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
Red X paid little attention to the sound of the large metallic gate closing behind him. He wasn't going to leave anyway... at least not until he'd received his latest mission.
As he walked through the garage, he began to hear sounds of metal clashing against metal... of saws cutting and of blowtorches welding. It was the sound of construction, and to his left and his right, he could see hundreds of mechanical men clad in black and gold, working on weapons, mechanical monstrosities... anything you could think of, they were building.
"He's got an army here," thought Red X, staring at the humanoid Sladebots as they rapidly worked. "So why does he need me?"
X continued walking down the long path until he reached a tall, glass tube embedded into the wall. It had a single door at the front, large enough for a person to step into. The tube appeared to be an elevator, and since there were no other paths for Red X to follow, he decided to step inside.
As soon as X was in the elevator, it whisked him upward, above the long garage and seemingly up several more floors, as X could see more activity through the glass elevator as it carried him higher and higher.
"Certainly is a nice place you've got, Slade," X muttered to himself, impatiently waiting for the elevator to reach its destination. Finally, he could see that it was slowing rapidly to a halt, and when he heard a loud bell, the door slowly slid open.
Red X stepped out of the elevator and into a large, circular room, lit by a bright chandelier that dipped downward from the ceiling, its lowest point about twenty feet above the floor. From the elevator X stepped out of, he could see seven more glass tubes, which he determined to be other elevators. Between two of the tubes, directly across from him, were two large, black double doors, with golden handles that resembled lion's heads.
X hesitated for a moment. He wondered whether he should proceed through the double doors or wait in the large, circular room. He was already confused... and he knew who was running the show. It was Slade... already trying to make Red X dependent on him for information and instructions. Red X didn't know the refinery, and without Slade telling him where to go, he'd be lost.
A very nice trick... exactly what Red X would expect from a manipulative, conniving villain like Slade.
Red X's fists clenched. He thought about pummeling Slade as soon as he walked through the doors... everything Slade had done already, from nearly getting X killed at the hands of Robin, to threatening his family... the anger was bubbling to the surface again, and it would be hard to stop.
Red X walked toward the large double doors. He wasn't about to be dependent on a monster like Slade. If he got lost, he got lost, but he wasn't going to let Slade lead him around like a child.
The doors opened before X made it halfway across the room. But it wasn't Slade that came through them... Red X stopped and went into a fighting stance, prepared to confront the new villain, whoever he was.
The man who entered the room was a tall, young-looking man dressed in a long, flowing blue and gold robe. His hair was white, with four long braids, two coming from the right side of his head and two coming down from the left. The man's face reflected both arrogance and maliciousness, and Red X knew immediately that he was dealing with someone sent directly from Slade.
"Who are you?" asked Red X, looking for a name more than anything.
"My name is Sorel... I work directly under Slade, but you've probably guessed that by now," said the man, in a voice much lighter than Slade's dark, deep tone. "Slade has asked me to give you your instructions until he can trust you enough to speak to you directly."
"You work under Slade, but you're not his apprentice," said Red X, wondering why Slade would need someone like Sorel if he planned to take a new apprentice.
Sorel smiled.
"When I started working for Slade, I already had all the power I needed... he doesn't train me, I just do some of his dirty work," replied Sorel. "When you complete the tasks he's told me to give you, you'll become his apprentice... he'll begin training you in person."
"And just what are those tasks?" asked Red X, clenching his fists. "I don't have all day to deal with someone like you."
"My, we are eager, aren't we?" chuckled Sorel. "Slade told me I might have to push you to get you to do the things I tell you..."
"I just figured we'd skip straight to me doing your dumb tasks so that you don't have to threaten my family," said Red X, retaining an anger and defiance in his voice that allowed him to maintain some of his pride. He was reluctant to let Slade push him around... he certainly didn't want some underling doing it. "So, what's the first job?"
"You are to engage Beast Boy and wait until he transforms into a bird... then, you are to pluck one of his feathers and bring it back here."
Red X was puzzled. Taking one of Beast Boy's feathers didn't sound like all that important a task... was Slade trying to make voodoo dolls or something? That definitely seemed beneath someone like Slade. Then, X remembered the first part of the instructions... he was to engage Beast Boy. Another battle test. A test that would mean that X would have to fight the Titans again... and there was no way around it.
Beast Boy always transformed into some sort of bird at some time during his fights. Plucking a feather from him wouldn't be all that complicated... and once the feather was retrieved, X could get back to the factory.
