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 left the Tekita Refinery with another heavy burden. Still tired from having to fight against Atlas alongside the Titans in order to steal their T-Chip, he now had to somehow break into Titans Tower and procure Raven's mirror.
"I'd better get started," thought Red X, gazing out across the city at the giant tower that loomed over the horizon, illuminated by the afternoon sun. "I've got a long way to go."
O-O-O
Without the use of the T-Car, the Titans were forced to return back to their tower through the air. Eagle Beast Boy carried Cyborg in his claws, Raven carried Robin, and Starfire carried the disabled T-Car on her svelte, yet surprisingly strong shoulders.
"As soon as we get back to the tower, we're going over everything we've collected about Red X," said Robin. "We're not going to stop until we find him!"
"Dude, we've gone over everything we've collected about Red X six times already," said Beast Boy.
"Besides, I can make a new T-Chip... we'll have the car back up and running within an hour," said Cyborg, trying to lighten the mood.
"It's not the car I'm worried about," Robin replied, eliciting an annoyed groan from Cyborg. "What I'm worried about is-"
"That X might strike again and take more of our stuff," said Raven. "I understand your concern... but first we need to figure out why he took the chip."
"That should be obvious," said Cyborg. "It's got a lot of my personal schematics on it, as well as the entire computer system of the T-Car! Anyone who had it would know about the car inside and out."
"So you believe Red X is now trying to capture our personal artifacts?" asked Starfire, carrying the T-Car on her shoulders as if it were a plastic toy. "Whoever is giving him orders must be curious about all of us... and there are many people who would benefit from that kind of knowledge."
As the Titans neared the Tower, Robin continued to ponder X's reasons for taking the T-Chip. Red X had certainly gotten bolder in the last few days... what if he decided to attack the Tower itself?
"We need to put the Tower on extra-security lockdown," said Robin. "If X is interested in stealing our personal possessions, he may decide to pay us a visit."
"Even Red X isn't brash enough to try something like that," said Cyborg. "Coming in on our home turf? Every villain who's done that has gotten a serious butt-whooping."
"That's not going to deter Red X," thought Robin, knowing that the thief had already received his fair share of serious butt-whoopings over the past few days. "We have to take every precaution we can... X can't be allowed to get the best of us again."
O-O-O
Red X had hoped to beat the Teen Titans to their tower, but when he reached the shore of the water surrounding the island that the tower rested on, he looked up and saw the Titans flying toward their tower. They'd be inside in less than a minute.
"So much for them not bothering me," thought Red X, looking out at the water that separated him from the Titans and their Tower. His suit had a temporary oxygen supply which would enable him to swim underwater for nearly an hour, more than enough time to get to the tower itself... which he hoped had an underwater entrance. "If I try to walk onto that island, I'll meet with more resistance than the Allies at Normandy... ugh, History class again."
Shaking his head to rid himself of all Sanza Salazar-esque thoughts, Red X leapt into the water and began swimming underneath its surface. He was a decent swimmer, and the shape and material of the suit only served to enhance his abilities. As he got about fifty feet out, however, he noticed the waters beginning to get choppy... and of course, he noticed the ever-present cold, its effects neutralized only slightly by the suit.
Ignoring the cold, Red X continued to swim, grateful that the current pushed him more toward the tower than out to sea. He looked up briefly out of the water and could see that he was a third of the way to the island, and gaining rapidly. Diving back under the surface, he began to notice that the seafloor underneath him slowly started to come upward, a sure sign that he was nearing land.
"This is the easy part..." thought Red X, remembering that he still had to get Raven's mirror inside the tower... no small task with the Titans inside. "Once I get in the tower, it'll be REALLY easy."
Red X could feel the adrenaline rush, accompanied by a sense of confidence that came with the cool, calm, collected mindset of a thief. Without that mindset, Red X knew he'd probably go hysterical. After all, he was going inside the Teen Titans' T-Tower to steal one of Raven's possessions... of course, it was simply a mirror, she probably wouldn't miss it much.
"She can get a new one at the Walgreens for $7.99," thought Red X, unaware of the great secret that Raven's mirror concealed. By now, he could see the seabed rapidly rising up in front of him. He was almost at the Tower, but wasn't about to climb out onto the island. Instead, he began swimming around, looking for an underwater entrance.
Within just a few minutes of searching, X found one. Two large, metallic gates built into the base of the island underneath the surface of the water. This was were the T-Sub normally exited, and now, it would be where Red X would make his entrance. He swam around to the gates and pressed an X over the center, where both sliding doors met. A wave of electricity from the X forced the doors open, and Red X fell inside, along with water from the sea that quickly rushed in, flooding the room. Once the room was flooded, the doors closed, and X could see the unoccupied T-Sub floating in front of him, ready for use.
"Maybe I should just take the sub," Red X thought to himself, briefly floating around the large, flooded chamber and inspecting the marvelous machine. "It's much bigger than a mirror, and a lot cooler too..."
But instead, Red X floated toward a large door at the end of the room. The door resembled the locking door of a bank vault, and Red X grabbed the large handle of the door and, with a bit of effort, spun it around until the gate slowly opened, leading to a much smaller chamber. The chamber flooded quickly, and as Red X swam inside, the door closed behind him and the water level in the room slowly decreased until all the water had been drained out. Red X shivered slightly in the room, shaking his body until most of the water was off of his suit.
"That's certainly the hard way to come in," said Red X, placing his hand on the spinning handle of another vault-like door similar to the last one. He turned the handle slightly slower than he'd turned the last one, wondering where exactly in the tower he was. He knew he was somewhere under the main part of the tower, but he had no idea how he'd be getting up. Was there an elevator system, a set of stairs... and would the Titans be waiting for him above? "Just focus, X. You know what you have to do."
Red X turned the handle, causing the large door to swing open. The room that lay in front of him seemed to be a kind of massive storeroom for underwater equipment. X could see scuba gear, harpoons, sonic scoping machines, all laid out on shelves and racks that went all the way around the walls of the fairly large room. At the center of the room was a spiraling staircase that went up into the ceiling, but where it led was a complete mystery to Red X.
"Raven didn't leave her little mirror lying in here by some chance, did she?" Red X mumbled to himself as he walked over to the spiral staircase. "Guess I'm going up..."
