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
Robin had had just about enough of fighting Red X. The thief had battled the Titans no less than three times in three days, and counting the one-on-one duel Robin had with Red X, four times.
X had taken a Xynothium reactor, he'd tried to steal from the museum, and he'd even kidnapped Starfire. Robin still couldn't get over the fact that Red X had taken Starfire. He hadn't hurt her, but that didn't matter to Robin. The thought of Starfire scared, helpless, and crying... when Robin had seen the tears on Starfire's face during his duel with Red X, the tolerance he'd had for the thief was completely eradicated. No more. If Robin had anything to say about it, X would be in jail... as soon as possible.
Up in his room, Robin studied several clues he'd taken from the Titans' fight with X at the Xantha Building. Red X had left several shuriken Xs in the fifth floor hallway, and Robin was studying them all for a clue about X's identity. He could find no DNA on the metal Xs, but that didn't stop him from looking... if it was the last thing he did, he was going to find Red X and put him in jail.
"Nobody takes Starfire and gets away with it... nobody."
It was then that the door to Robin's room slid open, and the reason for Robin's obsessive search for answers stepped inside. The door closed, and Robin heard the first voice he'd heard since he'd gotten up that morning.
"Please, come down for lunch... the others have eaten, and-"
Robin looked up from the table, his eyes looking up into what Robin believed to be the most beautiful face on the planet... or any planet, for that matter.
"Just a few more minutes, Star... I've just about figured out-"
"No, you have not," said Starfire, placing her hand on top of Robin's as he reached for a handheld DNA testing device that he'd placed on his desk. "If you were going to find something out, you would have already done it hours ago... I know you, and when you discover something, it doesn't take you this long."
Robin sighed. Again, he knew that he was probably working a lot harder than he should be... and Starfire was being completely honest with him. She wouldn't lie, especially to him... but Robin was determined to stop Red X from striking again. If he didn't keep working, the next time Red X attacked, someone could get hurt... someone like Starfire.
"I said just a few minutes!" Robin said, this time almost shouting. Starfire stepped back, removing her hand from Robin's and raising it to her chest. Immediately, Robin realized he'd made a mistake. "Starfire, look, I-"
"Robin..." Starfire said sadly, genuinely concerned for her friend's health. "I believe you when you say that Red X is dangerous, but... perhaps we should work on figuring out why he is dangerous. We usually have to fight him only a few times a month, but now he is attacking everyday... it is not like him, and that is why I believe he is being controlled."
"But by who?" Robin replied, rising from his chair and speaking slightly calmer. "I know that you and Raven think that someone's giving X orders, but until I have a concrete idea on who that person might be, I've got to go with my theory, that he's still working alone and he's just become a much bigger threat. We're not dealing with someone like Slade, who uses complex schemes to manipulate others into doing his bidding... we're dealing with a thief who does all his dirty work directly. We're dealing with someone who doesn't have any qualms about who he hurts to get what he wants. We're dealing with someone who kept you tied up in a trunk for six hours, Starfire, and I can't believe that you'd actually want to defend someone like that!"
"So that is what this is about..." thought Starfire, who had previously believed that Robin had gotten over her abduction by now. "He is still angry at Red X for abducting me... I appreciate Robin's concern, in fact, I almost enjoy it, but..."
The young Tamaranian girl didn't know how to respond. She couldn't be angry with Robin just because he cared about her, could she? Especially when she cared about him the same way... if X had taken Robin instead of her, Star wasn't so sure that she wouldn't be the one obsessing about finding him.
She understood how Robin felt... but she also understood that there were other villains in the city besides Red X. If Robin became too obsessed with catching one villain, he wouldn't be fit to catch any others... Starfire had to say something to change Robin's mood.
"Please, Robin... just come down and eat lunch, and then you may do as you please," said Starfire, smiling to lighten the mood. "Raven is working diligently to find out if Red X is or is not being controlled... I just want you to come down and-"
But before Starfire could continue, the warning sirens in the tower went off, and the door to the room slid open again. It was Raven, seemingly with urgent news.
"Trouble in the city," she said. Almost immediately, Robin feared the worst.
"X again," Robin said, anger creeping back into his voice.
"No," Raven corrected. "It's..."
O-O-O
Detention, for lack of a better term... sucked. All the work of school, without any of the fun. No getting to talk to one's friends, no possibility of the teacher relenting and having a game day or showing a video... it was just boring work, rude kids, and a teacher who'd have you suspended if you sneezed the wrong way.