It would be easy... if he could go without screwing it up.
"All right," said Red X. "I'll get that feather... anything else you want me to pick up? A gallon of milk, maybe?"
Sorel frowned, and his once calm voice quickly flared up with anger.
"Don't you dare try to make any wisecracks to me... Slade's given me permission to do whatever I want to your precious family, even kill them if you don't do as I say! So don't you dare do anything to piss me off, got it?"
"He's just like that damn dean..." thought Red X, turning and walking into the elevator he'd come from. "Sorel, if you touch my family, I'll do the same thing to you that I promised Slade I'd do to him... I'll tear you apart."
The elevator headed back down to the garage on the ground floor, leaving an annoyed Sorel alone in the large, circular room.
"You'll learn soon enough not to trifle with me, boy..." thought Sorel, a scowl on his face. "You'll respect me soon enough!"
O-O-O
The metallic gate that had closed behind Red X as he entered the garage was now open, allowing him to walk out into the parking lot, now lit only by streetlamps and moonlight. X smiled... the night was the perfect time for a thief to strike. No light meant little visibility... plenty of shadows to hide in.
But X wasn't going after Xynothium, or a priceless jewel... he was chasing a bird in the wind, a feather more valuable than any gem. He was going to pluck one of Beast Boy's feathers... but in order to do that, he'd have to lure the Titans to him.
For once, Red X was grateful that the Titans always happened to show up whenever he tried to steal something. That would make luring them in a simple task. All he had to do was do what he always did...
O-O-O
The Xantha Building, a thirty-one story office building that housed hundreds of pieces of valuable computer equipment, was just a short distance away from the Tekita Refinery, convenient for Red X because it would allow him both quick access to the building and a quick escape once he took what he needed from Beast Boy.
Though it was getting to be fairly late in the evening, the building was still open, with receptionists and security guards still on duty, and many office workers still pulling late-night shifts, hard at work to get a big report or presentation done for the next morning.
The parking garage under the building was the least-patrolled area, and Red X was easily able to sneak inside without being detected. As he made his way toward the building's ventilation shaft, from where he'd be entering into the building itself, he began once more to feel that familiar adrenaline rush, the rush he got when he was stealing something... or when he was about to fight the Titans. All he had to do was get caught without any of the security guards actually trying to catch him... instead, he'd allow himself to be seen so that hopefully, security would call in the Titans to try and take him out. He'd get into a fight and steal Beast Boy's feather.
"Piece of cake," thought Red X, forming a sticky X on each hand and using them to slowly climb up a tall, metallic ventilation shaft. His plan was to use the vent system to enter a locked room where sensitive materials were being stored. He'd steal something and trip a security detector. From there, he could only hope the Titans would arrive soon.
He climbed up the vent until he reached a place where the shaft branched off in different directions. He could go up, left, right, or back down the shaft to where he came. He chose to crawl left, looking down into the tiny slits where the vent fed in air to the different offices of the building.
"I need to find an unlit room," Red X said to himself, knowing that an unlit, and thus unoccupied room would have the highest chance of containing a valuable piece of equipment he could steal. He crawled past several lit rooms before seeing a slit that, when he looked inside, displayed only darkness. He kicked away the metallic vent guard and leaped down into the dark room.
Inside was a well air-conditioned room filled with rows and rows of tall, black servers, with red and green lights that blinked on and off every few seconds. When Red X walked over to the door of the room, a wooden door with a glass window that filled nearly the entire top half of the door, he found it locked. Smiling, he walked back over to a row of servers and began looking for anything valuable he could take.
"These servers are pretty nice, but they'd be way too heavy to carry..." thought Red X, gazing around the room for a smaller object such as a disk or a laptop. "Let's see here..."
Suddenly, he could see a bright light being shined into the room from the window in the door. A flashlight, its beam scanning the room and illuminating everything it touched, was being flashed on and off by a security guard who'd heard the vent being kicked in and immediately decided to investigate. Red X smiled, crouching behind a row of servers, the X on his right palm glowing brightly.
"Call the Titans," Red X whispered, watching the beam of the flashlight as it illuminated the top of the machine he was next to. "Call the Titans... you can't take me alone..."
The flashlight shined in the room for several more seconds. The whole time, Red X's mind was busy... he was trying to decide whether to attack the guard or let him leave. If he attacked the guard, the guard might call the Teen Titans... or he might simply call every rent-a-cop in the building instead. If he didn't attack the guard, the Titans certainly wouldn't be called... would this guard call the Titans, or just some of his friends? X couldn't know for sure... but he was going to find out.
