Maiden Of Stone

by RySenkari

[Life And Times of Red X sequel] After a few months off, Red X decides to resume his life as a thief, and immediately stumbles on a sinister plan by a group of powerbrokers. This plan has one MAJOR component... involving a certain long lost sixth Titan.

4. Ship To Shore

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

Red X had his newest target... "The Scene", an under-21 club where, if Voscoti had been telling the truth, the owner of the shipping company in control of the Crisis Crystal was currently running a party for members of his youth ministry group.

Once Red X was just a block away from the club, he slipped into an alley and switched outfits. Taking off both his civilian clothes and his Red X suit, he then put the suit back on, rolling up the sleeves of the arms and leaving off the gloves and mask. He put on his normal clothes, a t-shirt and denim jeans, concealing the suit underneath and putting the mask and gloves into his pockets.

"This should allow me some cover until I find out what's really going on," thought Sanza, stepping back out of the alleyway and walking toward the entrance of the club.

"The Scene" was a two story building sandwiched in-between a pair of taller apartment buildings. Its exterior siding had been painted white, and above the door hung a glowing neon sign that spelled out the club's name in fancy, cursive-style letters. As Sanza walked up to the club's entrance, someone standing outside recognized him immediately, running over to Sanza and clapping him on the shoulder.

"Never thought I'd see you here, Sanza..." said the boy, who was a couple of inches taller than Sanza, and who attended several classes with him at school. His short, straight blonde hair shone brightly in the neon shining down on it, while his buttoned blue shirt and khakis were a bit more formal than Sanza's simple outfit. "Aren't you Catholic?"

"Yeah, well, you know, I heard of this thing, and... we're all Christians, aren't we?" replied Sanza, feigning a slight chuckle. "I don't think it's a sin to go to a Methodist party, is it, Steve?"

"For me, no, for you... well, there's always confession, isn't there?" With a laugh even louder than Sanza's, Steve pointed toward the entrance and into the building, where Sanza could see brightly colored lights and multiple strobes pulsating across the dance floor. "It is free, just come on in and enjoy yourself! There's snacks, and punch, and-"

"I'll just dance if that's all right," Sanza said, and with that, he walked into the building alongside his friend.

When Sanza got inside, he was confronted with a scene quite unexpected for something one would normally expect at a Christian function. Loud, booming rock music was playing over the room's numerous speakers, and as bright lights moved across the dance floor, the teenagers inside were gyrating to the music, several of them dancing as sensually as they would at a normal school dance. In particular, Sanza's eyes drifted to one girl, whose silver crucifix necklace bounced repeatedly against her large breasts, covered only by a tanktop as her body gyrated to the music.

"Poor me," muttered Sanza sarcastically to himself, "a virtuous little Catholic boy exposed to such sinful behavior."

He made his way over to the punch table and picked up a small, transparent plastic cup, filled with a tangy red mixture of fruit punch. As he gulped down the entire contents of the cup in less than ten seconds, he began thinking about where in this club Mr. Barrington could possibly be. Overlooking the main dance floor was a balcony that stretched across the entire width of the room, and Sanza could see a single door past the balcony, flanked by two windows across which the drapes had been drawn, concealing whoever was inside.

"Hey, maybe I should introduce you to Mike... he's the guy responsible for setting this whole thing up, he's the youth minister at my church and he's such a cool guy, plus he has an awesome relationship with God!"

The name Steve had mentioned immediately caused a light bulb to go on in Sanza's head. Mike... Mike, where did Sanza remember that name?

"Michael Barrington," thought Sanza, "the shipping magnate... of course."

Seeing a valuable opportunity to get close to the very person who knew exactly where the Crisis Crystal was, Sanza turned to Steve and nodded his head.

"Of course I'll meet him, do you know where he is?"

Steve nodded, and gestured for Sanza to follow him toward the back of the room, where a hallway led past the men's and women's restrooms to a set of stairs, guarded by two individuals... Sanza recognized the men immediately, their uniforms identified them as belonging to Baddalax Securities.

"Uh, why are these stairs being guarded?" asked Sanza, who was a bit surprised when the two men simply stepped away from the door and allowed both him and Steve to pass through.

"Oh, these guys are just here to make sure nobody brought in any drugs... they're both really cool though, and they go to the same church I do!" said Steve as he and Sanza ascended the stairs to the club's balcony. Once they emerged, on the balcony, they walked past two more guards and turned a corner, so that they were now overlooking the main floor and right in front of the club's main office. "Well, he's right in there... I can go in with you, or-"

"That's fine," replied Sanza. While he wasn't going to interrogate Barrington just yet, he still wished to be alone in the room with him for their first meeting... which, unless Barrington somehow found out that Sanza was Red X, would be a friendly encounter. "Thanks for bringing me here, you can go back down and dance now."

