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, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.
SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a sequel to "The Life and Times of Red X", which is in my profile. Read that before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.
O-O-O
Beast Boy was stunned. His eyes widened and his mouth stood agape, as he took a step back from Red X in an attempt to comprehend what he had just said.
"What... what about Terra?" Beast Boy stammered, his face still clearly displaying an expression of pure shock. "Is she... is she..."
It had been ten months since Beast Boy had last seen Terra alive... had last heard her final words to him... 'you were the best friend I ever had'... and in those long, eventful ten months, he'd never forgotten about Terra. He thought about her every single day, his heart ached for her and he prayed that she would return.
Now, someone else had returned... Red X had returned to the Tower, and with news about Terra. Could it be possible? Could she really be alive again?
"It's a long story," said Red X, "and I'd like to tell it as quickly as possible."
"I will gather the others," Starfire replied. Before Red X could even attempt to stop her, she'd already made a break for the elevator, exiting the main room of the tower and quickly going to notify her friends about Red X's return.
"I said I just wanted to deliver the message and go..." thought Red X, still standing in the doorway of the tower. He'd been reluctant to notify the Titans about Terra in the first place, knowing full well what happened the last time he went to inform the Titans of something.
"Just, just tell me this, Sanza..." said Beast Boy, his voice lined with concern. Red X was slightly surprised that Beast Boy still knew his real name... but then again, how could you forget someone like Red X anyway? It was clear that Beast Boy still vividly remembered Terra... and he'd remember anyone else who had made such a lasting impression in his life. "Is Terra, is she alive, or-"
"Not quite," said Red X, walking past Beast Boy and toward the large couch facing the Titans' television screen. "If I'm going to be here for a while, I might as well get comfortable..."
Red X flopped down in the center of the couch, his arms stretched out across the top as he lazily slouched in the soft cushions. Beast Boy slowly walked up to him, a disappointed frown on his face. He stopped a few feet behind the couch and began to speak again.
"What do you mean... not quite?" replied Beast Boy. "Either she's alive or-"
"Is that all you know how to do, ask questions?" said Red X, a hint of annoyance in his voice. "I said I'd tell you, didn't I? I'm not telling this story twice, so wait until your friends get here. They'll be here in a few-"
It was then that Red X heard the voice of the Titans' leader, Robin... he, Cyborg, and Raven had just entered the room with Starfire, and Robin didn't sound too happy that Red X had returned. Clearly, he lacked Starfire's capacity for forgiveness.
"So, X... what have you come to steal this time?" asked Robin, walking out ahead of his friends and around to the front of the couch, where he gave a long, cold stare to the thief, right in his face. It was evident that Starfire had not yet told him of the reason for Red X's visit.
"Is that how you're going to treat someone who tried to help you take out Slade once and for all?" Red X replied casually, smiling under his mask.
"Maybe you don't remember, but the last time you talked to us, you told me to fuck off," replied Robin, "after you allowed Slade to escape."
It seemed that Robin too had a long memory... and it would be up to one of the other Titans to clear the air, before this volatile situation blew up into something it was never intended to be.
"C'mon, man, chill out," said Cyborg, walking up to Robin and putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure if X wanted to steal something, he'd have done it already. Obviously, he's here because he needs help."
"Actually, I'm here to warn you that there are people who wish to revive Terra-"
"Why are you warning us of that!" Beast Boy interrupted, an excited smile on his face. "She's not been revived yet, but she's about to be... this is great! Terra being revived is AWESOME news!"
"Would you let me finish?" replied Red X, letting out a long, annoyed sigh. "The people that want to revive her aren't exactly the world's friendliest people. They're a bunch of corrupt businessmen who want to use her powers to destroy the city and collect a huge profit off of the reconstruction effort."
Beast Boy's euphoria was quickly shattered in one fell swoop by X's ominous news... another shocked look appeared on his face, and his fists began to clench. Immediately, he thought of Slade, who also wished to use Terra's powers for his own selfish devices... which was the reason Terra became a statue in the first place.
The news was distressing to Raven as well... she and the other Titans knew first-hand how destructive Terra's powers could be in the wrong hands... of course, usually those wrong hands were Terra's own.
Robin began pacing in front of the couch, deep in thought... the Titans had tried everything to revive Terra over the past few months. Raven's spells, Cyborg's technology, Starfire's energy waves... nothing seemed to be able to reverse the process that had fused Terra's very flesh with the earth she once controlled so deftly. If the Titans couldn't revive Terra, then how could anybody else? Of course, Red X was about to give him an answer.