O-O-O
In the main room of the tower, meanwhile, Cyborg was initiating a Level 3 security sequence for the tower. This meant that all entrances to the tower would be completely locked down and monitored, and pressure, heat, and motion sensors would be activated in the main hallways of the tower. Video cameras began blinking to life... including the camera monitoring the storeroom Red X was currently climbing up out of. It barely missed catching a glimpse of his foot as he swiftly darted up the spiral staircase.
"No sign of X yet, but keep looking," said Robin, flopping down on the couch and intently watching the video feeds on a large television screen.
"Um... where can't I walk again now that the security systems are up?" asked Beast Boy, tiptoeing across to the kitchen.
"Nothing in this room is being monitored by the sensors, but the hallway in front of the bedrooms as well as the hallways leading to the equipment storage areas are all defended by heat and motion detectors," said Robin. "So if X tries to steal any important items from the Tower, we'll know. Right now, I'm watching about half of the Tower covered by security cameras, shifting my views every few seconds to cover the other half of the rooms. The only areas not being watched are the ones X can't steal anything from."
"The hallway just above the underwater storage area, as well as several empty rooms on the second floor of the tower are the only ones uncovered by the cameras," said Raven. "So if X goes anywhere else, Robin will see him."
O-O-O
Red X emerged from the spiral staircase into what seemed to be a long, empty hallway. X didn't remember this hallway from the previous time he'd been in the tower, but it looked identical to most of the others. As he walked away from the staircase, he looked back and up to see a small hanging sign marked 'To T-Sub and Underwater Storage Area'. Then, he turned back around and walked down the hallway, his feet making little noise on the red floor beneath him.
He walked straight until he reached a corner, where he could turn right or walk straight into a dead end. He stopped just shy of the corner, hearing a slight buzzing noise in the nearby hallway.
"A camera shifting its view..." thought Red X, remembering the sound from previous encounters with security cameras. "They're probably monitoring this entire place..."
Turning to the wall near the corner, the thief placed an X on it, creating a large, X-shaped hole that opened up a path that would allow him to bypass the hallway by walking through the wall itself and detouring through the rooms that lay on the right side of the hall. But as soon as he opened up a path to the next room, he again heard the familiar buzzing sound of a monitoring camera... it appeared X couldn't go anywhere in the tower without being discovered.
"If a camera sees me, they'll know I'm here... if I destroy a camera, they'll know I'm here..." thought Red X, his mind racing for another solution. "If I go below the floor..."
Red X smiled, placing another X on the floor beneath him and allowing it to open up a hole that led to a seemingly dark, dank room... the basement of the tower. He heard another buzzing noise, and looked down into the hole... the camera was right next to the X-shaped hole, panning across the room but not above to monitor the gap between the camera and the ceiling.
X leapt into the hole, grabbing the metal pole the camera was attached to and positioning his legs so that he was upside down, inbetween the camera and the ceiling and invisible to its seemingly all-seeing electronic eye. He placed a hand on the camera, forming another X that sent an electrical signal through the camera's circuitry, putting it on a perpetual loop. Then, he leapt down into the room, staring straight into the camera's lens.
"Hey Titans," said Red X, taunting the heroes, though the camera was no longer able to see him. He suddenly waved his hand up and down in front of his face. "You can't see me!"
He walked over to the elevator that led up from the basement, remembering what Maddy had told him during her trip to Robin's room. The bedrooms were on the tenth floor of the tower, at the very top. Smiling, Red X took one last look at the camera, then walked into the elevator.
"Next time, Titans," thought Red X as the elevator slowly took him up to the top floor, "build cameras that can't sustain a person's weight."
O-O-O
The elevator took Red X straight to the tenth floor, but when he got there, he could immediately tell that his navigation of the halls wouldn't be easy. The elevator door opened, and Red X both heard and saw several cameras, rapidly scanning left and right for any sign of an intruder. He closed the elevator door and leapt up to the top of the elevator, using four Xs on his hands and feet to stick to the ceiling so that the camera scanning the elevator wouldn't see him or the open door when it glanced his way. Once the camera looked away again, he dropped down briefly, opened the door, and shot a spray of red gas into the hall. The gas revealed what the thief knew would already be there... motion-detecting lasers, placed in a complex web of patterns to detect any possible movement in the hallway. He also knew that there was probably a temperature sensor as well... which made it a good thing that his gas was at room temperature at all times. He closed the door and leapt back up to the top of the elevator just as the camera looked his way again.
"There's no way I can get into Raven's room without being caught," thought Red X, looking down at the floor of the elevator with a sigh. "What am I talking about... I'm Red X, master thief... there's got to be a way in there."
He leapt back down into the elevator... with the door closed, there was no danger of the camera seeing him inside. His hands began to glow as he got ready to fire several Xs into the hallway. Slowly, he opened the door... and fired an X at every security camera in the hall.
O-O-O
"Robin, have our security measures detected anything yet?" asked Starfire, peeking over Robin's shoulder to take a glance at the wall of video feeds out in front of him. "Because I do not believe X would come here so soon after stealing Cyborg's chip..."
Starfire was probably right, and Robin turned around to respond, missing a brief shot of Red X's leg as he ran into one of the Titans' bedrooms.
"I'm just trying to play it safe, Star..." said Robin, who didn't want to yell at Starfire, especially when most of her suspicions about Red X's motives had turned out to be correct. "What if he breaks into one of our equipment rooms and steals some of my Bat gadgets, or Cyborg's tech? With that and the suit powering him, he might be unstoppable..."
Beast Boy was eating in the kitchen, and Cyborg and Raven were studying some of Red X's previous battle footage in a computer in another room, leaving Starfire and Robin alone to face the video screen monitoring the Tower's activity.
"Maybe we should've put some cameras in everyone's rooms..." sighed Robin. "I mean, I know everybody wants their privacy, even me, but-"
"You said that the area in front of our rooms was guarded with some of the tower's tightest security," said Starfire, smiling. "If Red X tries to go into any of our rooms, he will be immediately detected, thanks to the security you set up that we do not need at the moment..."
O-O-O
But thanks to Robin's brief distraction, as well as four sticky Xs that enabled him to cling to the walls of the hallway like Spiderman, Red X had made it into one of the Titans' rooms... but it wasn't Raven's... it was Starfire's.
