Finally got that arm of mine in order. Guess what time it is? That's right…Chapter seventeen! A warning in advance, this chapter contains no fluff and is all around boring. Read at your own risk
Disclaimer: My hitman abandoned me; I'll have to kill Bill Gates myself
Chapter Seventeen: A Hero's Demise (Memories part II)
"Would you like another cup of tea, sir?" echoed Wintergreen's deep voice through the main chamber of Slade's lair. The lair itself, as usual, concealed underground, was darker than usual on this day, or so Wintergreen thought. The past few hours were frightening to him; his master had returned to his place of solitude, with an expression of happiness on his face. This made the butler concerned; the last time Slade had this expression, he led a poor young girl to her untimely death, through a path of pain, betrayal and suffering, both physical and mental.
"Yes Wintergreen" came the mastermind's reply, shaking the old man out of his cobweb of thoughts "You may also leave the tray here, that is all for today" he continued.
"Thank you sir" said Wintergreen, placed the silver tray on his master's worktable and left the small room, and as he left, and even in his umpteenth sleepless night, he couldn't help wondering
"Who will be the one to suffer on this night?"
(Teen Titans!)-
Slade took a careful look at the cup in front of him, carefully examining the color and texture of the liquid inside the small china container. He then proceeded into flipping his mask, and slowly sipping the warm tea, mentally purring as the carefully mixed blend of flavors hit his taste buns.
After he was done drinking his tea, Slade returned to the eastern wall of the main chamber; the wall was completely made of video monitors, keeping an eye on every part of the city. He looked at one which showed Red-X's car driving dangerously close to oncoming traffic, dodging incoming and ongoing cars at crazy speeds
"Hopeless" he thought. Red-X was nothing more than a mouse moving through a maze, but at the end of the maze, a cobra was awaiting. Tonight, Slade was about to unveil his most cunning scheme yet, allowing two young teens to fight each other to the death, without any reason. It didn't matter who would lose in this battle, Slade would still win
"As always" he said to himself, examining monitors displaying other locations. Tonight, this will all end.
Tonight
(Teen Titans!)-
He knew what he was doing is wrong, it was all wrong; nothing went as he planned, nothing. He was trying to make best of a lost battle, already knowing that even if he keeps on driving, he'll never be able to outrun his pursuers, they'll keep chasing him, but it didn't bother him, what did bother him was the young girl sitting next to him; she was one of the good guys, a do-gooder that represented all he had hated for so many years, normally, he wouldn't care any less about her, but he knew what he was doing was wrong. He threw her into a life of crime, made her one of his people. That's what made him keep going, he wouldn't let her be captured by them. She didn't deserve a punishment for something she didn't do.
The wheels inside X's masked head kicked in, neurons firing up, he had nothing to go on, no fundamental basis for his plan, but it was all he had. He knew it was a long shot, but he had to try it. With his left hand, he pulled a small keyboard from beneath the dashboard and typed a short command line, hearing the release of gas from the tanks behind him, he knew the changes he made were successful. Now it was all up to luck. He flipped on the video channel on the dashboard; the screen again displaying Chief Cosgrove grumpy face
"Cosgrove" began X, trying to sound menacing "I warn you, tell your boys to back off me or-"
"Or else what, X?" asked the police chief, a slight edge of amusement in his voice
"Or I'll do something we'll all regret. I warn you"
"You're bluffing X, I can see it in your eyes" he said. The vigilante gulped, Cosgrove was right, he was having second thoughts, if there was a name he could name is plan, it would be "A blueprint for disaster"
"The heck with it all" said his brain. Red-X tightened his fingers on the steering wheel and placed two thumbs over the Nitro triggers, his eyes narrowed down dangerously
"Watch me" he said and pressed the triggers. The volatile Nitrous Oxide gas made it's way through the venting tubes and into the engine, generating a tremendous chemical reaction that produced a powerful burst of speed that sent the black Viper screaming towards the Metropolis access ramp; a busy intersection
"What's he doing!" screamed Superman
"He's mad!" added Green Lantern
"He's insane!" threw Hawk-Girl
"He's mine" said Batman and kicked in the turbine engine. The Batmobile reacted and sprinted after the Viper, heading towards the same junction.