"They're planning to use something called the 'Crisis Crystal'... this yellow hunk of rock that supposedly has the power to control the elements. They can't use the crystal itself to cause disasters, but they can use it to revive Terra and then control her in order to cause the disasters themselves," said Red X, who wasn't nearly as familiar with Terra's powers as the other Titans, having had no first-hand encounters with the girl, only gathering whatever information about her powers that he could from hearsay. "Just... how powerful is this Terra, exactly? Beast Boy told me some stuff about her, but-"
"She was amazingly powerful..." said Starfire, "and amazingly kind, before she... before she-"
"Before she betrayed us," replied Raven, still harboring a slight twinge of resentment toward the girl, even after she had sacrificed her own life to save Jump City. "I think Beast Boy told you that, too."
"Yeah, he did," replied Red X, rising from the couch and turning toward the door. He'd done what he'd come to do, which is tell the Titans about Terra's imminent revival... if there was anyone who could stop the dangerous powerbrokers at the Mycoso Building from using the Crisis Crystal to control her, it was the Titans... X's part was over. But before he could even make it past the couch, he felt a hand on his shoulder... Robin's. From the tone of Robin's voice, he knew that the Boy Wonder was still extremely suspicious of the thief's motives.
"Just... how did you find out about this plan, anyway?" questioned Robin, wondering if there might be a chance that Red X himself was a part of the plot, and either an attack of conscience or some masochistic need to fight the Titans again had led him to the tower to notify them of its existence.
Red X, of course, probably should've anticipated that the Titans wouldn't let him leave without divulging a bit more information. Of course, there were things about the plan that X wasn't telling them... and he was reluctant to stay in the Tower even a minute longer.
But, he figured, he might as well at least tell them how he learned of the plot... they already knew he was a thief, and since he hadn't even been successful in stealing what he'd come for, whatever he had to say to the Titans was surely innocent enough.
"I'd gone to the Mycoso Building to steal their new quantum computer prototype," said Red X, turning to face the Boy Wonder.
"I knew it..." thought Robin, his eyes narrowing. "I wonder what else he's stolen in the five months since we've seen him last?"
"They'd beefed up security, and unfortunately, I had to escape through the vents," said Red X. "It was there that I managed to hear exactly what those businessmen were saying. I wasn't about to stop them, seeing as how I don't enjoy playing the hero... but I figured that I owed the green guy a chance to save his girlfriend, especially since he did help save my mother and sister. Don't think I've forgotten what you did for me."
It was a debt that Red X would never be able to repay... and he knew it. Were it not for the Titans risking their lives battling through Slade's minions and machinations, X's mother and sister may very well be dead... and though the thief in him told him to forget, the loving, familial-minded Sanza Salazar would always remember.
Again, Red X turned away from Robin and began walking toward the door. This time, Robin would let him leave... it was fairly clear that Red X most likely didn't have anything to do with the Terra revival plot.
But it was Starfire who stopped him this time... not with a touch, but with a few words, her soft voice stopping Red X in his tracks as he reached for the keypad that would open the Tower's front door.
"Thank you... but this does not mean that we will not come after you if you attempt to steal again. If you continue your life of crime, you will be caught..."
It was the last thing Red X had expected to hear from Starfire, and she was the last person he'd expected to hear it from. But the more Red X thought about who Starfire truly was, the more her warning made sense. She was a hero first... and it was her duty, and the duty of her friends, to stop every criminal, whether they'd worked with the Titans in the past or not.
And as the door closed behind the costumed thief, a thought slowly began to form in Red X's mind.
"When Terra betrayed them... I wonder how easy it was for them to fight her, too?"
O-O-O
It had been a rewarding night for Frederick Dullahan. Aside from a brief series of alert sirens that had delayed the start of his meeting for about a minute, the revelation of the Shattered Earth project had gone off without a hitch. He sat at his desk on the 58th floor of the Mycoso Building, with his bodyguard Sedaris standing to the right of the door, an expressionless look on his young face. At 24, Dullahan's hired muscle was actually quite more than an intimidating figure... he was Dullahan's confidant, the closest thing the old businessman had to a son. He, along with Dullahan, had planned the Shattered Earth project, and it was he who'd been able to arrange for Michael Barrington's shipping company to receive the commission to transfer the Crisis Crystal into Jump City's port.