X could tell by all the pink and purple that the room belonged to Starfire, who kept her room clean and spotless at all times. With its lovely pink bed, beautiful (and recently repaired) drapes, and tall, well-dusted furniture, the room was nearly as beautiful as Starfire... and though it wasn't the room Red X had intended to visit, he knew he had to take at least a brief look.
"Wish I could keep my room like this..." thought Red X, running his gloved hands across Starfire's dresser. He placed his hand on the golden handle of the top drawer... then stopped, lowering his hand to his side. "Sorel didn't send me to take Starfire's underwear... though if that's the next mission, I wouldn't mind..."
Starfire's room even smelled better than the rest of the tower... filled with a wonderful fragrance that reminded Red X of flowers and honey, ten times better than his mother's shampoo or his sister's perfume.
"I need to get out of here..." thought Red X, walking toward the door. "I still have a mission to-"
Red X caught something out of the corner of his eye on the small desk next to Starfire's bed. He walked over to take a look... there, on the center of the desk, was a framed picture of Starfire and Robin together at the local high school's junior prom last spring. Starfire wore a beautiful pink dress, and Robin, clad in a tuxedo, had his hand around her shoulder. Both were smiling... from the exquisite golden frame that the picture was in, X could tell that Starfire cherished it very much.
He picked up the picture and looked even closer at Robin and Starfire... Starfire, of course, was beautiful, and so happy... so happy with Robin. Sighing, Red X set down the picture, and briefly remembered how happy he'd been at the dance with Cleo.
But if Red X loved anyone besides his family, it was Starfire, not Cleo... and he wasn't even sure if his love for Starfire went any further than a lustful crush. So that left Cleo, who currently hated him at the moment...
But what was Red X doing thinking of girls? There was only one girl X needed to think about, and that was Raven... and the matter of getting into her room and taking her mirror. Red X walked over to the door of Starfire's room and opened it up, taking a look out into the hall... and seeing a blinking camera staring straight into his face. The camera didn't have an X on it, either... somehow, in his barrage of Xs that put all the cameras in the hall into a constant loop, he'd missed one of the cameras... and now, he'd been spotted. He stumbled back several steps into Starfire's room, cursing in rage.
"Dammit, how could I have missed that one camera?" shouted Red X, clenching his fists and preparing for a fight. "Son of a..."
O-O-O
"Star, I hope you're right about this," said Robin, walking away from a large control chamber in a room just off the main room of the tower. He stepped out of the room and allowed the door to close behind him. "I still think we should at least keep the video monitors on."
"It is a waste of time to watch them... I do not think the Red X would be dumb enough to try and steal from us a second time in one day," said Starfire.
Robin sighed... he was still extremely wary about returning Tower security to its normal settings, but he trusted his teammate Starfire's judgment... she had a calmer head than he did, and she was most likely right about X wanting to avoid a confrontation with the Titans at their tower.
As Robin and Starfire walked down the hallway back to the main room of the tower, they were met by Raven and Cyborg. Raven had a small video disc in her hands, which she gave to Robin.
"He just walked right up to the car and took the disc out," said Cyborg, shaking his head in disbelief. "We were too busy fighting Atlas to even watch the T-Car."
"It's all right," said Starfire, "at that moment, the important thing was stopping Atlas and making sure the town was safe."
"And besides," replied Robin, in a serious tone of voice, "we now know the places where Red X is most likely to strike. It won't happen again."
O-O-O
Red X stared at the camera for several minutes, wondering whether the Titans were blind or just plain lazy.
"They can see me... I'm right here... so why aren't they coming?" said Red X, walking out into the hall before realizing what he was doing. Upon not hearing any alarms, Red X began to get even more confused. "Their security's down... I wonder if they're still even in the tower?"
Running around the corner, Red X walked to the first room on the right and made his way to the door control panel. The doors slid open, revealing a dark, foreboding chamber complete with black furniture and the scariest bed Red X had ever seen.
"This is definitely Raven's room," said X to himself, walking inside and jumping a bit as the door closed behind him. "If I decorated my room like this, mom would probably warn the school about me... this girl's either got issues, or the Bride of Frankenstein as a decorator. Or both."
Glancing to his left, X could see a chest-high dresser in front of him, and walked over to it. The dresser was black, and seemed much older and dustier than Starfire's... and on top of the dresser lay a monstrous black object. Red X only needed one look to realize that it was Raven's mirror. He picked it up in his right hand and held it out in front of his face, gazing briefly into his reflective glass surface. The mirror was certainly no eight-dollar drug store mirror... it seemed like something right out of a crypt, and Red X was amazed just to see his own reflection in it.
"She certainly doesn't take this Goth thing lightly," thought Red X, inaccurately attaching a school clique stereotype to the mysterious Titan. "I'd better get this thing back to Sorel quick, before I catch creepy or something."
But as Red X turned toward the door, the reflective glass surface of the mirror was replaced with a burning red glow that blinded the thief, nearly causing him to drop the mirror.
"WHAT'S GOING ON?" Red X screamed, trying to throw the mirror away from his body. Before he could, several glowing dark hands shot forth from the mirror, grabbing Red X by his neck and dragging him inside. He let out one last scream before he disappeared into the mirror, which then dropped face up on the floor of Raven's room.
O-O-O
A swirling, endless tunnel of blackness... Red X couldn't help but scream as he was dragged through the portal, into the deepest, darkest depths of the abyss that was Raven's mind.
The trip lasted seconds, seconds that seemed like hours to Red X as he fell, continued to fall, hurtling through the darkness until...
Darkness. Then, a light from above, so bright that it could consume all of Red X's being... a light that faded to reveal an ancient, stone ceiling, from which several bright lights were hanging, shining like spotlights into the room below. The room, which Red X discerned was a library from the endless shelves of books stacked nearly to the ceiling, seemed large enough to swallow the thief up as he stood, his legs wobbly at first, his head throbbing as his eyes continued to adjust to the light.
"Where... the hell am I?" said Red X in a bewildered tone that was immediately followed by a loud shushing noise from behind him. He turned around and saw a girl in a yellow cloak staring at him... a familiar girl, too familiar to be real... "Raven?"
"Shh," she said again, looking up from a large book she'd placed on a desk in front of her. "Take whatever books you want, thief, I'm trying to study this one."
Red X hadn't seen the studious side of Raven... only the serious, ferocious, dark, fighting side. Thus, the girl in the yellow cloak, while bearing a resemblance to Raven... was a complete mystery to Red X.