"Sure thing... I'm really glad to see you here, Sanza, enjoy yourself for the rest of the evening!"

As Steve walked back around the corner and toward the stairs, Sanza reached down and turned the knob, not knowing what he would find once he made his way into Barrington's office. All he knew was that before this night was over, he'd know exactly where the Crisis Crystal was... no matter what it took to find out.

The main business office of "The Scene" was quite a bit smaller than Voscoti's office back at the Baddalax building. The front of the desk stood only four feet from the door, leaving just enough room to place a wooden chair comfortably next to it. As soon as Sanza stepped into the room, Michael Barrington, dressed casually in a dark blue sweater and a pair of blue jeans, stood up and reached across the table, offering Sanza a friendly handshake.

"Welcome, brother in Christ," said Barrington, smiling warmly as Sanza reached out and shook his hand. "Please, have a seat."

Sanza slid out the wooden chair and sat down, a smile on his face as well, though internally he was disgusted that someone proclaiming to be a man of God could be involved in a plan to destroy Jump City for money and power.

Though, Sanza had committed his own fair share of sins... he still desperately wanted to cast the first stone.

"I have a confession to make," said Sanza, again feigning an emotion. This time, it was nervousness. "And I guess I should be used to confessions... I'm Catholic."

"There's nothing wrong with that," said Barrington, the warm smile remaining on his face. "We both follow the Lord Jesus Christ and obey his commandments, you in your way and I in mine. Did you come here to meet other Christians?"

Sanza nodded.

"A few of my friends at school told me about this party," lied Sanza, "and I was a bit wary about coming at first, because I'm not a Methodist like all of you, but-"

"We have many Christians here, while most are them are from my youth ministry, a few of the people here don't even attend church at all. All I wanted to provide tonight was a safe environment for young people, all of them devoted to Christ, to get together and have a good time."

"And I'm certainly having that tonight," said Sanza, smiling as he rose from his chair. "Thank you very much, sir."

"You're absolutely welcome!" Barrington continued to maintain an open, friendly presence. He reached across the table to shake Sanza's hand again, and again Sanza complied. There was nothing in the room that seemed to indicate to Sanza that it could reveal information about Barrington's plans... the club wasn't even owned by Barrington, it had just been rented out. The only information he stood to gain was from Barrington himself, and the only way he could gain that information was as Red X. Sanza left the room and immediately walked back toward the stairwell.

He knew he'd have to become Red X... the bathrooms afforded him more than enough cover for that purpose. Few people at the club even knew he was there, and there's no way those people would suspect him... then again, a Catholic at a Protestant youth ministry seemed like a fish out of water. Someone would know something was up... and he could only hope that Barrington wasn't already onto him.

Inside the club's main office, Michael Barrington had no idea that the young man he'd just talked to was out to get him... he didn't even have any idea to expect Red X, until the phone sitting on his desk began to ring. He picked it up, and the next voice he heard was that of Dullahan's bodyguard and confidant, Sedaris.

"I just received a call from Derek Voscoti a few minutes ago... it seems his company was recently attacked by the same thief who raided the Mycoso Building last night."

Sedaris' words caused Barrington to slide back in his chair. He hadn't expected to hear about the intruder again, and so soon... Jarvin had assured him and the others that Scorpio Alpha had done its job.

"I... hadn't heard that he'd gotten out of the building," said Barrington, his fingers starting to drum on his desk. "Do we know the identity of the thief?"

"Red X, whose last string of robberies ended mysteriously about five months ago," Sedaris stated. "And he's quite possibly headed your way. X managed to extract your location from Voscoti... do you have enough security detail to handle a possible attack?"

"There's four men actively stationed here, and several undercover among the crowd of teenagers dancing here," said Barrington. "I... certainly hope it doesn't come to a situation where these men would have to fire their weapons in a room full of children."

"See that that doesn't happen," said Sedaris. "We don't need a tragedy on our hands so close to the goal. You need to remain active so that we will be able to safely retrieve the Crisis Crystal from the harbor tomorrow night."

Barrington hoped to avoid any situation where the innocent teenagers on the dance floor below may be potentially caught in any sort of crossfire... but in the grand scheme of things, they were merely collateral damage. Certainly expendable if necessary... any injuries or deaths that occurred would be blamed on Red X, should he be foolish enough to show up.