"What are you doing!" screamed Starfire, obviously scared, to her, Red-X's actions seemed insane, as if he was trying to get himself killed
"Relying on our friends from the police, cutie" he replied, trying to sound calm "Cosgrove probably figured out my bluff so he sent a squad car to flank me. If everything works as planned, you'll be able to see some fireworks"
"And if it does not?" she asked
"Then we're the fireworks" he replied. The Viper jumped into the intersection, cutting between a river of cars coming sideways, the Batmobile not far behind. The last sound Batman heard that night was the sound of metal crushing against metal. As X thought, the police car made its way to intercept his own, but he was going too fast for the old-fashion squad car to get him. Instead, it collided against the Batmobile, igniting the High-Octane fuel inside the turbine engine. Resulting a horrible explosion.
"BATMAN!" screamed Starfire, a scream of pain and agony. She grabbed X's arm and began jolting it forward and backward, sobbing
"Why have you done this!" she cried, tears running from her eyes "Why have you killed the Batman?" Red-X let out a lengthy sigh
"It was either him or us" he finally said
"You are wrong!" she exclaimed, tears in her masked eyes "The Batman is a warrior of good and he would never-"
"You don't know ANYTHING!" he snapped into a scream, taking the young girl aback with small watery trails down her cheeks. He gripped the steering wheel harder and Starfire could swear she heard a distorted sob
"You don't know nothing…" he repeated, this time in an almost-whisper. She paused for a moment
"What do I not know, Red-X?" she finally asked. He turned his head towards her and stared at her with a look that could kill. His eyes narrowed down to resemble two small cuts in the skull mask. Again, his lungs produced a long sigh during which his eyes softened
"It's a long story" he said, his voice having an unusual sad tone to it "Are you sure you want to hear it?" she nodded.
"Well okay" he began "It was four years ago, when I was still fifteen. Gotham City was more corrupted than ever, if you didn't any connections, you would fall in between the seats. As a last effort, me and…And my big brother, Brian, turned to crime" he paused for a second "He was a good man" he said with another sob. Starfire's heart flinched
"Was?" she asked
"Yeah, was" he replied. And it's all because of him"
March 2001, Gotham's First National Bank
The small brown car was parked in front of the bank, it was late, maybe nine or ten P.M. inside the car were four people, three adults and a teenager. All three adults had black sock-hats over their heads, being used as masks, they wore black jackets, blue jeans and held an array of submachine guns. The teenager, who was sitting in front of the steering wheel, was dressed like the three adults, only his sock hat was still on top of his head, revealing neck long curly brown hair, narrow face features and two plain brown eyes
"Are you sure it's safe Brian?" asked the teenager. One of the men turned to him
"I thought you liked living on the edge, Vince" he said and gave his young brother a pad on the shoulder. "You just worry about driving us out of here when we're done okay? Quit toying with that!" he exclaimed when he saw the teen examining the black pistol placed on the dashboard in front of him.
"Let's go" said one of the adults. The other two nodded and left the car, leaving the youth alone with his thoughts.
Minutes came, and minutes past. Fear was creeping up on the teen with every passing second, until he heard a window break, followed by numerous gunshots. He stepped out of the car and ran inside the bank, horror struck him. Two of the adults were lying on the floor, passed out, or dead, he couldn't tell. His eyes focused on the figure in front of him; dark, with a long, zigzagged cape, the long pointy ears and the bat shaped sign on his chest. Only his brother was left standing, and he had his gun pointed towards the figure, until it disappeared in a smokescreen. The gun in Brian's hand went ballistic, firing into the layer of smoke, round after round. It was then when the teen noticed the figure was standing behind his older brother. He cried "Brian!" but it was in vain. The dark warrior placed his hands over the robber's face, a deathly expression on his face
"He snapped his neck bone right in front of my face. I swear to you, he was enjoying it, I saw it in his eyes"
"I..I am so sorry, I did not know" she mumbled between her sobs. X laughed bitterly
"They all told me it wasn't Batman, that it was an imposter" he laughed again, a hybrid between a chuckle and a sob escaped his lips
"It couldn't have been" he said and continued "I'm ending this night right now, I got what I wanted, even if it wasn't planned, but now it's time to call it a night" he took a sharp left turn, towards the city's sewer decontamination center
"Once we get to the de-con center, you follow me to the escape bikes, get on the right one, and follow the GPS map back to the tower, got it?" she nodded
"But what about you?" she asked, afraid of the answer
"Don't worry about me, cutie, I'll manage. Just remember to get on the right bike okay?"