If there was one good thing about detention, it was that it gave Sanza a chance to think... at least once all his work was done. Without distractions, Sanza finished his assignments quickly, and he began to work on something that was really important... an apology letter to Cleo.
"Let's see here... 'sorry about the remark in Algebra II class... I completely trashed our friendship and I'm a big jerk'? No, that's not gonna work at all..." thought Sanza, rubbing his eraser on a piece of white stationary paper. He rubbed the paper hard enough to make a small tear, a noise loud enough to alert the teacher who was overseeing the detention, a tall, bulky man by the name of Mr. Backlund.
"Sanza, what in the world are you doing back there?" shouted Mr. Backlund. "If your work is done, put your head down on the desk and be quiet until the bell rings to dismiss school!"
Sanza sighed, putting away his torn paper but keeping his pencil on his desk.
"I can't even write something for a friend?" asked Sanza, trying to be as calm as he possibly could, because if he got suspended, he wouldn't get to see Cleo at all.
"No, because you're making too much noise!" Mr. Backlund shouted. "Unless you can write without making the tiniest sound, put your head down and-"
"I promise I'll be as quiet as a mouse," said Sanza, pulling out another sheet of paper and placing it on his desk.
"Dude, you better do what Mr. Asslund says," whispered a student next to Sanza, chuckling, "or he'll suspend you for like a whole year."
"What did I just hear you say?" shouted Mr. Backlund, rising from his desk and walking over to the student, having heard the 'Asslund' remark. "Did I just hear you call me Mr. Asslund?"
The other students in the room began to laugh, giving Sanza precious time to start his apology letter.
Dear Cleo...
Bringing you into my sarcastic remark yesterday was really stupid of me... I was a complete douchebag, and I really hope this doesn't ruin our friendship. Please, if you can find it in your heart to forgive me...
Sanza continued writing as Mr. Backlund chewed out the class, finishing his letter just as the bell rang to end school. As the students, including Sanza, got up to leave, Mr. Backlund returned to his desk, shouting in an angry tone.
"Since none of you in here seems to have any respect for me whatsoever, you can all spend an extra day in detention! That includes you, Sanza, since you're the whole damn reason the entire class started mocking me!"
"But dude, tomorrow's Saturday," said one of the students, receiving a high-five from a friend.
"Then you can all come in tomorrow morning at eight o'clock sharp, and stay until noon! That'll teach you little hoodlums some respect!"
Sanza barely heard Mr. Backlund, as he was already halfway down the hall with his hastily-scribbled apology letter in hand.
"Saturday," thought Sanza with a sigh. "Whatever... it's not like I've got anything to do on Saturday morning besides sleep and watch Maddy's dumb cartoons. Right now, I've got to get this letter to Cleo and get home to mom and Maddy..."
All that day, Sanza had done a fairly good job of keeping his mind off of his battle with the Titans the previous night. Every time he thought about it, he thought about the fact that Sorel could give him a new mission at any time, and that was a truly unpleasant thought indeed. He walked down the long hallway to the door that led outside to the buses, and tried to spot Cleo in the crowd of students leaving the school.
Just like yesterday, she was walking to her bus, her books in hand. Sanza still remembered the slap she'd given him, and hoped that she was a bit less angry from the previous day. He just wanted to give Cleo the note, get onto his own bus, and hope that she actually read it... if she did something like tear the note up, Sanza knew it could be weeks or even months before Cleo would even want to talk to him again... if she ever wanted to talk to him again.
But as Sanza approached her, his cell phone rang. Thinking little of it, he took out his phone and heard the terrible voice on the other end.
"Sanza, this is Sorel... I have another mission for you."
Sanza stopped cold. He turned and looked briefly to where Cleo was... but she'd already boarded her bus. By now, most of the students had boarded the buses... Sanza would have to get on his bus quickly or be left behind.
"Sorel, I need to get back home and get my suit..."
"Be here in a half hour."
The connection ceased, and Sanza remained frozen on the sidewalk, still standing a good distance away from his bus.
He knew the moment would come, the moment when he'd receive another mission... but he didn't think it would be so soon, less than twenty-four hours removed from the last one.
He put his cell phone in his pocket and ran inside his bus. The door closed behind him, and the bus started up, carrying Sanza back home and to his Red X suit... and to the next horrible mission that lay ahead.