"But if my men have to fire-"

"The most important thing is that you remain in play. Do what you have to, but for the love of God, don't get yourself arrested," said Sedaris, before hanging up the phone.

Clearly, Michael Barrington wasn't the man of God he professed himself to be.

O-O-O

After spending another half-hour mingling on the dance floor, drinking punch and dancing to the contemporary Christian music that was being blared loudly over the club's large, powerful speakers, Sanza decided that it was finally time to make his move. He slipped away to the men's bathroom, found himself a stall, and switched outfits once again. This time, his clothes would be on the bottom... and his Red X suit, its sleeves down, gloves and mask both on, would be on top and out in the open.

Sanza was Red X once more... and Red X had a mission.

He stepped out of the bathroom, and immediately came face-to-face with two girls... both of whom had seen reports of Red X in the news and knew exactly what he was capable of. They quickly turned and ran in the opposite direction, back toward the dance floor, while Red X dashed to the stairwell. This time, the guards who were standing there weren't nearly so friendly. Both took out their guns, only to have them knocked away by the agile thief, who pushed the guards out of the way and threw open the stairwell door.

"I'll have them after me in seconds..." thought Red X, and sure enough, the two guards gave pursuit, chasing Red X all the way up to the balcony. Once he arrived, he was confronted by two more guards, and now was surrounded, two men behind him and two men in front.

Thinking quickly, Red X extended his arms, shooting a large X outward from his body. The four points of the X slammed into the chests of each guard, affixing to their bodies and knocking them all back into the walls of the corridor. This allowed X to easily dash past them and around the corner, to the section of the balcony overlooking the main dance floor.

Immediately, he received a very unwelcome surprise... a burst of gunfire. The two girls had alerted people on the dance floor that Red X was in the building, and the two dozen undercover guards on the dance floor responded quickly, taking out their concealed weapons and opening fire as more than one hundred terrified teenagers fled past them, quickly evacuating the club as Red X formed a large metallic shield to block the bullets. The shield held against the barrage of bullets, but several large cracks indicated to Red X that his shield wouldn't hold for long. His back now against the door, X's thoughts shifted from catching Barrington to preserving his own safety. What had started out as a simple mission had turned into a dangerous ambush.

"There has to be an emergency exit somewhere..." thought Red X, but before he could even begin walking away from the balcony, he received a hard shove in the back that knocked him off-balance... and right up against the metal balcony railing. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Michael Barrington, now flushed with rage, advancing toward him, ready to hurl him completely off the balcony.

"I was told you'd show up here," roared Barrington, "and I know you're after our technology... you'll never get it, thief!"

"And you'll never destroy this city," said Red X. As Barrington lunged forward with another shove, X steeled himself against the railing and slammed both of his feet into his attacker's chest, knocking him backward. He could hear the men below preparing to fire again, and knew that he was completely exposed... if more bullets came his way, he'd be killed instantly. "This man will make a very nice shield..."

With all the agility of a skilled thief, Red X slipped between Barrington's legs and emerged behind him, his arms pushing the man forward and nearly causing him to fall off the balcony, just as X had.

"Hold your fire!" shouted Barrington, waving his arms as Red X slipped into the office behind him, completely out of the man's sight. "Dammit, where did he-"

Barrington looked to his left, and then to his right... and then behind him. The thief was nowhere to be found, and the guards standing on the dance floor lowered their weapons, they too no longer seeing any sign of their intended target.

Without warning, a large, red, claw-like object emerged from the open door, wrapping around Barrington's chest and stomach and yanking him into the room. As soon as the man was inside, the office door slammed shut behind him. Immediately, the twenty-four men on the dance floor rushed toward the hallway, hoping to reach the stairwell before it was too late.

O-O-O

Inside the office, Red X whipped his right arm backward, causing the claw attached to his wrist to release, and causing Barrington to be thrown into his chair. The stunned shipping magnate began stammering loudly, sweat pouring down his face as Red X stared him down across the table.

"What do you want?"

"You know what I want. The crystal. Where's it going to be tomorrow night? It's your ship, you HAVE to know!"

Barrington soon found Red X's palm pointed at his face, the center crackling with bright red electricity, indicating that one of the thief's weapons was about to fire up.

"I... I won't tell you..." Barrington said, his voice lined with intense fear. "I know what you threatened to do to Voscoti, but it won't work on me! You can't make me crack!"

