Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans. If I did, then Red X, Jinx, Mammoth, Gizmo, and Malchior wouldn't have been with the rest of the villains at the end of "Homecoming pt. II". They would have been with the rest of the new teen heroes. And Malchior would be in hell.
A/N: You guys are so lucky. I feel like updating AGAIN! Don't ya love me? I just feel motivated ever since I killed off Gizmo. MAN, that was fun! I love killing people off in unsuspecting ways. It's fun. . .
Well, my Evanescence CD broke, so I'm listening to my Daredevil CD now. The only reason I tell you this is that if my writing seems...different...that's why. I mean, I LOVE this Cd...but it isn't the same as the Evanescence one. Wait...why am I telling you this? You don't care!
Also, as I was watching the new upside last night, I realized a few things. One, Mento is incredibly anal. Two, Negative Man is clinically depressed. And three, if I had the power to turn into a giant, like Elasti-Girl, I wouldn't wear a skirt. Just saying. . .
Chapter Ten: The Beginning of the End
Red X blushed as Terra kissed him, but didn't let it ruin the moment. After she said she was okay, he leaned in as well. The two met together in a passionate kiss. Jinx and Mammoth turned away out of respect for the couple. After an incredibly long amount of time, the two broke apart.
"Wow," Terra said, blushing as she pulled back slightly. "That was my first real kiss..."
"Glad you liked it," X said, smiling visibly for the first time. "But are you sure you are okay? You look wiped."
"I'm fine," Terra said, stying in his arms. "Just tired, I guess. Opening a volcano can do that."
"Yeah, you...uh, really roasted him," Red X pointed out. Not one centimeter of Gizmo's body remained, not a single piece of ash.
"I was angry!" Terra said in defense. "Besides, I thought it was a very...fitting end."
"I still kinda wished I'd killed him with the bus," Mammoth admitted. "You know how fun it is to throw a bus at someone? It completely ruins it when they live, though."
"I think we should go over our morals lessons when we get back to the base," Red X said, staring At Mammoth, who was know smiling nervously.
"Uh, about the base," Terra said, looking down. "I kinda...destroyed it...by accident. I didn't mean to, though, I swear!"
"It's okay," Jinx said, walking up to Terra. She placed her hand on the girl's shoulder. "It's good to have you back."
"It's good to be back," Terra said, smiling at them. Suddenly, all four of the Reforms stopped as they heard an explosion nearby. Looking towards the spot where Gizmo had been fried, they saw another army of robots approaching. The group all aimed their weapons as they approached the Reforms.
"Gizmo..." Mammoth growled. "If that twerp wasn't already dead..."
"Looks like we still have a job to do," Red X said, swinging down onto the ground.
"The hell we do!" Terra said, mad at the robots already. "I am so entirely sick of this!" Her eyes glowing yellow, Terra raised her arms into the air. As she did so, the entire street seemed to crumble away, swallowing the oncoming robots. As she let out a cry, a huge wall of rock appeared, climbing fifty feet into the air.
Swinging her arms again, Terra threw the wall towards the oncoming army. The wall fell flat on top of them, flattening the lot. There wasn't a single robot remaining.
"Whoa..." Mammoth said, his eyes wide. Jinx's mouth was open, and Red X was staring, transfixed by the destruction of the robots.
"And you said you couldn't control your powers..." Red X mumbled, turning to face her. The blonde girl blushed.
"Uh, sorry?" she said. "I'm just sick of these things."
"Tell me about it," Red X said. "I want to take down Chang in the worst way."
"Well, you're gonna get your chance, bad boy!" came a voice towards Terra. Looking down, the blonde girl found her communicator to Chang had been activated. Chang was on speakerphone, talking so all the Reforms could hear him.
"Chang!" Red X said. "Come out and face us, you coward!"
"No, I don't think I will," Chang said teasingly. His red tinted goggles seemed to glow with excitement. A huge smile consumed his face. "My plan is ready, bad boy! And there is nothing you can do to stop me! Even with Gizmo dead, my plan will continue without complication."
"Well, what do you expect us to do? Just sit around and wait?" Red X asked. "I don't think so! I'll find you, wherever you are, and I will take you down."
"Oh, so frightening!" Chang said, acted scared. "But your threats don't work on me, bad boy! I know your weakness."
"And what is that?" Jinx asked, staring the Asian professor.