"Where am I?" he asked, an obvious question considering that he didn't have the slightest idea of where he possibly was.
"This is a library, and you need to be quiet," replied the yellow-cloaked Raven, returning to her book. "The exit is around the shelf behind you to your left and straight ahead."
"At least I know where the exit to this place is," thought Red X, "or at least part of this place... but what in the world is Raven doing here? Is that even her?"
When Red X didn't move, Yellow Raven looked back up at him, an annoyed look on her face. Before she could look back down at her book, Red X stepped forward.
"What are you reading there?" asked Red X, trying to look down at the book. Yellow Raven suddenly picked it up, showing him the cover.
"'The Criminal Mindset', by C. E. Van Doren, Ph. D," read Yellow Raven, placing it back on the table with the cover facing up. "We're trying to figure out why you've been committing all of these crimes lately."
Red X chuckled, stepping back from the table and placing his arms across his chest.
"Kid, you'll never get into my head, no matter how hard you try," said Red X.
"You got into mine," replied Yellow Raven, with no emotion whatsoever, "so it can't be all that hard. Now, if you'll excuse me..."
Yellow Raven returned to her reading, while Red X gasped in surprise. He turned around, looking in all directions at the endless stacks of books surrounding Yellow Raven and her desk. Stumbling backward, he nearly bumped into a shelf before stopping himself and placing his hand to his forehead.
"Inside Raven's head?" thought Red X, looking back over at Yellow Raven. "But how can she be inside her own head? This place is seriously messed up..."
Remembering Yellow Raven's instructions, Red X ran to his left, around the bookshelf and toward a large, wooden door with a flashing 'EXIT' sign above it.
"No running," said Yellow Raven as Red X dashed out the doors. He ran until he realized that he was on a large, stone precipice... with nothing in front of him but a long, winding path leading out into the darkness. He looked back and saw the library, a beautiful white building with tall, stone pillars... and then back out into the darkness, and the path that lay before him. He stopped at the beginning of the path, wondering whether he should go forward or try to find some sort of map, which he assumed was in the library... then again, the inside of Raven's head sounded like territory that a simple map couldn't possibly hope to decipher.
"Guess it's forward then," thought Red X, starting down the dark path. He hadn't taken more than seven steps when he began to see small pairs of red eyes blinking open all around him, made even more prominent by the darkness. "What the..."
"Intruder... intruder..."
Soft, childlike voices began swirling around Red X, seemingly coming out of the eyes themselves.
"Who are you?" Red X shouted, his palms lighting up. "Don't make me warn you twice!"
Out of the darkness came hundreds of tiny ravens, their eyes a fiery crimson, their collective wings making a noise as loud as thunder. They swooped over Red X, some of them pecking at him with their long, sharp beaks. As the cloud of birds swept over Red X, his visibility plummeted, and all he could see was a sea of black, the path disappearing beneath his feet. He began stumbling about, trying to rid himself of the raven swarm, but suddenly, as he stepped to the right, he could no longer feel the ground beneath his feet.
"If I fall here, I'm done for!" thought Red X, desperately trying to keep the birds away from him at the same time that he was struggling to keep his balance. But when the storm of birds dissipated, he found himself tumbling off the edge of the path and into the darkness, screaming loudly as he fell.
He closed his eyes, bracing himself for a sickening impact... but instead, he felt a relatively soft landing, accompanied by a loud 'oof!'. When he opened his eyes, he no longer saw darkness or the birds that had been tormenting him... instead, he saw a bright yellow and pink sky, beautiful pink grass... and lovely pink pine trees. For a moment, he thought he might've fallen out of Raven's head and into Starfire's... and the soft, sweet voice that came to his ears next almost confirmed that theory.
"Hey there, it's nice to meet you too, but my back's starting to hurt, so if you could stand up..."
Red X stood up and looked down... and it wasn't Starfire he saw, but Raven, this time clad in a bright pink cloak, her face pressed into the ground. She stood up quickly and brushed herself off, extending her hand.
"My name's Raven, it's nice ta meetcha!" said Pink Raven, a friendly smile on her face. "It'd be a lot nicer if you hadn't landed on me, but still nice nonetheless! You must be Red X... I've heard an awful lot about you!"
"Uh... yeah," said Red X, reluctantly reaching out to shake Pink Raven's hand. "At least this one's friendlier... maybe she can show me the way out."
"You know, a lot of my friends think you're a big jerk, but I think that deep down on the inside, you're a pretty nice guy! At least once ya take off that ugly mask you've got on your head..."
Pink Raven reached out to remove Red X's mask, but he quickly shoved her hand away, walking up a hill toward a large grove of trees.
"Hey, where are you goin'?" shouted Pink Raven, disappearing into the ground and reappearing in front of Red X, who leapt back with a slight scream. "I just wanna talk... c'mon!"
"Not interested," said Red X, walking around Pink Raven and continuing toward the trees. "This place... is like a nightmare. A pink, fluffy, sweet-smelling nightmare from which there is no escape. Screw the mission, I'm getting the hell out of here."
"I don't think you want to go into those trees," said Pink Raven, her hands on her hips, a smile still on her face. "That's where she lives..."
"She who?" asked Red X, turning around and looking into Pink Raven's eyes. "Another one of you freaks?"
Pink Raven giggled, putting her hand over her mouth.
"That's funny... you're almost as funny as Beast Boy! Anyway, you really don't wanna go over there... just trust me on this one, okay?"
"I don't trust any of you," said Red X, turning around and walking back over to the trees. "Unless you've got a quick way out of here..."
"Well, there's always the Forbidden Door," said Pink Raven, pointing up toward a dark path that led away from the pleasant pink grove. When Red X saw the path, it reminded him of his bad experience with the birds... which had gotten him into this mess in the first place. "It's not safe either, but it's a lot safer than the trees."
"Not interested," replied Red X, continuing into the trees. "I'll take my chances."
"Okay, suit yourself, but don't say I didn't warn yaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" squealed Pink Raven, eagerly waving goodbye to Red X as he walked into the pink forest.
The pleasant, pink forest quickly darkened in a hurry... the trees went from pink, to green, to black as Red X continued deeper into the forest, and nearly all the light disappeared.
"Maybe Maddy Raven was right about these trees..." thought Red X, his nickname given to the pink-cloaked Raven because she was almost exactly like his sister in demeanor... except for being three times as annoying. "This place is almost as bad as the path..."