As Dullahan sifted through a stack of papers on his desk, a tiny speaker began to buzz, the signal for the executive to press a red button and receive whatever message his secretary had for him. Since his secretary had already left, he knew that any message would have to come directly from his chief of security... and he quickly pressed the button to receive the call over the speaker.
"Sir, concerning the intruder an hour ago-"
"Were you able to deal with him?" replied Dullahan, having no knowledge of the intruder's identity or his motives... only that he was in fact, present in the building before the meeting.
"He came in on the 57th floor, and was attempting to steal the quantum computer," the security chief said, a hint of worry in his voice. Dullahan simply gave a slight chuckle, knowing that anyone who came for the computer would have to deal with an extremely nasty surprise... one of Nicholas Jarvin's finest robotic weapons, the quality of which were the very reason that Jarvin was brought on in the first place.
"And Scorpio Alpha took care of him," said Dullahan casually. "Just place the body in the incinerator, and-"
"Sir, Scorpio Alpha has been destroyed-"
A sinking feeling swept through Dullahan, and immediately, concern for the quantum computer prototype, which could easily be accessed by anyone resourceful enough to deal with one of Jarvin's weapons, began entering the executive's mind.
"Has the prototype been compromised?" shouted Dullahan, a mixture of anger and fear in his voice. "TELL ME-"
"Sir, we were able to stop him before he reached the prototype-"
This news caused Dullahan to breathe an immediate sigh of relief... and immediately he gave his bodyguard Sedaris a silent thanks for recommending that he hire the best private security firm in Jump City. It had been extremely expensive, but had already proven that it could pay for itself thousands of times over.
"But... we were not able to catch the thief," said the security chief. "He exited the tower, but we lost track of him in the parking garage and... well, we anticipate that he may return to try and steal the prototype again."
It was certainly distressing news to learn that the thief who had apparently come so close to stealing his quantum computer was still at large, but the fact that the computer was still safe created a sense of relief within Frederick Dullahan that few things could shake... security around the computer would simply have to be upgraded, and the 57th floor made completely off-limits. It would require laying off a few employees, but that was of little concern to the rich and powerful CEO of Pinnacle. There were more pressing issues at hand... specifically, the upcoming shipment of the Crisis Crystal, scheduled to occur in just two days. Once the Crystal was received, it wouldn't matter if the computer was stolen... because in just a few short hours, Terra would be revived and under the control of the brilliant Dr. Ruell.
And then Jump City would tremble.
"Thank you for that information, and I'm glad that you were able to stop the thief. One more question... were you able to get a positive identification of the intruder? A face perhaps?"
The chief of security coughed for a second, and then began to speak.
"It was... it was Red X, sir," the security chief said. "Certainly you've heard of him... he hasn't been seen in Jump City for several months, apparently he wanted to return in a big way."
"Thank you, that will be all," replied Dullahan, pressing the red button again to cut off his conversation. "I see... only someone like Red X would be resourceful enough to take out Scorpio Alpha... this could be a bit of a problem..."
"If Red X is after our quantum computer," said Sedaris, his expression unchanging as he spoke, "he might pose more than just a minor inconvenience."
"True, but I'm confident in the ability of my security team to handle any inconveniences he might be able to pose," replied Dullahan, the smile slowly returning to his face once more.
"Be that as it may... if I get my hands on Red X, I'll break him in half," Sedaris stated coldly.
O-O-O
What had started out as his first attempted theft in five months had turned into another long evening for Red X, and another encounter with the Titans... it was enough to leave the thief exhausted, and as he slid into his bedroom through the building's third story window, he began thinking of just how the Titans would be able to stop the men who were planning to revive Terra.
"If they can come out of nowhere to get in my way, they can certainly stop these guys..." thought Red X, slowly pulling out his white box from under the bed and opening it up. "But I wonder... what will happen if they can't?"
A noise from outside brought Red X to the window, and when he looked down through the grates of the fire escape, he could see his mother's car slowly pulling into the driveway next to the building. He turned away from the window and removed his mask, placing it in the box before sliding off his gloves and jumpsuit and putting them in the box as well. It had been an eventful night... and a nagging pain in his leg reminded him to quickly tape up the small gash that the scorpion robot's tail had made in the back of his ankle. He slid the box under the bed and quickly patched up his wound with several layers of duct tape, putting away the roll just as his mother entered.
"Your sister told me that she's eaten, have you had anything tonight?" asked Maria Salazar, her long black hair tied into a ponytail behind her head. She looked tired, and her voice clearly revealed that fact as well.