O-O-O
Sanza sat on his bed for several seconds, pondering the suit that was waiting for him underneath. He'd been given thirty minutes, and the bus ride had wasted ten... so what was he doing still inside his room, sitting on his bed?
He'd barely been able to take the feather from Beast Boy... a useless artifact, only stolen to prove that Sanza could, in fact, steal it. So what was he going to have to steal this time?
Maybe Slade would have him kidnap Starfire again. Sanza still remembered how ferociously Robin had fought when Starfire's life was in danger... Sanza had barely been able to escape with his own life, or at least it seemed like it. But taking Starfire seemed like a foolish crusade to send Sanza on... he'd just get pummeled again. Sanza hoped that he wouldn't have to kidnap Starfire a second time... besides the fact that Robin's wrath genuinely scared him, it just seemed... morally wrong.
A master thief, addicted to stealing, thinking about morals. Sanza shook his head... morals didn't matter anymore... as long as Slade held Sanza's family's life in his hands, Sanza would have to do whatever he said, and that was that. Until Sanza could work up the courage to confront Slade, and he constantly promised himself that day would come... morals would have to take a back seat.
Sanza knelt down and began reaching under his bed to take the suit... when he heard the door open behind him. Quickly, Sanza turned around and saw his little sister Maddy smiling down at him.
"Hi, Sanza..." she said, in as precocious a voice as she could. "What'cha doin'?"
Sanza couldn't help but jumping, even if just a little bit. He hadn't expected his sister at all... he quickly went back into 'big brother mode', frowning and gesturing at Maddy to get out of his room.
"What the heck are you doing, brat?" snapped Sanza, waving Maddy toward the door. "Shoo! Go away!"
"It looks like you were hiding something... do you have drugs under your bed?"
"Under my bed? Oh, God forbid the little brat look under there..." thought Sanza, knowing that if Maddy saw the Red X suit, all hell could break loose. "Yes, Maddy, I have drugs under my bed. Want a hit?"
Maddy giggled, amused by Sanza's sarcasm.
"No, that's okay, Sanza..."
"Really, Maddy, I insist," said Sanza, leaning over and slugging his little sister on her arm. Not hard enough to hurt her... well, much, anyway.
"Ow!" shouted Maddy, her face contorting into a pained, angry frown. "I just wanted to see what you were doing, jerk!"
Maddy lunged forward and punched Sanza hard in the stomach. He immediately doubled over, genuinely in pain. With a smile and another giggle, Maddy ran out of Sanza's room, dashing down the hallway and sliding down the stairs. Sanza stumbled over to his door and closed it before reaching under his bed and pulling out the Red X costume.
"Better keep that punch of yours nice and strong..." groaned Sanza as he began removing his clothes. "If Slade comes by, you might need it..."
O-O-O
Red X reached Tekita Refinery a few minutes later than Sorel had instructed... fashionably late, just like a master thief. As much of a jerk that Sorel was, Red X knew he couldn't make too much of a fuss about a few extra minutes.
He returned to the circular elevator room using the same route he usually took. There, Sorel was waiting for him.
"You're late," said Sorel in a slightly annoyed tone, his arms across his chest. "I told you thirty minutes, and-"
"My watch was a bit slow," replied Red X casually. "You'll have to excuse me for that."
"I don't have to do anything, it's you who's working for me, and when I tell you to get here in thirty minutes, you'll be here in thirty minutes! Remember, your family's still under our surveillance, and I can have them killed any time I want."
Again with the threatening of his family... every time Slade or Sorel made that threat, it made Red X want to bash their heads in just a little more... and X was pretty close to reaching his breaking point.
"Enough idle chit-chat, what's the mission this time?" asked Red X. "I'm late, but I'm here. That's enough for you."
"I told you you'd learn some respect soon enough... but for now, I'll give you your next mission just to get your disrespectful mouth away from me," Sorel said. "The Teen Titans' official vehicle of transportation... the T-Car, has a chip inside that runs the car's entire computer system. I want you to get that chip for me and bring it back here."
X had seen the T-Car only one, and only then when running by it while trying to escape the Teen Titans. He had no idea where in the car to start looking for the chip... not to mention that the car was most likely parked at Titans Tower, safely within some highly-secured garage.
Again, an easy job for a master thief like Red X... as long as he didn't get caught this time.