"Simple," Chang said, holding up a small control. "Compassion." And with a flicker of his wrist, Chang pushed the control down. Immediately, a huge explosion could be heard echoing through the night. The four looked over to see an entire city block had been leveled, destroyed compltely.
"Chang, you monster!" Red X said, diving fo the communicator. "Do you know how many innocent people you just murdered!"
"Honestly, no," Chang said seriously. "But I do hope it was a lot." And with that, Chang pushed another button on the control. A timer appeared, with numbers counting down. "So you see that, heroes? You have sixty minutes to find my next bomb and disable it. Or...KABLAM!"
Chang cackled evilly as the four heroes' eyes widened. "Oh, so fitting," he said, wiping away a tear. "And Terra, I am most disappointed in you. As am I with you Red X. I thought you two would be better servants. But alas, it all ends here. It seems you have a...bomb to catch! Bwahahahahaha!"
And with that, the scientist hung up. The four looked at each other coldly.
"Damn it all!" Red X cursed in Spanish. The other three didn't know what he said. "He's right, we have to save the city. We have to forget about him for now."
"No, we don't!" Jinx said, walking up to her leader. "I may not know much, but I did used to be a leader. And thus, I know what we have to do." Jinx stared at them as they all looked up at her. "Mammoth and I can find the bomb. We learned all about tracking weapons in the HIVE. While we do that, you two can go after Chang. It's the only way."
"That's...perfect," Red X said, looking at her. Looking back down, he lifted up his mask. With a hard look on his face, he pulled the mask up and over his head. When they next saw him, he was completely masked. "Alright, let's do this! You all know your missions! Reforms...GO!"
And with that, they went. Jinx and Mammoth ran off towards downtown. Red X turned to Terra. "Do you know where Chang's base is?"
"Of course," Terra said, raising a boulder from the ground. Both of them jumped on and disappeared into the night, riding the boulder. Terra did her best to keep steady so Red X wouldn't fall off. He just wrapped his arm around her.
"Can I ask you something?" Terra said, turning to X. Her goggles were on, but her eyes could still be seen, and they were worried.
"Of course."
"What did Chang mean when he said he wished you had been a better servant?" Terra asked as she zoomed through the city. "I mean, I understand why he said it to me, but not to you. Why?"
Red X looked away at first. Clenching his fist, he took a deep breath. "Terra, did I ever tell you why I stole this suit in the first place?"
"No..."
"It was because Chang ordered me to," Red X said, angry. "What I never told anyone...was that I used to work for Chang. As his apprentice."
"X..." Terra said, taken back. She had never expected this, especially from him. "Why?"
"He promised me a family," Red X said, turning away. "After my family was murdered right here in Cactus City, Chang took me in. He gave me food and shelter. I stole for him, and he let me stay with him. I became his apprentice.
"Until a few months ago, at least," Red X said. "He ordered me to use the suit, and so I did. Using the suit, I became invincible, stronger than I had ever been before. Everything was going according to plan until the Teen Titans showed up. They hunted me down, and fought with me. Eventually, they followed me to the final Zinothium storage bank. Chang sent robots to take care of them, but they missed one. Robin
"I ended up fighting Robin in the storage room, and we both lost. Chang betrayed me. He ordered his robots to attack both me and Robin. I fell unconscious. And well, the rest is history. I escaped the bank and followed Robin. I saved the Titans and defeated Chang with Robin's help. And I've hated that man ever since."
"X..." Terra said, taken back again. "So, he was like a father to you."
"Was," Red X said. "But he never truly looked after me, or took care of me. He only kept me around so I could steal the Zinothium. And then, I was useless to him. So, he turned on me."
"Wow, and I thought I had it rough," Terra said. Suddenly,s he hugged Red X, right on the boulder. "I'm so sorry I did that to you yesterday. You know I never meant to, right? I love you..."
"I know," Red X said, lifting his mask to reveal his lower face. He gently kissed her on the forehead. "And I love you, too. And I always will."
"I know..." Terra said, hugging him tighter. And I'm so sorry about what happened to you. Now I know why you must hate Chang so much..."
"Yes," Red X said.
"Well, don't worry!" Terra said, confident again. "We should be at the base soon. I just hope Jinx and Mammoth are alright."
"If I know them, then they'll be fine," Red X responded, pulling his mask back down. "I just hope we can defeat Chang in time."