Of course, Sanza hadn't eaten... he'd been about to make himself supper when he'd begun thinking about the Red X suit... and the urge to steal had driven him all the way across town. Now, the urge to eat was causing his stomach to growl, loud enough to reveal the fact that he hadn't eaten before he even opened up his mouth.
"What in the world were you doing tonight besides eating?" questioned Maria, sadly shaking her head. "Sometimes I really wonder about you... I hope it was homework."
"Well, actually..." stammered Sanza, struggling to come up with a suitable lie. "It-"
With a long sigh, Maria shook her head again and gripped the knob of the bedroom door.
"I'll just go downstairs and make you something," she said, more exhaustion starting to surface in his voice. Quickly, Sanza interjected, not wanting to put his hard-working mother through anything else that evening.
"Just lemme borrow the car, I'll drive down to Burger Boy and-"
"...you're not wearing any pants," said Maria, a slight smile on her face as she pointed to her son's legs, clad only in a pair of tightie-whities. "I'm just going to make you a BLT, it won't take me any more than a couple of minutes."
Maria quickly turned and left the room, closing the door behind her. Sanza flopped backward onto his bed, staring up at the ceiling, a pang of guilt still slightly gripping him.
"She's so good to me..." thought Sanza, blinking slowly and remembering all the times when he actually had forgotten to eat supper because he'd been doing homework, including one time at one in the morning when his mother had entered the room, a large, steaming tray of warm food in her hands. It had been one of the best meals he'd ever had, and she'd actually gotten out of bed to make it for him.
It was times like that when he remembered exactly why he'd taken the Red X suit in the first place. He'd taken it to protect his mother and sister, perhaps the two kindest people on the face of the Earth... and it had only exposed them to more danger.
What if... what if going out had actually been the worst thing Sanza possibly could've done? What if Slade had been just about to forget about Red X, and making him an apprentice... but then the criminal mastermind had found out somehow that Red X was back in business, and that it jogged his memory to come after Sanza again?
If Slade attacked, Sanza knew he couldn't fight him off alone... even as Red X, even with his family in mortal danger, Slade had easily beaten him. There was... there was no possible way that Red X could ever defeat Slade.
Or was there?
"The Crisis Crystal..." thought Sanza, his mind feverishly beginning to work. "If I could somehow find a way to combine the power of the crystal with the suit's Xynothium reactor and power core, then maybe I could... maybe I could use the suit itself to control the elements! I'd have Terra's power and my own!"
Before Sanza could think anymore, the door opened and Maria stepped in, carrying a plate with a large sandwich on top of it... it was technically a BLT, though she'd used far more bacon than lettuce OR tomato, the top piece of bread was practically about to fall off because the numerous bacon strips had made the sandwich off-balance.
"Here you go," she said sweetly, setting the sandwich on the bed, next to Sanza's stomach. "Oh, and don't forget... you should probably go out and get your sister a birthday present, she's turning twelve in six days."
"Funny... I thought she was twelve already," Sanza replied, not even looking at his mother, just continuing to look at the ceiling and think of all the ways the Crisis Crystal might help him defeat Slade.
"No, she's turning twelve," Maria said, walking back toward the door and taking the doorknob in her hands. "Good night, Sanza."
The door slowly closed, and Sanza sat up, picking up the sandwich and taking a large bite.
"Now I'm glad I didn't tell the Titans where the crystal is now," thought Sanza, smiling as he slowly chewed the bacon-rich sandwich. "My ship is about to come in... just two days from now."
O-O-O
That night, while Sanza dreamt of the Crisis Crystal, Beast Boy's dreams were far less pleasurable... and for the first time in nearly nine months, he woke up screaming.
Beast Boy had rejected Terra... just minutes after he'd promised her that he'd never hurt her, no matter what. She was working for Slade... she had betrayed him... it was understandable that he'd be angry. But when he'd had a chance to save her, a chance to tell her that she still had a friend... he'd rejected her completely.
It was his fault that Terra had become a statue, and now was in terrible danger of being used once more, against her will, to cause death and destruction. In his dreams, he could hear her screaming, he could see her tears... and he was forced to confront his rejection of her, over and over again.
Beast Boy woke up with a scream, a single tear running down the right side of his face. After a few seconds of heavy breathing, he realized that he couldn't get back to sleep... not with his terrible visions still fresh in his mind. He had to talk to someone, have someone reassure him that Terra didn't blame him for her death... and he knew of only one person he could confide in.