O-O-O
At the moment, the Teen Titans had a more immediate threat to worry about than Red X. Their old nemesis Atlas had returned and rebuilt, and had attacked the city, looking for Cyborg so that the two could battle once more. Instead, he was faced with all five Titans... but he had some new techniques prepared for them.
The battle was taking place in a part of the city some distance away from Sanza's neighborhood... the far northern part of the city, in an area lined with tall office buildings on one side, and beautiful townhouses on the other. The fight had taken its toll on some of the townhouses however, including one that had been completely destroyed when Atlas threw Cyborg into it. Had its occupants not been away when it had happened, they might have been severely hurt. As it stood, the only people who seemed in danger of being hurt were the Titans, faced with a barrage of new weapons that their foe had equipped.
"Atlas will have his revenge!" shouted the enormous mechanical man. He pointed his arm at the Titans, causing a series of gears and mechanisms within the arm to activate. In a fraction of a second, Atlas's arm had become a gigantic fire cannon. "Thanks to my upgrade, I no longer need a mechanic!"
A jet of flame shot forth from the cannon, causing the five Titans to scatter before the flame hit. Beast Boy transformed into a lion and leaped at Atlas, but was quickly smacked away as Atlas swung the side of the cannon into Beast Boy's stomach.
"Man, you were weak last time, and you're even more weak this time!" shouted Cyborg, shooting a powerful concussion blast from his own arm cannon. Atlas smiled as his other arm transformed into a large sonic collector disk, which he placed in front of the concussion blast, easily absorbing it. Cyborg gasped in surprise, stepping back just as Robin and Raven coordinated an attack of their own.
With Robin leaping toward Atlas' right arm, and Raven leaping toward his left, the two each ensnared one of Atlas' arms. Raven used her telekinesis to hold Atlas' left arm in place, and Robin used his Batcables to pull back Atlas' right.
"Now, Starfire!" Robin shouted. Starfire flew at Atlas, tossing dozens of Starbolts his way.
"Fools, you walked right into my trap!" shouted Atlas, using his superior strength to fling Raven and Robin forward. Robin's Batcable snapped, and the two superheroes collided both with each other and the Starbolts before slamming into Starfire and ending up on the ground in one big heap. Atlas began taunting the fallen heroes, when suddenly, he felt a powerful fist strike the back of his head, knocking him forward. It was Cyborg, eager to take out Atlas for a second time.
"Booyah!" shouted Cyborg, thinking his punch had disoriented his gargantuan opponent. "Cyborg 2, Atlas 0!"
Atlas turned around and smiled. Both of his arm cannons had been converted to enormous gatling guns.
"Someone's about to even the score," said Atlas, firing both guns at Cyborg simultaneously and riddling him with holes. Cyborg stumbled back, looking more like a piece of Swiss cheese than a Teen Titan.
"Holy Cyborg!" Robin shouted, running toward Atlas with a small grenade in his hand. "Take this, Atlas!"
Robin hurled the grenade at Atlas, but suddenly, two large rocket boosters sprung from the mighty robot's feet, jettisoning him skyward and away from the grenade. He was quickly surrounded by Starfire, Raven, and a pterodactyl-transformed Beast Boy.
"You will not get away so easily!" shouted Starfire, blasting Atlas with an eye laser that traced up his body from below his waist to the top of his chest, scarcely making a single burn. "How did-"
"Azarath, metreon, zinthos!" screamed Raven, firing her most powerful blast of dark energy at Atlas's chest, while Beast Boy furiously slammed his body into the back of Atlas' head.
"Fools!" shouted Atlas, swatting Starfire, Raven, and Beast Boy out of the sky with a single swipe of his arm. "Atlas has learned from his mistakes... you will not be winning this battle so easily!"
Atlas' arms transformed into powerful cannons, pointed at the Titans as they lay bruised on the ground. In seconds, Atlas charged a powerful golden energy blast that flew out of his cannons and slammed into the ground, detonating and engulfing all five Titans. When the smoke and dust cleared, the Titans lay in a large, smoldering crater in the middle of the street, moaning in pain. Slowly, Atlas lowered himself into the center of the crater, his hands on his hips.
"Atlas is victorious," said Atlas tauntingly.
"He's a lot tougher this time around," thought Robin, slowly picking himself up from the ground. "How are we gonna-"
Suddenly, a red X slammed into Atlas' back, sending a wave of electricity through his body. As Atlas cried out in pain and fell to one knee, the Titans looked up out of the crater. There, down the street, his palm pointed outward toward the crater, was Red X.