"Why is it so important I get on the right one?" she asked
"Because it's equipped with a cloaking generator, you'll be able to sneak past them with no problem"
MetropolisCity's Sewage Decontamination Center. 2:36 A.M
The Viper rumbled to a halt next to the barbed wire fence of the large building, raising dark clouds of dust as it did. The moment X and Starfire stepped out of the car, they were hit by the stench. God it was awful, like an outhouse blew up or something in that matter. X slid a disc shaped object beneath the car, an electric engine went online, and the car disappeared in midair, turning to a mass of undergrowth and bushes.
"Follow me" said the vigilante and presses the center of his belt; the Xenothuim power core kicked in, the unstable chemical acting like a particle accelerator, speeding up X's molecules beyond measured speeds. He disappeared into a black shimmer, now not traveling in the realm of solid, liquid and gas, but a molecular leveled world; he traveled through the fence and reappeared in a black blur, molecules rearranging in proper order. Starfire simply hopped the fence, literally jumping above the metal barrier and landing besides Red-X. Without a word, the masked thief bolted towards the drainage pools, the area which is used to collect sewer water and run them through numerous filters. She picked off after him, not knowing where she is headed
"I hope you can swim" he told her and stood in front of a huge drainage pool, there was an at least nine feet drop towards the murky water
"We'll have to do some dirty swimming and reach the closed tunnels. From there, you'll take the bike until you reach the T-ship's launch pad" he told her and prepared to jump
"How do you know all of that?" she asked him. It amazed her that he knew so much about traveling the underground systems
"Because that's how I stole the suit in the first place" he said and jumped off the ledge, hitting the water with a loud splash. Starfire took a second look at the water and jumped off.
The moment she was in, she saw the end of X's cape going underwater, she followed him, using the black trail of his cape as an indicator of his progress. To her luck, Tamaranians did not need to breathe much and were able to hold their breath for days, some tell of Glorthrob The All Seeing who could hold his breath for years and years. X on the other hand, was having a hard time, his lungs were on fire, muscles aching due to lack of oxygen to fuel them, but he kept on going. It wasn't long before they surfaced from under the green water. X barely dragged himself to the cement pipe, taking in deep breaths. Starfire on the other hand, did not seem to notice the prolonged lack of oxygen.
"Okay" he said, making it to his feet, squeezing the bad smelling liquid off his cape "We better get to the bikes before-"
"Here they are!" he heard a female scream
"Go cutie, GO!" he screamed and got on one of the black custom made racing bikes, Starfire rushed towards the other one
"Blue button sets the cloak on, GO!" he once again screamed. Starfire's bike came to life and with a loud roar, bolted towards the opposing tunnel, then vanished out of sight. X jumped on his bike; the machine came to life with a roar. He gunned the accelerator and, using his leg, turned the bike a hundred-eighty degrees on the spot with a deafening screech and set out towards his pressures.
He drove towards the remaining members of the Justice league "This is suicide!" his brain screamed, but he put the organ on mute and kept going down the tunnel. A second or two passed, there they were, all flying. He couldn't hear them over the sound of the engine, but he saw the pointing towards his bike. All five dived towards him, like vultures on their pray, getting closer and closer. In a moment's flash, he gunned the bike and shifted his weight sideways, now riding horizontally across the drain pipe, he roared past them at an insane speed, and kept on going. He knew it was just a matter of time before they caught him, but he had to buy Starfire enough time to get away. Suddenly, over the loud roar of the engine, he heard something, it was distant, but he could hear it awfully clear; a battle cry. He turned around and was struck in shock; Hawk Girl was flying towards him, her flail in hand and sparkling with the massive electric current running inside it. Instincts took over; he turned the accelerator half way through, forcing a lot of fuel to the engine, and then gunned it. The sudden blast of power popped the bike's front wheel up and sent it blasting forward, towards a huge turn. The bike went horizontal again, riding along the bank of the bike and completing a turn. He kept on going further into the tunnel until he saw a room shaped structure ahead; a drainage bank. A voice shattered his ears; something cutting through the air. He turned around and the flying flail struck his bike, sending both it and X airborne. The vigilante tangled in midair and was caught by Wonder Woman's lasso; she was standing inside the room shaped structure, not too far from her comrades who were behind him. She pulled again, reeling X towards her like a caught fish
(A/N: WARNING: Major spin offs from the episode "X" ahead!)