O-O-O
It was nearly two o'clock in the morning... Raven certainly wouldn't want to be disturbed from her slumber, but it was the only way Beast Boy could get peace of mind after having such a horrible nightmare. Slowly, he knocked on her door... and waited ten seconds. When it didn't open, he tried using her keypad to enter... if she'd locked the door, he wouldn't be able to get in, but if she'd left it unlocked... the door would simply slide open.
And slide open it did, quickly and quietly, revealing Raven slumbering peacefully in her bed. With a bit of hesitation, Beast Boy entered the room and slowly walked over to the slumbering girl, tapping her on her bare shoulder.
Raven's eyes slowly blinked open... usually, she woke up at eight o'clock... but the darkness of the room quickly revealed that it wasn't nearly that hour. She could see a shadowy figure standing by the side of her bed... its short stature revealing she had nothing to fear... but plenty to be annoyed about.
"What... the... hell?" muttered Raven as her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, and Beast Boy came into view. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"
But Beast Boy knew not to disturb Raven at night... and the worried look on his face, not to mention the single teardrop she could see trailing down his cheek, told Raven that her friend was in serious need of an emotional pick-up... something that Raven knew she probably wouldn't be able to provide.
"I... had a nightmare... about Terra..." Beast Boy stammered, his voice choking up as he spoke. Raven could tell that he was struggling to keep his composure, and the emotional waves she was picking up from Beast Boy's psyche were the worst she'd felt from him in quite some time. Something inside of him was hurting him... hurting him badly.
Raven sat up in the bed and looked at Beast Boy, her mild annoyance giving way to a hint of concern.
"She's going to be fine, Beast Boy," said Raven. "Robin's probably working right now on trying to find these people and how to stop them. We're not going to let her be used for evil again..."
It wasn't just that, however... Beast Boy desperately wanted Terra to be revived... but not like this. Not if she was going to be used as a pawn for destruction...
"What if... what if we can get to the crystal first?" asked Beast Boy. "What if we can revive Terra without... without her becoming a soulless object?"
"That... that's something else Robin is probably working on," said Raven. "The dream you had... was it like the others? The ones you had for about a month or so after she became a statue?"
Beast Boy thought for a second, then slowly shook his head.
"Those were... those were mostly about me rejecting her... but this dream, it was... she was suffering, Raven, suffering so much more... I saw one Terra being forced to destroy things, and then another... another, just standing there, screaming... it was the worst sound I've ever heard, she was in... she was in so much pain..."
Again, Beast Boy began to choke up. The thought of Terra suffering made him suffer as well, and another tear found its way down his face... it was then that Raven reached out and gripped his trembling hand tightly, her firm grip slightly calming down her changeling friend.
"I give you my word, Beast Boy... I won't let them use Terra like Slade did," said Raven, determination in her voice. Beast Boy looked into her eyes and nodded, sniffling as she reached up with her other hand and brushed a tear from his face. "Not just for you or Terra... but for Jump City itself. I won't let this city be destroyed, not by anyone..."
O-O-O
As Raven had guessed, Robin was forgoing sleep again, tirelessly working in his room, a laptop computer on his desk. From the information Red X had given him, Robin was able to narrow down the identities of possible conspirators... but he knew that just walking into the Mycoso Building and putting everyone there under arrest wouldn't be the right way to go, as much as he wanted to. Corporate types covered their tracks extremely well... and though the news was filled with stories of executives caught committing investment fraud or embezzlement, Robin knew that these men wouldn't be so dumb as to leave a paper trail. He and the Titans just have to start as they always did... from the ground up.
And Robin knew the Titans wouldn't have very much time. Though X hadn't told him anything about the shipment, or about the two days until it would arrive, he knew that a plan such as this obviously had a very short timeframe.
Looking up everything he could about the Crisis Crystal, he knew that it had first gone to Dallas, and then to Washington D.C., and then... then it had just vanished. It was obviously being taken away, but to where?
"Something as terrible as that should've been destroyed as soon as people realized it was dangerous..." muttered Robin to himself... but then, of course, he realized that human stupidity and greed, or even simple scientific curiosity would not allow for such a relic to be destroyed. There would always be people willing to take the risks associated with the possession of such a dangerous artifact... the potential rewards were far too great. "Now apparently it's going to be coming here... if it's not here already."
As Robin continued to try and trace the crystal, the door opened up, and he could hear a soft, female voice begin to speak.
"If you are going to attempt to help Terra, I wish to assist you... I cannot sleep knowing that you are putting yourself through so much."