Robin immediately stood up, wondering whether to be angry, stunned, relieved, or a combination of the three.
"What are you doing here?" Robin shouted, more irate at Red X than he was at Atlas.
"Well, seeing as how I've been giving you guys such a hard time the past few days, I thought I'd make up for it by showing up and helping you out for a change," said Red X, concealing his real motive. He peered past Atlas and the Titans... there, on the other side of the crater, was the T-Car, parked out in the middle of the road.
Red X couldn't look long. Atlas quickly recovered, blasting Red X with a charged shot from his arm cannon that knocked the thief off his feet, sending him skidding backward along the pavement.
"Whoever you are, you're no match for Atlas!" Atlas said, rising up out of the crater and walking toward Red X, who was still lying on the ground. As he began walking, Starfire floated in front of him, blasting him in the face with multiple Starbolts.
"Leave him alone!" shouted Starfire, hurling her Starbolts into Atlas at point-blank range. "Even if the Red X is still our enemy, he came to help us, and I will not Atlas harm him!"
Red X stood up, rubbing his head and smiling at the thought that Starfire would come to his rescue.
"Well, well, well," Red X said, smiling under his mask. "Guess I'd better return the favor..."
"Just because you're helping us doesn't make us teammates!" said Robin, swatting at Atlas' legs with his bo staff. "As soon as this is over..."
"I thought you said you didn't want to fight me," said Red X, leaping over Atlas and slapping an X across the top of his head. As Atlas tried to smack Robin and Starfire away from him, he suddenly felt a powerful paralytic wave sweep through his body, making it impossible for him to move his body.
"What... what did you do to me?" shouted Atlas, helpless to stop Starfire and Robin's relentless attack.
"Signals in the X shorted out a key part of your robotic brain that allows you to move," said Red X. "Doesn't work on Cyborg because a lot of his brain is human, but yours..."
"ERRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAGH!" shouted Atlas, thrusting his arms outward and catching both Robin and Starfire in their chests, knocking both of them out. The X that had been on Atlas' head split into two pieces and fluttered to the ground. Red X immediately recoiled, surprised that Atlas had been able to break out of the attack so quickly.
"That might not always work," said Raven, her hands engulfed in a dark, black flame, "but this does!"
Raven slammed both of her hands into Atlas' chest, and his body lit up in black flame like a Gothic Christmas tree. He stumbled back, screaming in pain as he tried to extinguish the flames.
"All those new gadgets, and you don't have a fire extinguisher?" taunted Cyborg, blasting Atlas in the back and knocking his burning robotic body into the crater he'd made earlier. While this was going on, Red X snuck away from the fight, running toward the T-Car while the Titans were distracted.
"I think I can leave them alone for a little while," thought Red X, sliding under the car and looking at the complex machinery underneath. "Now where are you, little disc?"
With a loud battle cry, Atlas slammed his fists into the dirt of the crater, tossing up enough dust to extinguish Raven's dark flames. Seeing Starfire, Robin, and Raven running toward him, he transformed his fists into clamps. One of the clamps encircled Starfire and Raven's waists, while the other clasped around Robin's, squeezing tightly like a vice. Cyborg pointed his plasma cannon at Atlas, but Atlas simply countered by swinging the clamped Titans out in front of him like a shield.
"You can blast me, but you'd be blasting your friends as well!" shouted Atlas. "Do you really want to take that risk?"
"That's pretty cheap, having to use our friends as a shield," said Beast Boy, transforming into an octopus and grabbing onto Atlas' face, blocking his sight. Atlas stumbled back, preoccupied with prying octo-Beast Boy from his face. This gave Robin the chance to smash his bo staff into Atlas' chest.
"Not under the car..." said Red X quietly, rolling out from under the T-Car and gazing down at the hood. "Maybe..."
While Red X popped the hood, the five Titans dueled with Atlas in the crater. The blow from Robin's staff caused Atlas to loosen his clamps around Robin, Starfire, and Raven, dropping the three of them to the ground and enabling them to rejoin the battle.
But while the Titans prepared for another strike, Robin's mind was quickly becoming distracted. The immediate concern should've been Atlas, but now that Red X had shown up, apparently to help the Titans... something just didn't make sense.
"And where did he go, anyway?" thought Robin, looking around the edge of the crater for any sign of the thief-turned-temporary-hero. "What could he be up to?"