Suddenly, Red X could see a dim purple light, flashing off to his left. He turned and thought he could hear the quiet whispers of soul music coming to his ears.
Curious, and a bit afraid of continuing into the darkness, Red X walked toward the flashing lights, noticing the shading of the trees becoming more and more purple as he walked, to match the lights that were pulsating through them. The music got louder and louder, and as Red X continued forward, he could have sworn that it almost sounded like a Barry White album.
"What kind of weird place is this?" thought Red X, suddenly entering a large, circular clearing. The purple light seemed to be at its strongest point here, but there was no source in sight... just the light circling and swarming around, almost like it was coming from an invisible disco ball somewhere in the clearing. The music was also at its strongest, loud enough to nearly hurt Red X's ears. Suddenly, as he stepped into the center of the clearing, he heard a loud snap... then, he was hurled skyward. His ankle had been caught in a snare, and it jerked him up, until he was hanging upside down, his head nearly twenty feet above the ground.
"Let me down!" shouted Red X, retracting his wrist blade and reaching up to try and cut the rope around his ankle.
"Ah ah ah... none of that now."
Suddenly, two soft, yet extremely strong hands clasped around his wrists, pushing his blade back into his suit. The rope attached to his ankle was pulled a few feet downward with the extra weight, and Red X could see a pair of bright blue eyes, staring straight into his own.
The eyes belonged to another Raven... in a purple cloak.
"Hey there, handsome."
The rope suddenly snapped, sending Red X and the purple-cloaked Raven plummeting to the ground. Red X landed hard on his back... with the new Raven on top of him, her lips curled in a devilish, lust-filled smile. She removed the hood from her head, allowing her face to be illuminated by the purple light.
Red X was genuinely freaked out, and he kneed Purple Raven hard in the gut, throwing her off of him and quickly getting to his feet, taking several steps backward. Purple Raven stood up as well, looking Red X up and down his body. Red X quickly pointed his palm at Purple Raven, preparing to attack.
"Don't come any closer..." said Red X, backing toward the trees.
"Oooh... are you gonna tie me up like you did to Starfire?" asked Purple Raven, sensually walking toward Red X. "Or are you going to cut off my cloak so you can see my underwear? By the way, they're black..."
"Oh God, she's a bigger slut than most of the girls in my school... and I think half of them are pregnant!" thought Red X, suddenly slipping on a wet patch of grass and falling on his back again. Before he could stand, Purple Raven was on top of him again, her hands running slowly across the smooth surface of his suit.
"You poor baby, did you get a boo-boo when you fell?" cooed Purple Raven, her fingers beginning to glow with dark energy as they traveled downward... toward Red X's crotch. "Lemme give you a massage and make it feel all better..."
"This feels kind of good, actually..." thought Red X, as Purple Raven radiated a soothing, massage-like energy from the tips of her fingers. "What the hell am I thinking, she's a sick pervert! Get the hell away from me!"
With a great deal of effort, Red X kicked Purple Raven hard in the knee. She shrieked in pain and rolled off of Red X, allowing him to get up and escape into the dark forest. As he ran, he could hear Purple Raven calling out to him.
"Tell ... that I said hi!" Purple Raven shouted, the name indecipherable to Red X. Whether she said Robin, Beast Boy, Cyborg, Aqualad, hell, even Starfire, it didn't matter to Red X, he just wanted to get away from Purple Raven as fast as humanly possible.
He didn't notice the steep cliff that he was rapidly coming up on... or the ground once again disappearing from under his feet.
"Not agaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaain!" screamed Red X, falling fast into the canyon below. Trying to steady himself, he landed on all fours on soft, sand-like ground in the middle of the canyon, the forest on his left and seemingly flat ground on his right. A river ran alongside the ground in front of him, and the sky seemed to be a red, burnt-out color above his head. "Well, this isn't so bad..."
The river traced out a winding line along the bottom of the canyon, and Red X decided to follow it forward to see where it went.
"Hopefully, it goes straight to the exit of this place..." Red X said to himself, slowly walking along the side of the river. While he walked, he recalled the various Ravens he'd met along the way. "Studious, happy, lustful... I thought Raven had only one mood... Emo Chick. Well, you learn something every day, I suppose..."
Red X walked until he reached what seemed like the end of the river... a vast, empty desert with an enormous building in front of him. Again remembering his History class, he recognized the building as looking almost exactly like the ancient Roman Coliseum... tall, white pillars laid out in a beautiful circular fashion, forming an open-air stadium of epic proportions. The building here, however, resembled something closer to the broken-down building of modern times... pillars lay strewn and broken around the structure, and only about half of its seats remained standing. As Red X walked through two broken pillar and onto the main floor of the coliseum itself, he could hear his feet making loud claps across the broken white tile beneath him.
"Guess this must be where all the Ravens come to train..." said Red X, slowly looking around the beautiful, yet broken structure. "But I'm looking for the exit, not ancient Rome... I need to head back to the canyon and-"
Red X didn't get to finish his thought. Instead, he saw a flash of green... and then a large rupture in the ground, rapidly moving toward him. He leapt to one side and saw exactly who'd made the crack... a green-cloaked Raven, her hand smashing into the ground in the form of a karate chop. She suddenly looked up at Red X, her fists clenched.
"All right, thief!" shouted Green Raven, her eyes narrowing into angry slits. "Your ass is mine!"
Green Raven leapt up into the air, her leg extended toward Red X's chest as she flew toward him. She landed the powerful kick, causing him to skid along the ground, throwing up dozens of tiles as his body flew all the way back to the side of the Coliseum.
"Shit, it's Kung-Fu Action Raven this time," thought Red X, standing up and rubbing his chest. He could see Green Raven rushing toward him, preparing to strike with another deadly kick. He flashed out his palm and fired an X that flew straight toward Green Raven's head... when suddenly, she stopped in mid-air and chopped her hand through it, cleaving it in half. Red X quickly dashed up the side of a broken pillar, leaping off of it and toward Green Raven. She leapt back, and when Red X landed on the ground, fired a blast of dark energy that slammed into his throat and knocked him back down to the ground, grimacing in pain.
"I've had just about enough of you messing with my friends, bub," said Green Raven, jogging in place and throwing punches in the air like a prize fighter. "Yo, Red X, get up!"