Red X rolled out from behind the servers and fired an X that crashed through the window of the door, completely covering the guard's face. He then fired another X that turned into a solid wall of red metal, sealing X inside the room and everyone else out.
"Now they'll have to call the Titans..." thought Red X, standing up and already hearing a loud commotion outside. "I can get out, but the guards can't get in... c'mon, Titans... c'mon..."
The guard outside, blinded by the X, stumbled into a wall several times before reaching down to his radio and sending out a muffled cry for backup. The guards at the main security station, unable to understand their fellow security guard's instructions, simply sounded a loud alarm that put the entire building on alert... and summoned the Teen Titans.
Red X could hear the blaring alarms now, and knew that the entire building was under total lockdown. He smiled... he'd created a big enough emergency that the Teen Titans would have to come and fight him.
"That feather is mine..." thought Red X, preparing himself to engage the Teen Titans and remembering that all he had to do was take Beast Boy's feather. He didn't have to fight the Titans to the death, he just had to fight them long enough to pluck a feather from Beast Boy and make his escape.
He didn't have to wait long for the Titans... within just a few minutes, the sealed door was blown apart by a blast from Cyborg's plasma cannon. The five Titans ran into the room, only to be immediately met by a barrage of exploding Xs, targeted at all of them. The Xs exploded, filling a large portion of the room in dust and smoke, and destroying several servers. Sparks from the destroyed equipment further shrouded the already smoky room, and even Red X found it hard to see through the smoke.
"That probably wasn't a good idea," thought Red X, coughing as he looked for any sign of his five familiar foes. But when the smoke cleared, they were still standing right when they were when X had blasted them... a dark energy barrier put up by Raven at the last moment protected them from Red X's attack.
"We know that you did not wish to fight Robin last night," said Starfire, a statement that immediately caused a wave of shock to ripple through Red X's entire body. Did the Titans know that he was being manipulated by Slade? They couldn't possibly have found out... could they?
"Something's bothering you... something that usually isn't on your mind," said Raven.
Red X had to keep his cool... he couldn't let the Titans know Slade was controlling him. If he let them know, his family's lives were at stake.
"The only thing bothering me is that you keep showing up every time I try to steal something," said Red X, the Xs on his palms glowing up yet again. "I really wish you'd leave me alone!"
Several shurikens flew out of Red X's palms, almost too quick for the Titans to dodge. It was Robin who had to protect the others, swatting them away with his bo staff.
"I'm getting sick and tired of you always making trouble," said Robin, running toward Red X, "and you're going down... tonight!"
Robin wildly swung his staff at Red X, with little regard for the sensitive equipment nearby. As X deftly leapt out of the way, Robin's staff smashed into two servers, instantly rendering both of them useless. With a cry of frustration, Robin kicked at Red X's head. Red X reached up, grabbed Robin's leg, and slammed him hard into a wooden table behind him, smashing the table in two.
"Robin!" Starfire screamed, launching wave after wave of Starbolts at Red X. Red X leapt back, avoiding the Starbolts and allowing them to fly into a nearby computer, blowing it to pieces.
"Are you trying to hit me, or all this expensive computer equipment?" asked Red X, throwing out an X that slammed into Starfire's chest, pinning her to the wall. Then, he threw another X at the downed Robin. The X landed under Robin, transforming into a small, teardrop-shaped cage that quickly closed up around him, sealing him inside.
After Starfire and Robin were dealt with, Red X took a quick glance around the room, trying to find Beast Boy. Maybe he'd transformed into a hawk, or an eagle, or a...
The next thing Red X felt was a powerful rhinoceros horn that slammed into his chest and tossed him all the way back into the far wall, slamming him through a thick wall of plaster and into a clump of wiring that ran all the way to a group of now-destroyed servers.
Rhinoceros Beast Boy took a few steps back, tracing his hoof along the ground and preparing to charge Red X again. Red X stumbled out of the wall, wearily shaking his head.
"Turn into a bird, dammit!" thought Red X, his palm lighting up and firing three sharp Xs that sliced through all three of Beast Boy's horns, cutting them cleanly off. Beast Boy immediately detransformed, holding his nose and howling in pain. "Not a good day to be a rhino, kid..."
"Azarath, metreon, zinthos!"
The wires from the destroyed wall, now controlled by Raven's telekinesis, grabbed Red X's arms and legs and held them tightly in place. As he struggled in the wires, they only constricted him tighter, wrapping around his entire body and cocooning his head.