Always concerned, always willing to help... Robin knew that he'd probably be hearing from Starfire if he decided to skip a night of sleep. He turned to face her, a serious look on his face.
"I... I can handle this, Star... it's just research..."
Starfire walked up to the computer and glanced at the screen... it was a story on a scientific website about the last known whereabouts of the Crisis Crystal, which had been shipped out of Washington on a boat after the earthquake that had ravaged the city. From there, however, the boat had seemingly vanished... no trace had been found.
"I haven't been able to find a single story about the crystal after that," said Robin, "and there aren't any records of the boat that left Washington coming here to Jump City at all."
After thinking for a few seconds, Starfire formulated a possible reason.
"Perhaps... the boat never came to Jump City," said Starfire, running another search on the computer. As Robin attempted to get her fingers away from the keys, she gently nudged him away and continued her search. Slightly annoyed, Robin made no attempt to show his annoyance... when Starfire wanted to help, she was going to help, and that would be the end of the argument.
And it wasn't like Robin didn't want Starfire around... her presence energized him, uplifted him... and though he'd been working feverishly for five hours straight, he no longer felt tired, even the slightest bit.
"I have located a story about a ship being attacked by pirates, just off the coast of Florida..."
"Of course..." thought Robin, already mentally berating himself for having not thought of a possible ambush of the ship. He'd thought of things that might sink the ship, especially because of the presence of the crystal, but when he'd run searches on ships that had been sunk by natural forces, nothing came up for the last two months. "So these pirates must've stolen the crystal!"
"Actually, the attack was thwarted by a last-minute rescue..."
"A Coast Guard ship?" interrupted Robin.
"Actually, a... that is very strange... Robin, I am going to run a search for very large cargo ships-"
Now Robin was completely baffled. Why Starfire would run a search for large cargo ships, when the crystal had last been sighted on a small cargo ship... unless the large cargo ship was in fact the one that had come to the other ship's rescue.
"But why would people working on a large cargo ship risk their lives to stop pirates from attacking another ship? Unless..."
Now it made sense to Robin, and as he smiled, Starfire gave him a knowing nod. As Starfire completed the search for large cargo ships, Robin quickly pieced together what was apparently a very complex plan to steal an extremely valuable relic.
"The pirate ship and the large cargo ship were working together. When the pirate ship attacked, the people on the large ship 'fought off' the pirates. Then, while the 'rescuers' did a sweep of the ship, supposedly to free any hostages or give first aid to the people of the smaller ship, someone from the large ship took the crystal. Obviously, when the pirate ship was searched, the crystal wasn't found, and the theft couldn't be reported, because the crystal was such a highly sensitive item anyway."
"In the next week, there are three large cargo ships scheduled to come into Jump City Harbor... and the first arrives tomorrow night."
"We'll need to know exactly what the layout of the ship is... and where in the harbor it's coming in," said Robin. "We'll go out to the harbor today and ask the person in charge exactly where the ship is going to be."
Smiling, Starfire backed away from the computer and turned to Robin. She clearly looked proud of what she had done, and was happy that she was able to help.
"Thanks, Starfire..." said Robin, looking into her eyes. "You did really well."
"You are welcome," she said, leaning in and giving Robin a quick kiss on the cheek before walking past him and toward the open doorway leading out of his room. "I assume now that you will be able to get sleep?"
"Yeah..." he replied, touching the spot on his cheek where Starfire had kissed him. He blushed slightly, but she didn't see it... she was already out the door and well down the hall. "That was... unexpected."
O-O-O
Sanza too was doing research about the Crystal... of course, since he didn't have the resources of Titans Tower available to him, he'd just have to make do with what he did have... the library of Jump City Public School 65.
The school's library was a decent-sized room, two thousand square feet of computers, a few tables, and dozens of shelves of books. It was there that Sanza was spending his lunch, something that he'd never done before, save for the two occasions when he'd been sentenced to lunch detention and the room used for that purpose was full, so the library had to be used as an alternate detention room. He sat at one of the tables, combing through the newspaper for a story on any of the companies represented by the men he'd seen in the Mycoso Building the previous night.
"Now I know why it seems like Robin has a rod up his ass all the time..." thought Sanza, sighing as he finished the second section of the newspaper without seeing anything about Pinnacle Industries or Barrington Shipping. It was critical, Sanza thought, to find out anything he could about the ship coming into Jump City Harbor the following night. If security at the Mycoso Building was tight, security on the ship unloading the Crisis Crystal would be ridiculous. "This research is boring stuff."