"Robin, look out!"
Starfire's scream didn't come in time to stop Atlas' fist from slamming into Robin's face, knocking him into the side of the crater and briefly disorienting him.
Back at the T-Car, Red X feverishly searched the hood. Circuitry, metallic parts, engines, carburetors... but no disc. Not even a hint of a disc drive, something that Red X could've forced a disc out of with an electrical charge.
"It must be inside the car," thought Red X, a red blade extending from his right wrist. "I'm starting to feel like those losers Vick and Mick doing this..."
Inside the crater, Atlas had grabbed Starfire and Raven by their heads. He quickly bashed them together, then suddenly, he heard a loud roar. Beast Boy, in grizzly bear form, was charging toward him with his mighty paws extended. Smiling, Atlas clamped his robotic fingers around Beast Boy's wrists, hurling him all the way out of the crater and onto the hard concrete above. Now, the only people standing in the crater were Atlas and an extremely angry Cyborg.
"As you can see, your friends are useless to stop me... and you can't possibly beat my upgrades," said Atlas, his body towering over Cyborg's. "Face it... you're an obsolete piece of machinery."
"I told you before... it's not the machine, it's the man," said Cyborg, "and I'm a bigger man than you'll ever be!"
Cyborg lunged forward, but Atlas counted, and the two found themselves in a familiar brawl... jockeying for position inside the middle of the crater. Their arms were locked around each other's, furiously pushing back and forth... but this time, it seemed that Atlas was winning.
"Unless you can go to 500, there's no way you'll be able to beat me," said Atlas, smiling. Cyborg tried pushing back with all of his might, but he quickly realized that what Atlas said was true... he hadn't upgraded nearly as much as Atlas had.
"I'm gonna beat this guy..." thought Cyborg, determined not to let his friends down. He pushed Atlas harder, thinking of his friends lying injured on the ground. "You... won't... beat... me!"
"There it is," said Red X, eyeing the disc slot next to the dashboard. He slapped an X above the drive and watched eagerly as a burst of electricity forced the blue and black disk from his slot. He pulled it out of the drive and pocketed it in his belt before pulling off the X and leaving the car. "Now to finish off this Atlas freak..."
Beast Boy stood up and watched as Red X ran toward the crater.
"Wonder what he was doing over by the T-Car...?" thought Beast Boy.
As Cyborg and Atlas continued to struggle in the crater, Red X leapt down and slashed his blade across Atlas' back, making a large gash in the hard metal. Atlas immediately turned around, grabbing Red X by the neck and holding him in the air.
"How DARE you!" shouted Atlas, squeezing tightly on Red X's neck. "I should pop your head from your shoulders!"
"The only thing you should do... is look behind you..." chuckled Red X as Robin leapt up and stabbed his bo staff into the large slice X made in Atlas' back. As Atlas screamed in pain, Raven stood up and began channeling dark energy into the staff. The energy went through the staff directly into Atlas, frying every circuit it touched. Starfire ripped the staff from Atlas' back and smashed it several times across his face, causing the dazed and confused robot to stumble straight into a punch from Cyborg. The punch was the last straw for Atlas, whose eyes rolled back into his head as he collapsed unconscious in the middle of the crater, dropping Red X to the ground as he fell.
"Robin..." said Starfire, handing her staff back to her teammate, "are we now going to fight Red X? Because I do not believe-"
"Why did you come here?" asked Robin, retracting his staff and placing it on his utility belt.
"I told you," replied Red X, hopping out of the crater on the opposite side of the T-Car. "I came because I've fought against you guys for a while now, and I thought I should help you out for a change."
"Or maybe," said Robin, angrily stepping out of the crater and walking toward Red X, "you came to fight us and you found out that Atlas beat you to it."
"Believe what you want to believe, kid," said Red X, turning away from Robin and starting into a run. "Oh, and by the way... you're welcome."
But as Red X started to run, a dark shadow towered in his path, melding into the cloaked figure of Raven.
"Hold it," said Raven. "Robin's right... you need to tell us why you came here. Otherwise, we'll have no choice but to fight you."
Red X was nervous... his mask concealed it, but underneath, he was sweating. If the Titans figured out he'd taken their T-Car chip, a fight would certainly be unavoidable.