Red X's eyes narrowed, but before he could speak again, he heard loud thumping coming from outside the room... the men he'd left on the dance floor would arrive inside the office in mere seconds, and X would find himself trapped and with no hope of extracting any information from this vital man. If he didn't do something soon, his entire night would be completely wasted... with no chance of being able to obtain the Crisis Crystal.

He grabbed Barrington by the collar of his shirt, then leapt onto the man's desk and shot out an X that hit the ceiling, expanding into a large, X-shaped hole. He leapt up into the hole, taking the man with him as the two emerged onto the building's roof, the hole closing just as Barrington's guards dashed into the office.

"Where the hell did they go?" shouted one of the guards, noticing a chair overturned but little else to give any indication of the whereabouts of either the thief or the man they'd been hired to protect.

Up on the roof, Red X quickly dragged a furiously struggling Barrington over to the edge, where he then shot an X-band to entrap the man's arms before attaching a sticky substance to Barrington's back and dangling him off the roof, with the thick, sticky goo being the only thing keeping the man from painfully impacting the concrete. The screaming man hung face down, about twelve feet off of the ground... certainly not a fatal fall, but definitely enough to perhaps break a leg or two, certainly a nose and a jaw, and definitely cause the loss of a lot of blood.

"You scared of heights, Mikey?" asked Red X, leaning over and talking condescendingly to the large man from which he was dangling by a thread... a long, red, sticky thread. "Of course not, you work in office towers, this kind of height is nothing for you."

Barrington didn't know if X was serious... but he knew a fall from that distance would certainly hurt, and began thinking twice about protecting the location of the Crystal.

"Even if I do... tell you where the crystal is... that boat, that boat's guarded by a hundred men... FIVE hundred men, you'll never-"

"I could probably find out which boat it was, there aren't too many huge boats at Jump City Harbor, and probably only one of those boats is going to be as heavily guarded as your boat," said Red X. "I need to know where that CRYSTAL is going to be... and a way to get there without having to deal with those five hundred men you just told me about. And if you don't give me a way, well..."

To make his threat perfectly clear, Red X allowed the thread of sticky material he was keeping Barrington suspended by to drop one feet... then two feet, then quickly raise back up to its original height. It was clear to Red X that the man he was holding up was becoming more and more nervous by the second... and just like Voscoti, he knew Barrington would crack... it was just a matter of time.

Time, apparently, that Red X didn't have. Suddenly, the door leading to the roof opened up, and four men emerged... not the twenty-four who had pursued Red X to Barrington's office, but the first four men that Red X had taken out in order to get there. They emerged onto the roof, guns drawn, and Red X quickly lifted Barrington back up to the roof and set him down, the bands still keeping his arms tightly to his sides.

"I thought I already dealt with you guys," said Red X, forming a small metallic X on each of his hands and using them to block the bullets that started coming in. "At least there's only four of them... I can handle four."

As soon as X gained a respite from the bullets, he blasted the four men with an explosive X, knocking them all off of their feet. Before the men could stand, he was right on top of them, quickly disarming the guns from their hands and battering the men with a flurry of punches and kicks that kept them at bay.

The men's training enabled them to land a few blows on Red X, but his technology gave him an advantage that the four security guards couldn't overcome. One by one, the guards were incapacitated, whether it was by X-bands that trapped their arms, sticky goo that immobilized their bodies, or in one man's case, an elbow to the face that knocked him unconscious, the men were no match for the skilled thief, who was now able once more to interrogate Barrington. But the four men had offered him a distraction, and now Red X could hear the sound of a helicopter, rotating overhead. When he looked toward the center of the roof, he saw Barrington, his arms now free, climbing a short rope ladder up into the passenger compartment of a black helicopter marked with the Pinnacle Industries company logo.

"You son of a bitch!" shouted Red X, attempting to take down the helicopter by firing an explosive X at its blades... which did little but make a small explosion as the material of the blades completely withstood the force of the blast. The copter lifted up into the sky, and Michael Barrington, along with any chances Red X had of an easy route to the Crisis Crystal, was now gone. "Shit..."

Knowing that he had little time to berate himself before the rest of the guards showed up, Red X quickly made his escape from the building, climbing down the sides and dashing out into the street, using the alleyways and the darkness to quickly find his way home.

"A hundred men... five hundred men..."

Even if Red X found the boat tomorrow night, retrieving the crystal from its heavy security would be no small task... even for the greatest thief in Jump City.