Raven floated toward Red X, her eyes still aglow with energy. Suddenly, he burst free from the wire cocoon, tackling Raven hard to the ground and punching her in the face. He picked her up and swung her into a still-intact server, causing her to let out a cry of pain as the plastic and metal server shattered on impact. He pinned her to the ground, his knee pressing hard into her stomach, and his hand held high over her face.
"Leave her alone!" Beast Boy shouted, transforming into a cassowary and delivering a powerful kick to Red X's face. X flew backward, off of Raven and completely out of the darkened room, skidding into the hallway and into a crowd of terrified workers fleeing for their lives.
"Unnh..." groaned Red X, rubbing the spot on his head where Beast Boy's deadly bird legs had struck. "Bird legs... he transformed into a-"
But as Red X stood up, Beast Boy charged out of the room and into the hall, toward Red X. No longer a bird but a giant gorilla, he picked up the stunned Red X and hurled him into the air, where he was an easy target for a blast from Cyborg's arm cannon. The blast struck Red X in the chest, hurling him past Beast Boy and slamming him to the ground, where he skidded several feet before coming to a stop and slowly standing up. Now out in the fifth-floor hallway, he was once again face-to-face with all five Titans... and Beast Boy, who had again transformed into his normal self, was giving no indication that he'd turn into a bird again anytime soon.
Now Red X was getting nervous again... he didn't want to fight the Titans any longer than he had to... he had one chance to get a feather from Beast Boy, and he completely blew it. Now, he had to hope he could keep them busy long enough for Beast Boy to transform into a bird again... otherwise, he'd fail the mission... and his mother and Maddy would suffer the consequences.
He pointed his palms outward to attack the Titans again, but Robin suddenly shot a Batcable out that wrapped around Red X's wrists, lashing them tightly together.
"No more," said Robin, an angry glare on his face. "You're under arre-"
Red X tugged on the cable, launching Robin forward, where he'd be helpless to stop a direct attack.
"No!" Starfire screamed, launching a Starbolt at the middle of the cable and stopping Robin's flight toward Red X. The cable loosened, allowing Red X to free his hands, and sending Robin flying back toward the other Titans. The entire hall now became engulfed in dark energy, and chunks of plaster and tile began lifting up from the floor and walls, ready to be used as projectiles that Raven could throw at Red X. As the chunks of wall and floor began flying, Cyborg charged forward, sweeping his leg down at Red X's ankles. Red X leapt up and was suddenly tackled hard by Beast Boy, now transformed into a strong, muscular green tiger. The tiger pressed him tightly to the ground, snarling and growling just as he had when he'd managed to tackle X in the museum. Using all of his strength, Red X hurled the tiger off of him and into the wall, just before taking several shots to the face, chest, and legs from the chunks of tile propelled by Raven's telekinesis.
X stumbled forward, bruised by the attacks and hoping to retreat further down the hallway. In his path stood Starfire, her eyes and hands ablaze with energy. Before she fired, she hesitated slightly, unsure about attacking someone she thought was being controlled.
"I... do not wish... to harm you," said Starfire, in as kind a voice as she could. "Please surrender, and-"
Without a word, Red X fired a single small X at Starfire's head. She gasped, then breathed a sigh of relief as a Bat-a-rang thrown by Robin cut through the X and embedded itself in the wall next to her.
"Star, what's wrong?" asked Robin, concerned that Starfire didn't immediately attack Red X. She shook her head, realizing that she'd made a mistake.
"Nothing is wrong, I just... he is getting away!" Starfire shouted. She pointed at Red X, who'd stuck an X to the ceiling that had opened up into an X large enough for someone to jump through. He did just that, leaping up to the next floor and dashing down the hallway past several offices before the Titans could give chase. He spun around, shooting out four Xs deliberately aimed at all the Titans except for Beast Boy.
"Gotcha," said Red X, smiling as the Xs expanded into metal bands that wrapped around their four targets. Robin, Raven, Starfire, and Cyborg lost their balance as their arms were rendered useless, and they fell to the ground. Beast Boy ran past them, thinking that X had forgotten him by accident.
"You didn't get all of us, Red X," shouted Beast Boy, transforming into a T-Rex and letting out a loud roar. Red X held his ground, his palms lighting up as he prepared another attack.