Red X slowly peeled himself off the ground, brushing himself off and barely seeing Green Raven rush forward again, her fist aimed straight at his face. Red X leapt into the air, spinning around and landing a kick that slammed straight into the side of Green Raven's skull. She flipped up into the air from the force of the kick before coming back down, landing on her feet.
"Had enough yet?" asked Red X, pointing his palms at Green Raven. Green Raven simply smiled, lowered the hood of her cloak and used her fist to wipe off her cheek.
"You kiddin'? That just got me warmed up," said Green Raven, driving her elbow straight into Red X's gut. Red X doubled over, but saw an opportunity and took it. He grabbed Green Raven's arm and flung her into a pillar, breaking the pillar in two and burying her in rubble.
"Guess you haven't seen my best either," thought Red X, preparing himself for another attack. "C'mon, I know you're still alive in there..."
Green Raven was not only alive, she was kicking. She leapt out of the remains of the pillar and back onto the tile of the coliseum before taking another leap off of that and launching a swooping kick at Red X's head. Red X ducked, firing two exploding Xs into Green Raven's chest. The force of the explosion stopped her briefly, but her sheer bravery left her focused on attack, and she jumped up again, her hands grabbing Red X's shoulders and flinging him up, over her back and hard into the ground. The impact knocked the wind out of Red X, who lay on the ground for several seconds, coughing and moaning in pain.
"She's as bad as Robin... and just a tad more unstoppable..." thought Red X, trying to think of a way to defeat his green-cloaked foe.
Green Raven stood over Red X, her fingers raised in a 'V for Victory' sign.
"Consider yourself thoroughly owned," said Green Raven excitedly. "HOOWAH!"
"That's it..." thought Red X, slowly peeling himself from the ground, his palms aglow with Xynothium energy. He'd realized something about Green Raven... not only was she brave, she was arrogant... and thus susceptible to surprises and cheap tricks, something Red X, as a thief, was extremely skilled at. He pointed his palm up at Green Raven and fired a large X into her chest, which quickly expanded into metal bands like the ones he'd used on Starfire.
"What... what's this?" shouted Green Raven as the X flew backward, taking her with it. "What are you-"
The X slammed into a pillar across the coliseum, quickly hardening and wrapping itself around the pillar, tightening around Green Raven's arms and legs and sticking her tightly in place. Red X stood up and wearily brushed himself off.
"Hey, you can't do this to me!" shouted Green Raven, thrashing wildly against the pillar. "I swear, when I get off here, I'm gonna kick your-"
Another X slapped across Green Raven's mouth, muffling a tirade of swears directed at her victorious opponent. Red X turned around and ran out of the coliseum, forgetting the river and heading straight out into the desert, yelling at the top of his lungs.
"HOW MANY MORE FREAKING RAVENS ARE THERE GONNA BE IN THIS STUPID PLACE!"
O-O-O
By now, the Titans had all converged at the kitchen table, sitting down for a dinner of hamburgers, french fries, pizza, and, for Beast Boy, salad.
It was nice to be able to eat and forget about the problems of crimefighting for a while... especially Red X, whom was becoming a constant fixture in Robin's mind. A delicious hamburger quickly lightened his mood, and the conversation at the table drifted to subjects besides Red X.
"Anybody gonna watch the big college football game tomorrow?" asked Cyborg, looking around at the other Titans seated at the table. "San Andreas Tech vs. Jump City University... and it's gonna be in high-definition!"
"Cyborg, I thought we were going to the Jump City Fall Carnival tomorrow," said Starfire, picking up a large jar of mustard and heaping a generous amount of it onto her slice of pepperoni pizza. "There will be rides, games, a concert... it will truly be wonderful!"
"As long as Red X doesn't come and ruin it," said Robin as soon as he'd finished with his hamburger, which apparently couldn't keep his mind satisfied for very long.
"Robin, I thought you said you weren't going to talk about Red X at the table," said Raven, feeling unusually afraid for some reason. Her voice trembled as she spoke, and the mere thought of Red X almost caused her to scream. "That's strange..."
"Yeah, I'm tryin' to eat my salad here," said Beast Boy, diving into his fourth bowl of salad, piled high with extra ranch dressing. "Bad guys and food don't mix, man."
"Raven, what's wrong?" asked Robin, sensing an unusual fear in Raven's tone. "Your voice is trembling..."
"I'm not sure," said Raven, pushing her chair back into the table and walking toward the elevator leading to her room. "But something definitely isn't right here..."
"Whoa, Rae... if you're scared, I can come with you," said Beast Boy, also noticing the worry in Raven's voice. She looked back at Beast Boy and shook her head.
"I'll be fine..." said Raven, trying to keep herself as composed as she could. "But I still wish one of you would come with me..."
O-O-O
Green Raven's muffled, yet still loud screams alerted nearly all of her fellow Ravens to the scene, and they arrived at the coliseum as quickly as they could.
"Lucky..." muttered Purple Raven, her hands on her hips as she observed her green-cloaked colleague's predicament.
"Heh, the X strikes again!" shouted Pink Raven, clapping her hands together. "Ya really shouldn't have messed with him like that..."
"I got up from my book for this?" asked Yellow Raven, adjusting her glasses. The buzzing of flies alerted all of the Ravens to Orange Raven, dirty, lazy, and unkempt.
"Yo, who cares about this, Jackass is on," yawned Orange Raven, smacking a fly that had landed on her arm.
Meanwhile, Green Raven, who'd had just about enough of being bound and gagged, snapped out of her bonds and ripped the X from her face.
"Where is he? I'll break him in two! I'll rip him a new one! I'll-" Green Raven shouted before suddenly gasping, pointing across the horizon to a dark black circle crossing the red sky. "I'll... let her take care of it..."
Even the normally brave Green Raven was afraid of what would soon appear out of the horizon... all of the Ravens were.
"W...w...we should warn him..." whispered the timid Gray Raven, hiding in her cloak. "Just... don't send me!"
O-O-O
Meanwhile, Red X continued to run through the desert, paying little attention to the dark circle in the sky above. All he wanted was to get out of Raven's head and away from her psychotic emotions... another second with them would've been too long.
"Remind me... never ever get on Raven's bad side... or her brave side, or her horny side, or even her happy side..." thought Red X, running toward a large mountain that appeared to rise up in the distance. "Please let that be the exit..."