O-O-O

The same task confronting Red X would also be confronting the Teen Titans... and as they sat in the main room of Titans Tower, contemplating their next course of action, none of them knew for certain whether or not their mission would be a success.

Raven, who was seated on the couch, having her sore shoulders rubbed by a melancholy Starfire, was, as usual, the most pessimistic of all.

"It's clear that Red X went to that building to get closer to the Crisis Crystal... the man that he'd tied to that forklift clearly had something to hide. I could sense it just by looking at him... and I think he knew exactly where Red X was going tonight."

Robin didn't have to be an empath to know that Derek Voscoti had been keeping a secret... but the more Robin thought about why Red X would want the Crystal, the more he wondered why the thief would go about taking it without the Titans' assistance.

"We wouldn't even know about the Crystal if Red X hadn't come here and told us last night," said Robin, something that still shamed him. He was the Titans' leader... he was supposed to be the detective of the team. If there was a plan to destroy Jump City, Robin was supposed to be first to know about it... and he'd been beaten to the punch by Red X, just an ordinary kid with a streak of kleptomania. These things weren't supposed to happen on Robin's watch... but they were happening, quicker than Robin could stop. "If he was going to steal it for himself, why the hell would he-"

"Better us get it than the people who really want it," said Cyborg. "Maybe he figured that if he couldn't get the crystal himself, he'd rather have us get it and stop the men who want to use it to revive Terra and destroy Jump City. His family does live here, after all."

"Cyborg is correct..." said Starfire, her fingers gently attempting to remove from Raven's muscles and tendons the pain that Red X had caused with his dangerous drop kick maneuver during the fight he and the Titans had had earlier that evening. Beast Boy had offered to give Raven a massage, but she wouldn't hear of it... and only allowed Starfire to do it when she realized how skilled the Tamaranian was at performing it. "Despite... despite the fact that he is sometimes selfish and out for himself, Red X still has a good heart, and-"

"And he'd want me to be able to revive Terra," replied Beast Boy. All through this past twenty-four hours, from when he'd first heard about the Crisis Crystal and how it could revive his lost love Terra, he'd been thinking about her... already, he could hear her voice again, feel her arms around him, and sense the warm feeling he got whenever she was nearby.

"This isn't just about Terra," said Robin, determination in his voice. "It's about our city... and what's going to happen if that crystal falls into the wrong hands, whether it be the hands of those six men plotting to revive Terra, or into the hands of Red X, and whatever he's planning to do with it. The only way we can make sure Jump City stays safe is by getting that crystal tomorrow night, whether we know where it is or not. We can't let ANYONE take the crystal from Jump City Harbor... not without a fight."

The other Titans nodded in agreement. Beast Boy was last to nod, and while he did want to protect the city, and certainly protect Terra from being used for evil again... there had to be a way to revive Terra without her becoming a soulless zombie.

"Terra... I promise you, tomorrow night you're going to be safe... you're going to be alive, and you'll finally be able to make your own decisions again... just like when you decided to save the city from Slade."

O-O-O

Sanza slept that night, though it was an uneasy sleep... he had no way of knowing if he'd be able to steal the Crisis Crystal... his best hope of an easy catch had just barely slipped out of his grasp, and he'd be heading to Jump City Harbor completely in the dark, with not just the dangerous Baddalax security officers to deal with, but perhaps the Teen Titans as well.

The thoughts of that night's impeding heist kept slipping into his head all day long, especially during school, when he had little to think about except the day's boring lectures and that night's daring thievery.

During second period that day, Sanza had chemistry class, his only class that he had together with Rob, Marcy, and Cleo. Another of his friends also attended the class... Steve, from the previous night at the club... someone that Sanza knew he may have a bit of trouble facing. Did Steve possibly know of Sanza's secret? He hadn't seen Sanza leaving the club with him, did that tweak his suspicions enough?

"Sanza?" whispered Steve, poking him on the shoulder as the teacher instructed the students to flip to chapter twenty-seven of their textbooks. When Sanza didn't respond, Steve poked him again, and finally Sanza turned his head. "That was insane what happened last night... glad to see you're okay, I didn't see you running out so I assumed you must've gotten lost in the crowd..."

"I'm fine, just... what the heck was that maniac thinking?" Sanza whispered. "Attacking a party with teenagers present..."

"You remember, Sanza, that maniac once saved my life..." said Cleo, a smile on her face. Sanza smiled back, remembering that fateful day at the Fall Festival when he, as Red X, managed to save Cleo's life from a falling Ferris wheel. It had been the one time Cleo had been endangered by Sanza's secret activities... and, he hoped, the only time. "I'm just glad you and Steve got out okay. I'm still kinda baffled as to why Red X would want to attack a church party, though..."

