code with those numbers.

"5369... incorrect."

"6935...incorrect. Warning, a subsequent incorrect sequence will trigger a warning system that will alert everyone in the Tower."

Sanza sighed. This was stupid... risking getting into serious trouble for what? Something in a safe that he couldn't even see and had no idea of what it really was.

"This is for Maddy... nothing else. If I get into trouble, I get into trouble."

Another attitude he'd picked up from his father.

"3965."

The safe opened slowly. Sanza's eyes widened, staring into the dark chamber and wondering what could possibly confront his eyes inside.

It was a suit. A black, white, and red superhero suit. A mask, a belt, and a skintight bodysuit... like Robin's, except the mask covered the wearer's entire face. It even had a cape... and it sure looked a helluva lot cooler than anything any of the other Titans wore.

Sanza stared at the suit for nearly a minute, wondering if some touch-sensitive alarm would be triggered if he dared to take it. Finally, he crossed the Rubicon... he pulled the suit, the mask, and the belt from the safe. On the back of the helmet was a scrap of paper held there with a piece of tape... Sanza removed the paper and held it up.

"Red X suit... highly dangerous... do not-"

Sanza threw the paper to the floor.

"Red X, hmm?" he said to himself, holding up the suit and stretching it out. "I think I like the sound of that..."

Removing all his clothes except for a pair of white briefs, Sanza slowly slipped on the suit... first, the main part, the skintight body suit. It felt like some form of latex, though was a bit more fabricy... was the suit sewn, or made in some scientific sort of machine? Sanza didn't care... the suit fit perfectly, and allowed for excellent mobility... he jumped up and down, ran inside the room, threw punches, kicks... did a few jumping jacks... the suit felt incredible, much more comfortable then Sanza's normal clothes. He then put on the belt, opening one of the many compartments. A small, metallic red X quickly materialized in his hand.

"I wonder what this does..." said Sanza, tossing the X at a nearby wall. Immediately, the X transformed on impact, changing into a large X-shaped bar that grew spikes and dug itself into the wall, cracking it in four places. He pulled out another X, which suddenly swelled into a sticky ball of red material that fell into Sanza's hands, covering them in goo. He tried to extricate his arms, but all the tugging and pulling in the world would do him no good. In desperation, he used his last two usable fingers to grab another X out of another compartment. It was a small, sharp, shuriken-like X, which Sanza quickly used to slash away the goo. "I'd really better be careful..."

The last piece of the costume was the mask... the final thing that would transform Sanza into that master thief and supercriminal, Red X. Slowly, he slipped the black mask over his head... and just like that, Red X was reborn.

"Now I can protect my sister..."

O-O-O

Sanza walked back out into the main room of Titans Tower. He'd shoved the mask into his pocket and had put his clothes back on over the rest of the costume. He'd also used some more of his gadgets to clean up the small mess he'd made in the secret compartment, and had found the controls to close the wall back up once he was outside. With any luck, the Titans would never know what Sanza had done... at least not until he was long gone.

He still couldn't help but feel a bit nervous... stealing was a crime, and stealing from superheroes was a sure way to get a one-way ticket to prison. That nervousness was only intensified when Cyborg confronted him as he entered the room.

"Hey, man... you were in there like, thirty minutes. Did you fall in or somethin'?" Cyborg asked.

"I... I kind of went to get something from your kitchen," said Sanza, quickly constructing the best lie he could.

"Oh. Well, you didn't eat any of the weird berries in the fridge, did you?" asked Cyborg, cracking a smile. "Because those are Starfire's... I think they might be poisonous to humans!"

For the second time that day, Sanza could feel a wave of relief sweep through his body. He'd gotten away with stealing the suit... for now.

"I just made myself a cheese sandwich," Sanza said with a chuckle. "I didn't go for anything weird, trust me..."

"C'mon, Cyborg!" Beast Boy shouted from the couch. "Come back here so I can kick your butt!"

Cyborg walked back to the couch, turning once to wave at Sanza before going back to his game. A few minutes later, Robin, Starfire, Raven, and Maddy walked down the stairs, having concluded their tour of the Boy Wonder's room.

"Robin, that was really awesome... thank you so much!" said Maddy, leaning in once more to kiss Robin on the cheek. Before she could, however, Starfire interposed herself... one kiss was enough for the day.

"Would you now like to tour the rest of the tower?" asked Starfire. Before Maddy could respond, Sanza chimed in.

"I... think we'd better be getting back home now," said Sanza, walking over to his sister and putting his hand on her shoulder. He knew that the longer he and Maddy stayed at the tower, the more chance his secret thievery had of being exposed.

"But Sanza..."

"I'm sorry, Maddy," said Sanza, turning to Robin, Starfire, and Raven. "Thanks for letting us come here... and for saving us back there."

"Like I said, it's what we do," replied Robin. "And feel free to come back any time!"

"Yes, please do... I would like you to try some of my wonderful Tamaranian cuisine!" said Starfire, causing Raven to reply with a frown and a shake of her head.

"Why'd we save their lives if you're just going to kill them with your food?" thought Raven, again keeping her criticisms to herself. She could still sense that something wasn't quite right with her two visitors... and was grateful that they'd be leaving soon.

As Sanza and Maddy left with Robin to take the T-Boat back to the mainland, Sanza felt happier than he had all day. Right now, he was wearing the suit that would give him the power to protect his family... just like he'd promised his father.

"Papa... I won't fail Maddy again..."

O-O-O

Sanza completed all his homework, including the delinquent Thomas Jefferson report... and with plenty of time to spare. An hour to spare, in fact.

He looked down at the Red X suit, which he'd placed on his bed. The mask, the belt, the suit itself... they were all there, beckoning him.

"I need the practice anyway," thought Sanza, smiling as he began putting the suit on over the clothes he was planning to wear to the dance. Though he had all the Xynothium he needed, the thrill of stealing still appealed greatly to Sanza... he slipped on the mask, ready for another exciting heist. He crawled out the window and into his mom's car, silently thanking her for rewarding him for doing his homework so quickly by letting him borrow the keys to go to the dance.

Red X was riding again.

O-O-O

Red X arrived at the Jump City Natural History Museum, parking the car behind the building and walking around to the front parking lot. The "Relics of the Dark Ages" exhibit, containing hundreds of priceless jewels and artifacts from ninth, tenth, and eleventh-century Europe, had just arrived at the museum, and Red X was looking to score a few relics for himself.

But before he could even walk through the front door, he heard a familiar voice.

"You just don't know when to quit... do you?"

"The Titans... again," thought Red X, his hand moving down to his belt. "I'm not the only one who doesn't know when to quit..."

O-O-O

So now that you know about why Sanza took the Red X suit, it's time to see some more Red X vs. Titans action! But that certainly can't be all this story is, can it? Of course not... the plot thickens next chapter, and you certainly won't want to miss what happens next!