Suddenly, the ground in front of Red X lit up with a brilliant flame. He quickly turned around, only to find that the ground behind him had also begun to burn. To his sides... even more fire. Then, everything began to shake violently.
"Earthquake... firestorm... THAT'S NOT AN EMOTION!" thought Red X, looking straight up toward the sky, which had suddenly turned black as night... all except for one red star, glowing just above his head. From the star shot a burning jet of orange flame, which Red X was barely able to evade by rolling out of the way. The flames disappeared, and in their place stood yet another Raven, her cloak a horrifying shade of blood red.
"Get... out... of... my... HEAD!" screamed the red-cloaked Raven, a powerful wave of dark energy sweeping forth from her body. Red X put up his hands to block the energy, but it barreled him over with the force of a freight train, knocking him through the ring of fire and flat on the ground. Before he could stand, Red Raven was floating over him. She plummeted toward the ground, her feet slamming into Red X's chest and causing him to let out a loud, breathless gasp.
"This is not good..." thought Red X, his eyes wide and horrified under the mask on his face. As Red Raven came down on him again, he rolled out of the way and fired a grappling hook X from his hand that ensnared Red Raven's arms, linking them to X's hand by a long, metallic chain. As he twirled the chain around, Red Raven only smiled, shooting a powerful electric burst through the chain that snapped the links and jolted straight into Red X's body. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
Red X collapsed to the ground, his limbs paralyzed and numb. He tasted the familiar metallic bitterness of blood in his mouth... had the electric shock ruptured his stomach? Burst his lungs? Whatever it was, it had rendered him completely helpless.
"Die!" shouted Red Raven, raising her arms and causing the sand to stream up from the ground in the shape of a gigantic, black tornado, powered by the force of Red Raven's incredible magical energy. As Red X tried to stand, the tornado swept over him, picking him up and swirling him around its powerful vortex.
"I'm not going down without a fight..." thought Red X, the feeling returning to his arms. He could feel the Xs on his palms gathering up energy for another attack. "YOU WANT SOME OF THIS, HUH? YOU WANT SOME OF THIS? I'LL GIVE YOU EVERYTHING I'VE GOT!"
Dozens of Xs flew out of the tornado, slamming into Red Raven and exploding with impressive force. Some of the Xs morphed into binder cables, while some of them transformed into sticky red goo that sloshed over the red-cloaked demoness, covering her completely from head to toe. The tornado, its source of power disabled, quickly dissipated, dropping a hurt, weary, exhausted Red X to the ground. Red Raven, now reduced to a quivering, motionless mass of cables and goo, dropped to the ground next to him, seemingly incapacitated by the attack.
Red X took one look at the cocoon and breathed a sigh of relief, standing up and weakly limping over to it. He nudged it with his foot, laughing slightly to himself.
"What now, bitch?" taunted Red X, kicking the cocoon, delirious with laughter and relief. "Azarath, metreon, I just kicked your freaking ass, how about th-"
A hand reached forth from the goo, grabbing Red X by the neck and choking him so hard that his breath was instantly cut off, stopping his taunts cold. Then, with a powerful burst of strength, Red Raven flew up from the cocoon, her hand locked around Red X's neck, her eyes aflame with rage.
"You think you can defeat me so easily?" shouted Red Raven, taunting her choking, wheezing captive. "I'm Raven, daughter of Trigon, invincible half-demoness, princess of Hell! I'll make you regret that you were even born! I'LL BURN YOU TO ASHES, AND THEN BURN THE ASHES TO NOTHING!"
Red Raven carried Red X nearly a thousand feet in the air, her fingernails digging into his neck almost hard enough to break his costume. He couldn't speak, couldn't breathe... was too weak to fight back... he didn't stand a chance, and he knew it.
"This... this can't be how it ends..."
With one hand clasped around Red X's neck, Red Raven pulled back her other hand, which began burning with a flame darker than any Red X had ever laid eyes on... hotter than the Sun, yet darker than the darkest night... a flame that could incinerate him in seconds.
A single tear slipped out from the crack of Red X's mask.
"Azarath, metreon, zinthos!"
Red Raven screamed. A black energy bird had plunged into her back, and she immediately released her grip on Red X, sending him plummeting to the ground. She turned around... and saw her blue-cloaked twin and mistress staring straight into her eyes.
"You're not supposed to be out," said Raven, her hands aglow with black energy.
Meanwhile, Red X was plummeting to the ground, faster and faster with every second... though Red Raven's fire hadn't killed him, the fall certainly would...
At least until an orange-skinned angel caught him in his arms and whisked him to safety.
"Star...fire?" asked Red X, looking up into the emerald eyes of his beautiful savior.
"Do not be afraid... Raven will take care of everything," Starfire said, her tone gentle and calm, a smile across her lips. "You are safe now."
"You never... let me... have any FUN!" Red Raven shouting, shooting the dark flame she'd intended for Red X straight at Raven's chest. Raven didn't move. Instead, her own hands lit up with energy, and she began absorbing the flame, her teeth clenching as her body sucked up the heat of the blast.
"I also... don't kill anyone... no matter how much you tell me I want to..." said Raven as she increased her outflow of energy, slowly pulling the essence of her anger toward her body. "You will not control me... I will NEVER allow you to hurt anyone!"
Though Red Raven tried to fight the pull of her blue-cloaked twin, Raven's will was far too strong, and she was soon sucked screaming into Raven's body. Raven herself let out a loud cry as she absorbed her anger, and once she'd pulled it in, she floated to the ground, exhausted from having to exert so much effort. She fell to one knee, her hand over her chest.
Meanwhile, Starfire set Red X on the ground neck to Raven, then floated back over to a rock, near which Robin, Beast Boy, and Cyborg were standing.
"What is your PROBLEM?" shouted Robin, storming over to confront Red X. Before he could respond, Raven thrust out her hand, waving him off while keeping her other hand over her heart.
"Please... calm... down," said Raven, finally catching her breath. "We can question him later. Right now, I need to heal him."
Raven gently pressed her hands down on Red X's chest, allowing her healing energy to flow into his body. The energy was soothing, and Red X could feel his wounds being healed the instant that Raven had begun using her powers on him.
Red X looked over to the Titans... Beast Boy, Cyborg, Robin... and Starfire, a look of worry on her face.
"Will he be all right?" asked Starfire, her eyes wide. Raven looked up at her and nodded.