"Got you now!" she exclaimed as she pulled him closer to her. X saw an opening in her defenses, a grin spread on his masked face
"Think again" he said and grabbed the bare skin of her arm firmly. A massive energy discharge went through her body, glowing crimson energy crackled from her body like evil knives, stabbing her nerve endings again and again. She screamed in pain and her grab of the lasso loosened. X used that time and pushed himself away from her, getting the lasso off him and holstering it on the side of his belt. Out of pure rage, he hit the Amazon's side with a roundhouse kick, sending her crashing towards the mucky ground
"Harrah…" she started, placing her entire weight on her legs and elbows, trying to get up "Give me-" a gooey X plastered itself on her mouth, acting like a gag
"You talk too much" he said. Another battle cry came to his ears; he leapt away sideways, just to avoid a hit from a giant neon green fist that smashed the ground, leaving a fist shaped crater in it.
The Green Lantern charged towards him, his ring firing green blasts like a machine gun. X leapt backwards, not being hit by any of the energy blasts. He quickly turned sideways, to avoid a hit by Hawk Girl's flail, then dropped to the ground and swept her off her feet with a low sweep kick. Looking up, he saw a blue fist, diving towards his skull. He rolled aside, allowing Superman to dig his fist into the ground, then jumped on his back and used it as a trampoline to reach behind the Green Lantern and bury his boot's sole in his back. The Ex-Marine staggered forward and fell on his face. X ran and jumped high into the air, coming in with a powerful dive kick towards Superman's chest
"He's not that strong, everyone knows that" he thought while in midair. It was like hitting solid steel. He used it as a platform and back flipped on his feet. Facing the Man of Steel's glare, X didn't think twice and punched him in the face; again, it was like hitting steel
"Eh, figures" he let out before Superman's fist buried itself into his stomach; it exploded with pain and the vigilante was sent flying towards the opposing wall. Impact, a supernova of pain lit up inside his head, a white explosion of pain. He blinked twice and then saw Hawk Girl diving towards him. He rolled aside, avoiding the fatal blow. His hand produced a series of X shaped throwing stars, which he threw towards the recovering alien girl; vanishing her into a violent series of explosions that lit up the dark room
"Shiera!" screamed the already recovered Ex-Marine and stormed towards X with his bare hands. Red-X teleported and the Green lantern was pasted against a wall, being held by a huge red X. Red walked beside him casually
"And I'll take than" he said as he removed the guardian's ring from his finger and placed it on his
"Nah, it collides against the color of my eyes" he said, threw the object on the floor and stomped it with his boot
"My RING!" exclaimed the Green Lantern and struggled against his restrains, in vain.
X ran past Superman, who was helping J'ohn Jones, who was hit by the explosions, got on his scraped bike, or what's left of it, and rode back towards the tower.
The T-Ship's Launch Pad, 3:15 A.M
"Sweet redemption, I'm alive!"sang X's mind. He climbed a ladder to get inside the tower's premises. Next to the ladder he found Starfire's bike, she got there just as he expected. All around an action packed night for him. Inside the launch pad, he found Starfire. They both walked towards the living room, where they found all the other titans,except Robin. They were all standing in a semi circle, watching them
"Friends!" screamed Starfire and flew towards them, still in her Agent Orange uniform, she grabbed Raven and hugged her "I had such an exciting day!" she exclaimed
"Told ya I'll get her back in one piece" said X and crashed on the couch. Beast Boy sniffed the air
"Dudes!" he exclaimed, flapping his hand in front of his nose "You stink! Where have you two been!"
"Long story, I'll tell you it all in the morning, but right now, I'm going to take a shower and sleep for a solid ten hours" replied X
"You're not going ANYWHERE!" Boomed a distorted voice through the tower's broadcast system. X immediately rose from the couch, to a battle stance
"Who's gonna stop me?" he snarled, obviously not intimidated
"I am" said the voice. This time it was more quite, like it was coming from inside the room. The deep, distorted voice was indeed somewhere in the room, but no one spotted its source
"And who are you if I may ask?" X sounded plainly annoyed; he wasn't going to let a voice creep him out
"X" said the voice. A figure appeared from thin air and stepped out of the shadows.
"Red X"
Author's notes
Sorry about the lack of fluff, I had strange action scenes trapped in my head for weeks now and I just had to write them down. So how was the chapter? Did you like it? Hated it? Didn't even read it?
In case you're interested, the review chapter is going great, way faster than expected, I should release it before the next chapter will be released.
Speaking of the next chapter, I should warn you, it will be surprisingly short, for a good reason, trust me, I know what I'm doing (No I don't). Anyway, to all of the fluff fans, it'll be coming back two chapters from now.
Remember to review!
Peace!
Oh, one last thing, I need your opinion on the action scene, was it good? Thanks!