By now, the teacher had heard the disruption, and was staring straight at Cleo, his ruler repeatedly tapping against his shoulder.

"Since you know so much about Red X," asked the teacher, "perhaps you'd like to tell the class the three main chemicals that comprise the material Xynothium."

Once a top-secret government miracle polymer, Red X's exploits had attracted serious media attention to Xynothium, and the secret about it had been out for months... in some places, especially Jump City, Xynothium was a household word, like uranium and plutonium had been in the 40s and 50s.

"Um... Xynothium?" Cleo stammered, struggling to come up with a good response. "Um... I think..."

Not wanting to see his girlfriend get in trouble, Sanza quickly leaned over and whispered the correct answer to Cleo... hoping that the teacher wouldn't catch him. Fortunately, Sanza's assistance went undetected.

"Um... titanium, carbon, and... proactinium?"

"Correct, the proactinium being what gives it many of its unstable properties," said the teacher, who began drawing out a diagram on the board of Xynothium's chemical makeup. "Once considered a miracle polymer by the government scientists who discovered it, it's now viewed with infamy because of the numerous criminal activities surrounding its use, in particular the exploits of the thief Red X, who recently broke into an office building in downtown Jump City..."

As the teacher continued to speak, now mostly facing the board and drawing his diagram, Sanza and his friends considered it safe to talk once more.

"You really bailed me out there," whispered Cleo, planting a quick kiss on Sanza's cheek. "How did you know what the answer was? That's like something only the uber-nerds in the school are supposed to know..."

"Yeah, Sanza, is there something you're not telling us?" asked Marcy, her hand gently brushing back her dirty blonde hair.

"Like... have you been hanging with nerds?" whispered Rob, his elbow repeatedly nudging Sanza's side. "C'mon, have you?"

Sanza began laughing, barely quiet enough to avoid attracting the teacher's attention a second time. He shook his head, knowing that there was no way his friends could know his real secret. Let them think what they will, he'd much rather have them thinking he'd been hanging out with nerds than thinking that he was Red X.

Unlike the Titans, Sanza's friends were none the wiser.

O-O-O

And at home, neither was Sanza's family. His mother, seated in the living room, was the first to greet Sanza as he walked through the door, his backpack, loaded with books, draped over his shoulders. He set the backpack down under the kitchen table, briefly walking into the living room to say hello before starting up the stairs toward his room.

Before he reached the top of the stairs, he heard the door open again... and Maddy stepped into the kitchen, followed by one of the boys in her own class. The boy, just a couple inches taller than Maddy, had been the same boy who, just a few months earlier, had attempted to run out and stop Slade's robots from abducting the girl. He'd received a hard smack to the face for his efforts, and was the last to see Maddy before the door of the van she'd been placed in was slammed shut.

"Um... afternoon, Maddy's mom," said the boy, a bit nervously. She smiled and gave him a wave, before her attention returned to the television screen.

"She's got a name, Bradley... it's Maria, but yeah, I guess you can call her 'Maddy's mom' if you want," said Maddy, smiling as she and Bradley ran up the stairs, past Sanza and up to her room. She briefly looked down at Sanza after she passed him, giggling slightly. "Hi, Sanza!"

After the kidnapping incident, Bradley couldn't bear to look at Maddy for the next few days, racked with guilt about not being able to do anything to help his friend. He'd honestly taken the whole thing worse than she had, and Maddy decided after about a week of watching him feel sorry for himself to talk to him. After a long talk, Bradley no longer felt quite as guilty, and the two had been fairly close ever since. Whether the two were actually 'going out' was a subject neither of them would comment on... at twelve, they were both too young to be going out on dates anyway.

Once Maddy and her friend had made it to her room, Sanza finished his walk up the stairs, entering the hallway and walking into his own room. He closed the door, locking it behind him... then removed his shirt and began punching at the large punching bag in the corner repeatedly.

He was feeling nervous about what he was going to do that night... the ship out in the harbor, guarded by hundreds of well-trained men... but exercise quickly shook Sanza out of his nervousness, and he worked the punching bag for over an hour, before finally his mother entered the room. When she saw her son, covered in sweat as if he'd been sitting for some time in a sauna, her eyes widened a bit, not used to seeing her son work out so much.

"You... feeling okay?" asked Maria. "I'd reach over and feel your forehead, but I'm pretty sure you're going to feel hot anyway, from the looks of you... this can't be the penance Father Abuela gave you to perform this week, is it?"