Just as Sanza picked up the Business section, he felt a pair of cool, soft hands gently rubbing the back of his neck... immediately recognizing their touch as that of Cleo Encina, his girlfriend for the past several months.
"Never, ever would've figured you as one for the newspaper, Sanza," said Cleo softly, bending down and looking him in the eye. Her red hair, which she'd cut short so that it reached to just below the bottom of her neck, smelled of fragrant chamomile, obviously because of the scented shampoo she washed it with. She continued rubbing Sanza, her hands moving over to his shoulder, which was covered by the thin fabric of a white t-shirt.
Sanza wasn't too annoyed to see Cleo... he needed a respite from his research, if only a brief one. He turned in his chair and gave her a warm smile, his hand reaching up and gently touching her cheek.
"I read the paper sometimes... the sports section," he replied, causing her to giggle.
"That says 'Business', Sanza, not sports," she said slyly, poking the front of the newspaper with her right index finger. "Checking your stocks, or...?"
"Just... doing research for a project," he lied.
"Same here... I have to check out a book on the Gilded Age," replied Cleo, "because I'm doing a report on corruption in late 19th century business and it's due next Thursday."
"What a coincidence..." Sanza thought to himself. "I'm doing a project on corruption in business right NOW, and it's due tomorrow night..."
Of course, this project was a lot more important than anything he or Cleo would ever do in school. An A meant the retrieval of the Crisis Crystal and never having to worry about Slade again. An F meant Sanza looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life, and potentially the destruction of Jump City, if the Titans couldn't find a way to stop the six men he'd overheard from their evil machinations.
But Sanza didn't want to think of failure... and as he continued to look up at Cleo, he began to think of something else... it was that feeling he got when he saw Starfire, and now sometimes, when he looked at Cleo... he got that feeling as well.
Was it lust, or love? As Cleo knelt down beside him, her face now level with his, Sanza began to decide... right now, it was lust.
"I um... maybe we should go out sometime this week, if you wanna take a break from... the Gilded Age thing," Sanza stammered, a hint of red appearing on his face.
"Of course we should... I'll figure out a day when I'm not busy, and we'll go do something special..."
Cleo's hands now began gripping Sanza's, her fingers interlocking with his. Her face leaned in, and before Sanza knew it, the two were kissing deeply, their tongues slowly caressing each other's inside the confines of their mouths... as Sanza's fingers parted from Cleo's hands and began to move toward the front of Cleo's shirt, the two heard a loud, sharp cry from the front of the library, the three letters any two students making out in school know to fear.
"Hey! PDA! PDA!"
But when the two looked up toward the librarian's desk, they saw with relief that she wasn't looking at them... but down toward an advertising spread in that day's paper, resting on the front desk.
"Only $149 at Bob's Electronics for a PDA with 40 gigabytes of memory, can you believe that?" said the librarian to her student assistant, who had been casually sitting next to her, reading a detective novel.
"I bet it's like $400, and you have to send in for a rebate check," said the student assistant, not even glancing up from his novel. "Last time I did that, I got burned big time. By the time they sent the damn thing, it had already expired and I couldn't even cash it. It's just a big scam operation."
Though relieved that they hadn't been caught, both Sanza and Cleo realized that the library probably wasn't the best place to express their passions.
"I'll see you in Algebra II, all right, Sanza?" said Cleo, standing up and smiling. Sanza nodded, and with one last brief kiss to the lips, Cleo walked back toward the shelves of books, disappearing into the history section as Sanza once again picked up his newspaper.
"That was certainly refreshing..." thought Sanza, his lips still tingling as his eyes darted across the page, in search of anything that could help get him closer to the Crisis Crystal. "But playtime is over now... I have work to do."
And after a few more seconds of work, Sanza finally found what he was looking for. In a section titled 'Business News in Brief', a short story about Pinnacle Industries gave Sanza the one clue he'd need to start his trail to the crystal.
"Pinnacle acquires services of Baddalax Security Incorporated..." Sanza read, his eyes reading over the entire article. Apparently, the rent-a-cops he'd seen inside the Mycoso Building had just been hired in the past few days... specifically to protect the quantum computer. Of course, reasoned Sanza, these men probably were going to be protecting the crystal as well... and if anyone knew how to get close to the treasure he wanted, it would be the people trusted with protecting it. "One of them has to know how to get me close to the crystal..."