He didn't know that Raven too wanted to avoid a fight... she simply wanted Red X to slip up and give her a clue about who he might be working for. She could sense the fear vibes from his mind, but she couldn't know whether he was scared of the Titans, or someone else... she'd have to take a closer look to determine that.
"Friends, please..." said Starfire, stepping between X and Raven. "Red X came to help us again... though he has fought us in the past, and may still be trying to steal in the future, we must at least show him gratitude for assisting us in our fight with Atlas."
"Dammit, Star, why do you have to be so freaking nice?" thought Red X, unsure of whether to try and push past Starfire and Raven so that he could escape the Titans. Suddenly, Starfire turned to him, a frown on her face.
"I thank you... but I too must know why you came here," said Starfire. "Please, if you are being forced to be here, do not hesitate to-"
"How does she know?" thought Red X, walking back several steps before taking a running leap over Starfire and Raven and dashing past them in the direction of another street. Suddenly, he turned right into an alley, insuring that the Titans wouldn't easily be able to follow him.
"He's getting away!" shouted Robin, his suspicions triggered once again by X making a hasty escape. "We need to-"
"Robin, wait!" Raven shouted, extending her arm in Robin's path. "When Starfire asked if he was being forced to be here... it triggered a response in his mind. A faint response that he tried to hide, but-"
"So... he is working for someone?" asked Beast Boy, scratching his head, slightly confused. "But didn't Robin say-"
"If what I sensed is right... then Robin's wrong," said Raven, turning to him. Instead of responding with anger, however, the look on Robin's face became one of sheer curiosity.
"You're sure you sensed a response from him when Starfire said..."
Raven's nod confirmed what Robin had once chosen not to believe... what he had tried to convince himself was an impossibility... Red X wasn't entirely in control of his own actions. Someone, whether by coercion or otherwise, was convincing X to strike more frequently... maybe even coordinating his strikes themselves.
"We should get back to the tower and try to come up with some scenarios," said Robin, walking toward the T-Car as the other Titans followed close behind. "Even though someone might be telling Red X what to do... I know in my heart he's still a criminal..."
The Titans got into the car, and Cyborg slowly turned the ignition. Normally, the purr of the engine and the blinking lights and signals on the dashboard would indicate that the car had started... but this time, the car didn't make a sound. Cyborg tried the ignition again... nothing.
"That's weird," said Cyborg, pressing a button on his keychain to pop the disc out of the disc drive. When nothing came out, Cyborg tried the button again. "Guys, the disc is gone..."
"I saw Red X over by the car a few minutes a-" Beast Boy began before Robin practically exploded with anger.
"YOU SAW RED X DOING WHAT?" Robin screamed. Starfire instinctively reached over and pulled him back, her hands grasping his upper arms.
"Calm down, Robin..." said Starfire, but Robin's anger was unstoppable.
"Red X must've took the disc during the fight... I was an idiot to trust him, even for a second!" shouted Robin.
O-O-O
Red X got the disc back to Tekita Refinery in just a few minutes, handing it to Sorel with the same weary reluctance with which he'd given him Beast Boy's feather.
"Excellent work," said Sorel, gripping the disc between his fingers. "Did you have as much trouble with this as you did the feather?"
"What's it to you?" asked Red X. "I got you the disc, that's all that matters."
Instead of frowning at X's rebuke, Sorel smiled. An idea formed in his head... he'd find a way to immediately punish Red X for his smart mouth.
"You know, the day's still young... you wouldn't mind if I gave you another mission, would you?"
That shut Red X up, and rather quickly at that. He waited several seconds before offering a protest.
"But... don't you want me to rest up? I mean, I'm not a machine, you know."
"You should've given me the disc and kept your mouth shut," said Sorel. "I'm sending you on the third mission right now... this time, you'll be going into Titans Tower itself. Inside, there's a magic mirror that belongs to one of the girls... Raven, I believe. Go into her room, get the mirror, and bring it back to me. I don't care if you have to kill all of the Titans to get it, bring me the mirror or your family will pay the price!"
"Sanza, why the hell do you have to be such a smartass?" thought Red X.
O-O-O
Beast Boy and Cyborg dealt with Raven's mirror once and barely escaped alive... and that was WITH the help of an army of Ravens! So can Red X possibly hope to collect the mirror and bring it back with his skin intact? AND with an enraged Robin out for his head? The next chapter's going to be more action-packed than a summer full of movies! (well, maybe not THIS summer... cougheighteenweekslumpcough