Sanza shook his head, and leaned up against the punching bag, attempting to catch his breath. After several seconds of heavy breathing, he finally began to speak.

"Just... felt like exercising, that's all," said Sanza, looking straight up into his mother's eyes. Naturally, she began to assume that he was training for a fight... but after going several months without hearing of her son doing such a thing, her suspicions quickly faded. Maybe it was stress that was getting to Sanza...

"Spring break is in a couple of weeks, do you have any projects due, or...?" When Sanza shook his head, Maria began trying to think of another reason her son could be so stressed out. "Something else is bothering you, isn't it?"

Sanza couldn't tell her... not about what was really bothering him. He could never let her know that he was Red X... it wasn't as if she'd stop loving him, she would always love him, no matter what he did with his life... but she still wouldn't understand, and Sanza knew it would give his mother grief if he told her that he was nothing but a common criminal.

Then again, Red X was HARDLY a common criminal... he was one of the most uncommon criminals around... the only criminal that the Titans had never been able to stop. At least... the only criminal besides Slade.

It would be up to one of the two criminals that the Titans could never stop to take down the other criminal that the Titans could never stop... and the Crisis Crystal was the key. "That's why I'm going out tonight... to protect my mother and to protect Maddy. Once I have that crystal, Slade will never hurt you again."

The thought of stopping Slade made a smile come to Sanza's face... and when Maria saw the smile, she decided to leave Sanza and his punching bag alone.

"Well, you just tell me if you need anything..." she said, returning a smile of her own. "I'll be downstairs... just... tell me, okay?"

And with a nod, Sanza watched his mother close the door and leave the room. Then, he resumed punching the bag, in an attempt to work out the last of his nervousness. This would be a job that was going to take every ounce of courage and adrenaline that Sanza had...

O-O-O

The small, bespectacled man who entered Frederick Dullahan's office was awash with excitement, about to receive the most valuable scientific prize of his entire life. In just a few hours, the Crisis Crystal was coming into port at Jump City Harbor, and Dr. Ruell would be there to obtain it.

Standing to the left of the door, Sedaris eyed Ruell with a hint of skepticism... the 23-year-old bodyguard wasn't entirely sure the old man could pull off the huge task he'd been given. It would be up to Ruell to revive the maiden of stone and force her to submit to the will of the Crystal... if he couldn't control Terra, the entire operation would be ruined.

Frederick Dullahan had far more confidence in his master scientist, and he smiled as the doctor entered the room, standing up and walking over to shake the man's hand.

"Only a short time now," said Dullahan, prompting a smile and a nod from the doctor. "Once the crystal leaves the ship, you'll receive it, and my convoy will take you right up to the site of Terra's statue. The quantum computer is already being prepared to be moved out to the site as soon as the crystal is in your hands."

"The ship will most likely come under attack by that damned thief," said Sedaris. "I'm confident my security can stop him, but doctor, I'm going to ask you to be careful out there."

Dr. Ruell simply laughed off Sedaris' warning, turning to the young man with a confident sneer.

"I'm sure your men will keep me safe... and even if they don't, I've got a little something that will ensure my safety..." said the doctor, pulling a tiny vial of liquid out of the pocket of the lab coat he was wearing. Inside the vial was a thin, milky white liquid that seemed to fizz up as it was shaken. "I can take care of myself."

The doctor slipped the vial back into his coat and began walking toward the door, exiting past Sedaris, who closed the door behind the doctor as he left.

"Honestly, Sedaris, if you're not entirely sure about your security detail, you can always go out there yourself, and-"

"My duty is to you, sir," said Sedaris, ignoring Dullahan's suggestion to go out to the harbor. "I have the utmost confidence in my team... if Red X goes to the harbor tonight, he won't be leaving alive."

O-O-O

Just after sunset, at Jump City Harbor, personnel prepared for the arrival of a large cargo ship at the harbor's largest pier, a wide cement awning stacked high with boxes and barrels. The ship, a large metallic freighter painted a rusty red color, was not marked with the usual 'Barrington Shipping' logo of the other ships that the company owned. For security purposes, the ship had been marked with simply its serial number, spelled out in large white letters and numbers near the top of the ship.

The large stack of boxes at the back of the awning gave several trained snipers the perfect vantage point to pick off anyone who might be attempting a daring raid on the ship. Eight men in all, each equipped with rifles that had scopes enabling them to fire an accurate shot from nearly half a mile.