O-O-O
And while Sanza was attempting to learn everything he could about the people at Baddalax, the Teen Titans were attempting to learn everything they could about the next large cargo ship scheduled to enter Jump City Harbor. Their search began at a large, wooden building near the entrance to the harbor, the harbor's Center of Operations. Looking more like an old Southern mansion than a place of business, the building was decorated both inside and out with relics that invoked images of the sea. Complete with rubber life savers, fishing nets, small boats, and paintings of pirate ships, the decoration of the building was obviously a labor of love for whatever interior designer had been charged with the task of beautifying it.
"Reminds me of a seafood restaurant," said Cyborg, as the five Titans stood outside the building. "And makes me hungry..."
"We can pick up something to eat after we find out where the ship's coming in," replied Raven, walking with the other Titans toward the front door of the building. Still remembering the promise she'd made to Beast Boy, Raven knew she had to keep all the Titans on task as they undertook the important duty of stopping Terra from being revived to destroy Jump City.
And as the leader, Robin knew this as well. He opened the door and stepped into the lobby, at the back of which stood a small desk with a friendly, orange-haired receptionist seated behind it. On the wall to the right was mounted a picture of Poseidon, god of the sea, as he created a mighty storm to knock the hapless Odysseus and his crew off-course. Against the back wall of the room was a bench and two chairs, which the Titans wouldn't be needing as they walked up to the desk. The receptionist, who in her other lines of work had been rescued by the Teen Teens many, many times, gave them a friendly smile.
"What can I do for you today?" she asked brightly. "It's nice to see all of you when my life isn't in mortal danger..."
"Glad we could see you in less desperate circumstances," replied Cyborg.
"Actually, we need to see whoever's in charge of all the ships that come in," said Robin, getting quickly to the point. "We're going to need to know exactly where a certain ship is going to be tomorrow night."
"I'll go get the director of operations right away," said the young woman, picking up a phone on her desk and pressing a button to talk to her boss. "It'll be just a second..."
"That was certainly uncomplicated," said Starfire, smiling as the young woman began speaking to the harbor's director of operations. Robin gave a quick nod.
"Don't worry, Terra..." thought Beast Boy. "Once we find out where that ship's gonna be, all we have to do is get the crystal from those guys and then... then... then you'll be back with us again..."
"I just called him," said the woman, slowly putting down the phone. "You can go upstairs to see him n-"
A loud explosion from the right wall rocked the entire building, knocking the woman off her feet and diverting the Titans' attention to where the picture of Poseidon had once rested. Now, instead of the picture, stood a large hole... through which three familiar villains stepped into the room, led by a young, bald boy hovering several feet off the ground by use of a tiny helicopter blade emerging from a pack mounted on his back. Behind him stood a large, hairy man and a pink-haired, grey-skinned girl with a devious smile on her face.
"Aw, no fair!" shouted Gizmo, his hands on his hips. "Usually we get to destroy a lot more stuff before you pitsniffers show up!"
"Why did I have a feeling something like this was gonna happen?" thought Robin, immediately extending his bo staff. The meeting with the director would just have to wait... stopping three of the Hive's most dangerous members came first. "Titans, go!"
O-O-O
But perhaps more dangerous than the Hive was the threat that Red X was about to face. He had just put on his costume, and now he stood by his bed, knowing that in order to get a lead on the people who had the Crisis Crystal, he'd have to mount a direct attack on Baddalax Incorporated... something he knew wouldn't be the safest thing to do. He was usually running from security guards... this mission would take Red X right onto their home turf.
"This is why I put on the suit in the first place... to protect my family," thought Red X, slowly walking toward the window and stepping out onto the fire escape. With the Crisis Crystal in hand, he'd have the power to stop Slade and protect his family forever...
But in order to obtain it, he was putting himself in perhaps more danger than he'd ever been in before. The security guards had already shown that they may not be afraid to kill him... but he'd faced death before. All he had to do was find someone at Baddalax who knew how to get to the crystal... and make him divulge that information by any means necessary.
Red X's next mission was about to begin.
O-O-O
Yes, up yours, Tom Cruise, Red X is the REAL top agent here. But can he penetrate into the heart of the most formidable private security firm in Jump City? And can the Titans defeat the Hive and get the information that they need to save the city from certain doom? I thank all my reviewers, this story's gotten a VERY nice response so far... DEFINITELY encouraging for a writer to see. I said Maddy was twelve in chapter one, she's really eleven, she turns twelve during this story. Hopefully I was able to use dialogue to clear up that little confusion. Chapter three should be up soon!