"I'm sure we can," Terra said, smiling. "Here we are, now!"
Looking up, both heroes stared at the building before them. Actually, it wasn't really a 'building.' Chang's base was actually a plateau on the outskirts of the city. The great plateau was a brilliant purple in color, and rose into the air a good hundred feet. It was about thirty feet across, and circular. A huge steel dome was located on the top.
"What is with that guy and domes?" Red X thought out loud. Terra laughed. Chang always had a dome!
"What do you say we go in and hand him his butt?" Terra said mischievously.
"Couldn't have put it better myself," Red X said, smiling under his mask. The boulder picked up speed and throttled toward Chang's Plateau at breakneck speed.
"The entrance is through here!" Terra cried, zooming around to the back of the plateau. There was a small, metal hatch on the back, like a closed door. Terra quickly used her powers to run a crack around the door, breaking it of completely. "Permission granted!"
"Let's do this! Red X said as they zoomed into the base. S they entered, robots appeared from all over the place. The inside was made out of solid steel, with the rock layering outside. As the robots surrounded them, Red X pulled out some X-blades.
Throwing the weapons, he succeeded in slicing several robots apart. He continued to do this as Terra guided the boulder through the base at supersonic. Finally, Red X pushed the button on his belt that made him invisible. Making darn good sure he was holding onto Terra, the two became completely invisible, along with the rest of the boulder.
Eventually, Terra guided them into the main room. As they entered, the door slammed shut behind them sealing off the robots. Red X and Terra jumped off from the boulder and onto the steel ground.
They were in the dome on top of the tall plateau. They were currently a hundred feet above the ground, on a circular floor. The floor circled around a huge hole in the center. A huge machine sat on the other side of the room, leading up to a huge control station.
Red X slowly approached the pit in the center of the room. Looking down, his eyes widened when he saw what was at the bottom of the pit. Zinothium! There was a huge amount of unstable Zinothium ore laying at the bottom of the pit. The red energy could be seen from where they stood, casting light into the otherwise dark room.
"You like it?" came a voice from the command station. The two looked up to see Chang had appeared on a floating chair hovering above them. The lumbering robot known as Automatron floated by his side, hie Jetpack in hover mode.
"IT is hard to get so much Zinothium, much less keep it going," Chang said, his hands pressed together. "The important thing is keeping it hot. Very hot! As long as it exceeds 200 degrees Celsius, you can sustain it, keep it alive. And it can power your base for a good, long time."
"Chang!" Red X cried. "I've come fro my revenge. Terra and I are going to tear you limb from limb!"
"Oh, are you now?" Chang said, jumping from his chair. He landed twenty feet from them and grinned. "How very...noble! But I'm afraid your little plan won't work."
"Oh, yeah? And why not?" Terra asked, angry. Her eyes glowed a dangerous yellow.
"I truly thought you would know, Terra," Chang said, smiling. "After all, you freed him!"
Terra blinked. Freed him? Freed who? Then it hit her. Automatron. . . "Waitaminute...no!"
"Automatron!" Chang commanded. "Now!"
Speaking these words, the mad scientist began to cackle madly. Automatron's single red eyes began to glow as its program was initiated. The robot landed right next to Chang and began to transform. Its head disconnected, falling to its back.
As Chang approached the robot, there was a huge flash of energy. Terra and Red X both looked away, blinded by the flash of light. When they turned back, they were actually frightened. Frightened by Chang.
The mad scientist had become one with the robot. Chang and Automatron were one. Chang's body stood, enclosed by a great body of steel.
The monstrosity that stood before them stood a good fifteen feet tall. Two steel legs extended down from a huge, metallic torso. Two large arms came out of the torso, with two large, clenched metal fists. Chang's body was enclosed inside the torso of the robot. His head poked up out of the torso, proportionately smaller than the rest of the body.
Chang grinned as the two Reforms stared at his robotic body. "Now you see why you cannot simply 'take me down,'" Chang said, laughing.
"BRING IT ON!"
A/N: Oh yeah, baby! Chang's finally worthy of the title 'Super-Villain'! I love his new look, don't you? I figure the dude needs some help in the fighting department. I think a fifteen foot tall robotic body should suffice, don't you?
Next time, the final chapter! Will Jinx and Mammoth stop the bomb? Will Red X and Terra survive their encounter? Will Chang succeed? Find out, on the next and last chapter of "Titans South: The Reforms!"
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