Authors note: hope you like what I've done in this chapter!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but Tobias
Chapter7: Hunting a hunter
The Tower was in a state of disarray. Its inhabitants had been busy looking for their missing teammate for days. Robin and the others walked into the living room and dropped down onto the couches, it seemed it was useless to look for Tobias because unless he wanted to be found he was all but inexistent. Raven hadn't slept in days and finally when she collapsed from exhaustion Robin decided to call it quits for awhile. He just didn't know what to do; he had scoured every inch of the city and seen not even the slightest trace of his friend. Looking at his silent teammates he sighed feeling terrible and that he had failed them and Tobias in some way or another.
Somewhere in the deepest part of Jump city sitting alone in the darkness Tobias sat awaiting Jinxes return. In truth he didn't know why he had chosen to come here with her or why he had agreed to meet this Slade she spoke of, but deep inside he knew he couldn't go back to the tower as long as she was there. Footsteps behind him and the glare of a flashlight caught his attention; he could smell Jinx as she approached and he herd the footsteps of her companion though they were so soft he wasn't sure he was hearing them.
"Tobias, Slade want very much to speak with you" Jinx said, Tobias slowly turned to face her but when he looked she stood there alone. A small scratching sound to his left announced her companion had moved, Tobias lunged at the figure the claws ejecting from his wrists he pinned him to the wall of a building. Slade looked at the steel spikes at either side of his neck; his gaze followed them up the muscular arm and into the masked face or his assailant. Though his appearance remained calm he was shaking inside, no won had ever herd him coming much less caught him with so little effort.
Tobias retracted the claws and stepped back a few paces "don't ever try that again" he said. "Next time it will be your flesh I stick" Tobias already knew he had nothing to gain from this man and turned to leave, "I can't let you do that" Slade said and Tobias found himself surrounded by a group of young teens about the same age as the titans. "I can't let you leave, there's just so much I have to learn". Tobias turned back to him a grim smile underneath his mask "careful" he said "you might find what you're digging for", Slade just laughed "take him" he said. The group of teens advanced on Tobias, Tobias wasn't in the mood to play he jumped into the air and kicked one of the kids in the chest. The kid flew back into a wall and didn't get up, another grabbed Tobias around the neck from behind, Tobias just elbowed him in the gut and he keeled over. One of them threw a punch and Tobias caught it and broke the arm like a toothpick. The last two kids just ran off, Slade watched them go a feeling of both disgust and respect in his gut he looked back to Tobias only to find he was gone and somewhere in the distance a motorcycle started up then faded away.
Tobias was scared, ever since his fight with Blackfire it seemed like something had awakened inside him. He was stronger, faster, and his senses were working in overdrive. He remembered what Robin had told him, about his body and the things it was capable of. But Robin hadn't said anything about him being a killer; this hadn't been the first fight he'd been in after he ran away. He'd become a perfect fighting machine, as if it was instinctive or a natural thing to him. If only he could remember his past, where he came from, anything more than his name. Pulling over he stopped the bike and climbed off, as he stood in the dark he felt it begin to rain Tobias dropped to his knees and screamed tearing the costume Raven had made him from his body. Then powered by adrenaline and rage he lifted his black motorcycle up over his head and hurled it into a wall. The bike crashed off the wall and landed on the ground in a heap, Tobias could smell the gas leaking from the tank and he saw the electrical wire spark. The bike exploded and the blast hurled his burning form off into the darkness…
Raven sat bolt upright in her bed and screamed, she felt the hot flames searing her skin and burning her flesh. "Tobias!" she cried, though the nightmare had passed she could still see his screaming face and his burning body hurtling through the rainy darkness. She herd pounding on her door,
"Raven! Open up" it was Robins voice "Raven are you ok?" she walked over to the door and opened it. Robins face was lined with worry "I herd you scream are you ok?" he asked, she nodded "I just had a nightmare that's all" Robin nodded "about Tobias?" she nodded again.
Cyborg came running up to them "guys there's been a bad motorcycle accident downtown! Some bystanders say they saw someone fitting Slade's description on the scene". Raven closed her eyes and began to cry "oh no" she whispered.
Downtown the Titans arrived at the wreckage of Tobias's motorcycle but after inspecting the surrounding area his body was nowhere to be found. Robin came back from questioning the few witnesses,
"Apparently he just went berserk, they say he tossed the bike into the wall and it blew on him, tossed his body a good thirty feet" Cyborg looked around "we checked the whole place, he's not here" it was then that Starfire emerged from the darkness, she held something in her hands.
"Friends I am afraid I have discovered something most terrible" she held forth the object in her hands. Robin took it and Raven turned away, Robin looked down at the tattered and burned thing in his hands and what little hope he had died. The empty white eyes of Tobias's mask stared back at him, beside him Robin herd Raven start to cry once more, Starfire pointed off in the direction she had come from "the rest of it is over there" she said "but it is strange" she added "only his costume is there, his body is not". Robin dropped the mask on the ground,
"What did the people say about Slade?" he asked, Cyborg shook his head "actually they just say it was someone in a weird suit so it could have been anyone to tell you the truth". Robin just didn't know what else he could do; there wasn't a single lead for him to go off of nothing but a torn and charred costume and the burning remains of a motorcycle.
"Come on" he said "lets go home" they all turned and left the scene without a word.
Tobias awoke to searing pain but he was too weak to cry out. Through blurred vision he saw shadowed figures standing around him; a sinister voice chuckled next to him.