"Maybe I wanted to take you out another way... like this!" shouted Red X, firing sixteen shuriken Xs from his hands. Beast Boy, realizing he couldn't dodge them all as a lumbering T-Rex, transformed into a creature that he knew would have a much easier time... a flying squirrel. He glided swiftly past all the Xs, allowing them to fly past him before he transformed back to his normal form once more. "Damn, a flying squirrel? Does he know I want him to be a bird?"
Beast Boy transformed again... this time into a swift and agile monkey. He cartwheeled toward Red X, who simply leaped over him and kicked him hard in the back. Beast Boy flew forward and transformed into a wolverine, spinning around and diving on Red X's chest, digging into him with powerful claws and teeth. Red X and wolverine Beast Boy rolled on the ground for several seconds before X managed to grab Beast Boy by the tail and slam him into the wall, again causing Beast Boy to detransform into a human again.
"Give it up, kid," said Red X, standing over Beast Boy, who by now was slumped against the wall and ready to pass out.
"Never..." whispered Beast Boy, looking down the hall at his friends, who were still struggling in the metal bands Red X had placed around them. "As long as my friends are in trouble, I'll never give up!"
"That's a nice sentiment," replied Red X, while silently admiring Beast Boy's determination. "But I'm just about ready to get out of here, kid, and it looks like you're about out of tricks."
Beast Boy smiled.
"Actually," he said, "I do have one more..."
Beast Boy transformed into a rattlesnake, leaping toward Red X with sharp fangs ready to strike. But Red X struck faster, grabbing the snake by its neck and squeezing hard, choking Beast Boy enough to nearly render him unconscious.
"That's pretty pathetic for a last trick," said Red X, his hand clenched tightly around snake Beast Boy's thin neck.
"Beast Boy, fight him!" Robin shouted, trying to will his friend back into action.
"Yes, please, do not let the X beat you!" screamed Starfire.
"You can do it, BB!" Cyborg chimed in.
Hearing the cheers and encouragement of his friends made Beast Boy want to fight harder, but he still couldn't find the strength to break out of Red X's grip. He took another look at his friends... his eyes suddenly met Raven's. She appeared to be trying to break free of her bonds the most out of all the Titans... and though she wasn't saying anything, her wide, nervous eyes told Beast Boy that even Raven was concerned for his safety... and that he had to get free and help her... had to get free and help all of the Titans.
Beast Boy transformed into a hummingbird... and jammed his long beak right into Red X's eye.
Red X let out a scream, his left hand flying to his eye, which was burning with pain.
"You little... bastard!" shouted Red X, plunging his right fist forward and catching Beast Boy head on, knocking the poor little hummingbird into the wall and immediately rendering him unconscious. As hummingbird Beast Boy slid against the wall, Red X's anger turned to joy... what he'd been hoping for had finally happened... a chance to pluck one of Beast Boy's feathers. He reached down and claimed a tailfeather from the unconscious bird, placing it into one of the empty compartments on his belt and turning back toward the Titans. "Now that I got what I came for, I'll be seeing all of you later..."
Red X shot an X down toward the floor. It expanded, turning into an X-shaped hole that penetrated all the way down to the front lobby... an easy escape for the costumed thief.
"You won't get away!" shouted Robin, but it was Raven who was the angriest of all... seeing Red X so callously attack Beast Boy had touched a chord within her, and she ripped free of her bonds, charging a huge amount of dark energy into her palms.
"AZARATH, METREON, ZINTHOS!" Raven screamed, firing out an enormous dark energy beam straight at Red X. He leapt down through the hole in the ground just before the beam would've hit, and it continued on past him before slamming into the end of the hallway with an incredible explosion of dark light. "Missed him..."
Red X landed on a large desk... he turned around and looked straight into the eyes of the building's terrified receptionist, a young woman with a cute orange ponytail. Her eyes widened, and she began to stammer fearfully.
"N...n...not again..." After coming face to face with Control Freak at her video store job, Mumbo Jumbo at the bank, and the HIVE Academy members at the mall, seeing the city's most notorious thief, Red X, was the most terrifying experience of all. She passed out at her desk, and Red X turned around, dashing out the building as quickly as he could, Beast Boy's feather tucked safely in his belt. The Titans dropped into the lobby just a few seconds later, but by then, Red X was long gone.
"Lost him again!" Robin shouted, angrily staring out the front door of the building. "We need to try and follow him..."