"He took some bad damage in his fight with my anger, but he should be healed in a few moments," said Raven, looking down at Red X. Red X continued gazing at Starfire, not knowing what to say or to think... should he thank the Titans for saving his life?
"We don't owe you anything anymore," Robin said sternly. Red X looked back up at the sky... then, he saw something else that drew his attention far more. A glowing white gate, just in front of the mountain in the distance.
"That must be the exit..." thought Red X. By now, most of his wounds were healed... he definitely had enough strength to run to the gate and take the mirror... this crazy, screwed-up mirror back to Sorel. Looking straight into Robin's eyes, he raised his hand, and flipped him the finger. Then, with all of his strength, he shoved Raven away, hard enough to nearly make her fall to the ground.
"What the hell's wrong with you?" shouted Beast Boy, as Red X made a break for the white gate. "Raven saved your life, how dare you push her!"
Robin rushed forward, firing his Batcable at Red X's legs in an attempt to trip him up. Red X did a leaping somersault over the cable, then continued running, the gate just a few feet ahead.
Raven, who had not only saved Red X's life, but had healed him as well, was just as mad as Robin that Red X had so rudely shoved her away. But she dared not show her anger... especially not here, where its effects were magnified and any show of rage could cause Red Raven to get loose again. After spending so much energy absorbing her and healing Red X, she had little left to cage up her anger should it escape.
"We'll get you, Red X..." thought Raven, clenching her fist for a split-second. "And whoever you're working for... there's no way you'd come in here on your own."
"After him!" shouted Robin, dashing toward Red X as he leapt through the gate. "Don't let him get away!"
While Beast Boy and Cyborg joined Robin in their pursuit, and Raven halfheartedly followed close behind, Starfire simply stood by the rock, her eyes aglow.
"Why, Red X?" thought Starfire, lowering her hands to her sides, her eyes returning to normal. "Why are you so cruel and deceptive one moment, and so... so normal and good the next? Who are you under that mask?"
O-O-O
Red X emerged from the mirror into Raven's room. He looked down at the mirror and picked it up, remembering that the Titans were still inside.
"I've gotta get them out before I take this thing to Sorel..." thought Red X, "and only hope that they don't catch me before I do..."
Doing the only thing he could think of, X picked up the mirror... and smashed the glass against Raven's desk. A black flash filled the room, temporarily blinding Red X. When the flash disappeared, X could see the Titans lying in a heap in the center of the room, and the shattered mirror in his hands. He dashed out of the room with the broken mirror in hand, leaving the Titans behind in his wake.
"From what I've seen of that place, there's no way in hell he's gonna want the mirror in one piece..." thought Red X, leaping into the elevator and pressing the button to go down to the ground floor. By the time the Titans were able to reach the elevator, X was dashing out of the front door of the tower and leaping into the bay. "And after I give it to him, I never want to see it again..."
Red X had the mirror... he'd nearly died to get it, but he had the mirror.
"Damn right you don't owe me anything anymore... if anything, I owe you..."
Gratitude certainly wasn't Red X's strong point.
O-O-O
"It's broken," said Sorel, inspecting the mirror Red X had given him.
"It was the only way to get the Titans out," replied Red X, putting up his casual badass thief front, this time with a bit of difficulty.
Sorel looked at the mirror again, his tone becoming impatient.
"Get the Titans... out?" asked Sorel. "What are you-"
"The mirror was apparently a portal into Raven's mind," replied Red X. "You'll thank me for breaking it, because Raven's mind is not a place you want to go."
"...fine," said Sorel. "You got the mirror, and though it's a bit worse for wear, you brought it here to me. Because I didn't specify, you're off the hook."
Red X clenched his fists. He was feeling angry again... ready to punch Sorel right in the mouth.
"Does that mean I get to go?" asked Red X, "or do you have another mission for me?"
If Sorel said yes, Red X was going to punch him, because there was no way he could possibly do another mission... at least until he slept. If he could even sleep after what he'd been through.
"Sure," said Sorel, the mirror at his side. "Go home... go home and enjoy yourself. I'll be seeing you soon."
O-O-O
Sanza didn't want to get out of his bed... it was only seven-thirty, the sky had just darkened an hour ago, but Sanza still didn't want to get up... his entire body ached, his head throbbed, and sweat was pouring down his face. Still in only a pair of green boxers, he felt as if his body was burning up.
And if Raven's flame had hit him, he'd be ashes... he'd be completely gone.
Sanza Salazar was alive... shaken, stirred, but alive. And he also knew what he had to do.
He picked up his cell phone from his desk and called Cleo's number. He waited past three rings, then finally heard her wonderful voice.
"Hello?"
"Cleo, I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... if there's anything I can do to make it up to you..."
"Sanza, please," Cleo replied, still sounding slightly angry over the phone. "I..."
"Cleo," Sanza continued, suddenly embarrassed to even be talking to her. "I still want to be your friend, Cleo... you're one of the best, nicest people I know... I-"
"Stop, Sanza, just stop! Sanza, I overreacted a bit, okay? I just don't like people trashing me like that, and to have you do it, and in front of everyone..."
"I know how people have been treating you because of what I said... Cleo, those people are assholes, and if you want me to beat the crap out of them or something-"
A giggle came over the phone... then another.
"Sanza, I told you to stop," said Cleo, trying to keep from laughing. "You know you wouldn't beat up any of my friends anyway... look, how about we go to the Fall Carnival tomorrow, together? I'll meet you in front of your house at eight tomorrow evening, we'll go out and have a good time and forget what happened, okay?"
"...really?" said Sanza, surprised and relieved that Cleo would actually ask him out again.
"Mm-hmm," Cleo replied. "I'll see you tomorrow, Sanza... if you stand me up I'll slap you!"
The phone connection ended, and Sanza flopped down on his bed, his phone clutched in his hands.
"Thank you... that's all I needed to hear..."
To dream of Cleo instead of what had happened to him in Raven's mirror... that's all Sanza could've asked for.
O-O-O
Okay, long chapter, and it took eight hours to write because I watched "Hostage" inbetween writing about half of it. (Jack Bauer could've saved everyone in ten minutes... BECAUSE HE'S JACK BAUER, DAMMIT!) Please leave some reviews, I wrote a 10,000-word chapter for you guys, not for me! (Okay, a little for me. )