"It's been almost two weeks since you accident but your already on the verge of recovery. It's remarkable you're healing at an incredible rate your skin has already fully re-grown". Tobias's vision began to clear; he saw Jinx standing next to him and on her right stood Slade who was still chuckling to himself. Tobias felt the anger building in him and with it his strength returning, he screamed and leapt at Slade ignoring the intense pain. His hands closed around Slade's throat and began to squeeze with unmatchable power; Slade gasped and struggled weakly against his enraged assailant. Jinx backed away to scared to do anything else she turned and ran, Tobias felt Slade's grip loosen and he eventually went limp. Standing up Tobias looked around spotting a large surgical knife he snatched it up and planted it deep in Slade's unconscious throat.
He wandered the complex for some time before he came into a large room full of parts and half finished robots. Walking over to a rack full of identical outfits he picked one up and put it on it was a little tight but it fit. Finally he found an exit to the maze like complex and he stepped out into the fresh night air, he was in the city somewhere and the exit he had just used was disguised as a building wall. Without a ride and aching all over Tobias forced himself to walk in some direction, he knew dawn was coming and he had no way to cover his face. He had to get out of the open and into a covered area, he stepped on a manhole and the cover slid out underneath his foot. Peering down into the gloom his eyes saw everything; he lowered himself into the sewer and dropped lightly on the stone tunnel floor. He walked down the tunnel a ways when he got the feeling he was being watched slowing to a halt he listened there was a slight scratching he knew to be the sound of someone stealthy approaching. He saw a figure dressed in black approaching him cautiously, the stranger was unaware that his prey had noted his presence and when he was close enough Tobias lashed out and sent him crashing into the tunnel wall. Tobias picked his would be attacker up by the collar,
"Who are you and why are you following me?" he asked harshly, his prisoner offered no struggle and answered quickly "names Red-X" he panted "didn't mean nothing, just trying to get by you know" Tobias nodded slowly.
"Yes I know" he said eyeing the suit his assailant was wearing, the boy noticed him looking and laughed a little,
"You like the outfit? Go ahead and take it, its useless without its power belt anyway" he smirked. Tobias glared at him, "what do you mean power belt?" he asked, the boy sighed as if remembering something wonderful. "This used to be the most advanced outfit in the world until that punk took the belt from me" Tobias let the kid go,
"Where is this belt now?" he asked the kid shook his head beneath the skull mask "way beyond your reach pal…it's in the Titan headquarters"
Tobias left the sewers dressed in the Red-X costume which unbeknownst to him had been designed, built, and worn by Robin. Though the skull face was appealing he just didn't feel right without the mask Raven had made him. The rain was coming down hard now flooding the ground with water; Tobias climbed up a nearby fire escape the slippery metal causing him no difficulty. On the roof he sat down and looked across the bay at the tower at the center though all its lights were off he saw it clear as day. He knew that if he was to survive on his own he would need that belt, he just knew to little about himself to trust that he would be alright without it. Though it pained him greatly he came to a conclusion…he would have to go back, and he must not be seen. He knew he could do it, Cyborg's security system was good but he was better much better and he knew more about the tower than your run of the mill intruder.
Standing up he took off running then dived off the building into the murky rough waves of jump city bay.
The vault in the titan's tower was among the most secure and protected containment units in the world. It could detect heat, motion, sound, and it was sealed by a door constructed of three foot thick titanium. But not a single alarm went off as a ghostlike figure emerged from the shadows and made his way towards the box containing the Red-X belt. Lifting the belt from its place and buckling it around his waist Tobias instantly felt power surge through the micro fibers of the suit. His brain was flooded with the information necessary to operate the outfits many functions, he looked at the door to the vault and walked over to it. Placing his hands on the heavy titanium cover he pushed forward and felt himself phase through to the other side.
On his way out Tobias realized he had no clothes but this suit, and incredible as it was he didn't think it sported a low profile as one of its functions. He made his way up to his room where he gathered his belongings and threw them into a black backpack he'd bought for some reason, outside in the hall he was about to leave when he turned and looked at Raven's closed door. Hesitating he finally made up his mind and gently pushed it open, inside it was totally dark but his eyes navigated him to her bedside. He looked down at her sleeping form her chest rising and falling with the motion of her steady breathing. On her bedside table he noticed a piece of black fabric, picking it up he discovered it to be his black tiger mask he slowly removed the Red-X skull from his face. Before he placed the old mask on his head he couldn't help but look at his love with his own celestial eyes…yes he still loved her but it was clear she didn't love him. He bent down and kissed her lightly upon the lips, her eyes fluttered open and she saw him standing there. He placed the mask on his face and backed away a few feet, Raven sat up and stared at him "Tobias" she whispered but he only shook his head and as she watched he disappeared. "Tobias come back!" she screamed but he didn't reappear. "Tobias please! Please don't leave" she cried though she knew it was useless, he was gone.
Robin and the other had been wakened by Raven's frantic cries and had come running, Robin looked around the room on the floor he spied something. Picking it up he discovered it to be his old Red-X mask, Starfire came in a moment later.
"I have just been into friend Tobias's room and I have discovered all his clothes are missing" she announced with a sad face. Cyborg came in a moment later,
"I've just been down to the vault" he said "I got bad news Robin your Red-X belt is missing". Robin nodded and handed Cyborg the mask,
"it looks like Tobias didn't die in the explosion but now I have no idea what he might be doing or where he might be going" turning to Raven who was still shaken by her visit from the phantom like Tobias he put a hand on her trembling shoulder. "So you say he disappeared after you said his name?" she nodded, he sighed "that belt automatically uploads all the information on its use into the wearers brain and knowing Tobias he'll make full use of its stealth functions. I don't think it will be possible to find him unless he reveals himself to us". He turned and left the room, the others eventually followed and left Raven alone,
"Oh please Tobias I'm so sorry" she sobbed "please just come back to me" she continued crying even after the suns rays began to creep through her window. All the time she cried she was unaware that the one she wished for stood right behind her, but at suns rise he vanished like a shadow.