"Beast Boy is badly damaged..." said Starfire, looking at the unconscious Beast Boy, now detransformed and in Raven's arms. "Perhaps we should take him to the tower and-"
"Robin's right," said Raven, "if we're going to have any chance of finding Red X, we've got to try and follow him. Maybe he'll take us to whoever's giving him orders. Sorry, Beast Boy, but I'm pretty sure you'd do the same thing..."
"If someone's giving him orders," said Robin, still skeptical that someone was controlling Red X. "Titans, go!"
The Titans dashed out of the building to give pursuit of Red X... then realized how hopeless it was to try and follow him. Several streets led to and from the building, not to mention all the dark alleys and hidden alcoves that the darkness of the city concealed at night. Red X was long gone.
"C'mon, Robin," Cyborg said, placing his hand on Robin's shoulder as he began dashing down a nearby street. "X is gone..."
Robin's anger and disappointment at once more letting the thief elude his grasp were clearly evident on the young crimefighter's face. But even if he was right... even if X was still working alone, without outside orders or help... what was he trying to accomplish by engaging the Titans so frequently? He had several opportunities to escape during the fight, but seemed to stick around only until he'd been able to have a few minutes alone with Beast Boy.
Whatever X was up to... it certainly wasn't the normal actions of a master thief.
O-O-O
Red X returned to the large, circular elevator room at the Tekita Refinery. Sorel was still there... and he was delighted that Red X had accomplished his first mission. X handed him the small feather, which Sorel took quite eagerly.
"It's not quite as big as I would've liked, but... it'll most certainly do," said Sorel.
"It's not the feather you were after... is it?" Red X replied, knowing that he'd been put to quite the test in order to retrieve it.
"That's for me to know, and you to find out," Sorel said. "I'll be by sometime later to give you your second task... right now, you should probably get home and rest. Your family must be pretty worried about you by now."
He'd be by sometime later... no matter where Red X went, he'd always have to be ready for another mission from Sorel... another test from Slade.
Remembering what Sorel had told him earlier, Red X didn't bother antagonizing Sorel with another cocky remark. Instead, X simply shrugged his shoulders and left the refinery the way he came, expressing in his mind the hatred for Sorel and Slade that he couldn't express with his lips... at least not yet.
"Sorel's right about one thing... my family is definitely worried about me... I need to get home to them."
O-O-O
After using the fire escape to sneak up to his room, Sanza removed the Red X costume and placed it under his bed. He looked down at his body... only a few new bruises had shown up, and they could easily be attributed to his earlier fight with Robin.
"I'll be by sometime later to give you your second task..."
Sanza couldn't get those words out of his head. The first task had been hard enough... had Beast Boy not transformed into a hummingbird when he did, the other Titans most likely would've escaped before he'd have been able to collect the feather. And if that had happened...
Sanza couldn't concern himself with 'what ifs'. He'd gotten the feather, he'd completed his mission, his family was safe.
The house was dark, and Sanza's mother and Maddy had already gone to sleep... but Sanza still knew he had to tell them he was all right. When they'd come back, he was gone... they were definitely still worried about him.
Sanza decided he'd visit his mother, and his mother only... Maddy was asleep, she'd see him when she got up, but Sanza knew he wouldn't be able to sleep until he apologized to his mother at least. He quietly walked past Maddy's room to his mother's, and slowly creaked open the door. She lay on her bead, sleeping peacefully. Sanza tiptoed over to her and knelt down, kissing her on her forehead.
"Mom, I..." Sanza whispered, still unsure of what to say. "Sorry I yelled? Sorry I got into a fight? Sorry I ran off? Sorry I endangered you by stealing a supersuit from the Teen Titans that's made me a target for psychopaths who want me to be their apprentice?"
Sanza's mother wearily opened her eyes, turning over and looking up at Sanza. Sanza expected her to be mad that Sanza had run off, or had woken her up... but instead, she smiled, offering Sanza her warmest, most loving gaze.
"Mmm... did you just come in?" Sanza's mother asked, still smiling. Sanza nodded. "Sanza... sweetie, I love you... just please, please don't get into anymore fights..."
"I promise, mom... no more fights."
"I love you, Sanza..."
"Love you too, mom... just woke you up to say I was sorry."
Sanza walked out of his mother's room with a smile, having said all that he needed to say.
"Sanza Salazar promises he won't get into anymore fights... but I can't make any promises for my friend Red X..."
O-O-O
The Titans are baffled... what did Red X hope to accomplish by fighting them? Red X knows, Sanza knows, and all of you know... but what's going to happen when Red X is given his second task, whatever that might be? And will it involve the Titans again? Find out next chapter...