Unfortunately, their one blind spot was the area immediately next to the bottom of the stack of boxes... and that's where Red X was standing, his back pressed up tightly against the wooden crates, silently waiting for a chance to strike. The scopes built into the eyes of his mask allowed him to see through the crates, and so as the huge ship was slowly pulling up to the pier, Red X was able to see the whole spectacle unfold... and the legions of armed guards quickly lining up outside the ship, as well as entering it via the gangplank that had been laid out. Somewhere inside that ship was the crystal Red X was seeking.

"My familia will never have to worry about Slade again... it's just a matter of time now..."

The boxes offered Red X cover from both the snipers and the guards now manning the ship, and the thief knew that he would have to find some way to make it inside the ship without attracting any of the guards' attention... or at least without getting shot.

"This would be so much easier if I could still teleport..." thought X, looking up to the top of the stack of boxes and seeing the eight snipers walking around on top. "The longer I take to do this, the more chance there is of those people getting the crystal out of the ship... if I'm going to do something, I need to do it now!"

Slowly, and as quietly as he possibly could, Red X began ascending the stack of boxes, using sticky red Xs stuck to his hands and feet to climb the boxes up to a level where he could begin taking out the snipers. Now affixed to the back of the top layer of boxes, X waited until all eight men were standing right over the center of a box.

"If this doesn't work, I'm a sitting duck..." thought Red X, "and even if it does, I'll need to act quick after the snipers are gone..."

Once all the snipers were in position, the thief quickly fired an X at the boxes that each of the eight men were standing on. Once the Xs had affixed themselves, the tops of all eight boxes disappeared, and the men fell into the boxes, taking their guns with them. As soon as the men were inside, the boxes resealed themselves, and now the men were trapped. The sounds of the snipers' screams and attempts to escape the boxes drew the attention of the guards outside the boat, and as soon as they realized the snipers were gone, about half of the guards made their way around to the back of the boxes.

"Now this is really the moment of truth," thought Red X, leaping on top of the boxes and looking down at the twenty or so guards still positioned in front of the boat. Immediately, they went for their weapons, but Red X was much faster. "I'm getting on that boat, and none of you can stop me."

Several explosions engulfed the guards, and in the chaos and smoke created, X leapt down from the tall stack of boxes and began running toward the gangplank of the ship, using the special vision sensors in his mask to see through the smoke. He was fired upon several times, but the visibility on the ground had fallen to near zero, and X was soon through the smoke and running up the gangplank onto the ship.

"STOP HIM! WE CAN'T LET HIM REACH THE SHIP!"

By then, all forty or so men whom had been stationed outside the ship were firing into the smoke, but it was just a matter of seconds before the thief had emerged from the smoke and onto the ship. The few men stationed on deck had less than a second of warning as they saw Red X emerge from the smoke. They had no chance to fire, for X had quickly immobilized their arms with binding cables and had made their way inside the interior of the ship itself, through the first door he saw and down a step of stairs into a long hallway.

The interior of the ship was entirely metal, with grated steel floors, iron ceilings and iron walls. X could hear his own footsteps, even as he barely tiptoed down the hallway... but then realized that his movements could likely be confused for those of a fellow guard. For now, he was safe as he made his way down the long hallway with no sign of a guard in sight.

"As soon as I get the Crystal, I may be able to install it right into my suit... then all I have to do is sink the ship," thought Red X to himself as he made his way to the first corner. He could hear several guards coming, and readied himself to strike, his fingers pulsating with red electricity. "I'll have a lot more trouble getting in than getting out..."

But before the guards arrived at the corner, loud sirens began blaring throughout the ship. Red lights flashed off and on, and a loud, booming voice made its way through the ship's speakers.

"WARNING. THE THIEF KNOWN AS RED X HAS MADE IT ONTO THE SHIP AND IS ATTEMPTING TO STEAL THE CRYSTAL BEFORE THE TRANSFER CAN BE MADE. HE MUST BE STOPPED AT ALL COSTS. USE DEADLY FORCE IF NECESSARY."

"These damn sirens are deadly force enough," thought Red X, raising his hands to his ears. "I've stood right under the fire alarm at school and it was softer than this..."

The noise that was bothering him was now alerting the guards, who continued on their path and became the first victims of Red X to be taken out inside the ship. They, like the guards on the deck, were tied up with X-bands, making it impossible for them to fire their weapons. Red X casually stepped over them and continued down another hallway, knowing that an object like the Crisis Crystal would likely be kept deep below deck until it was ready to be transferred. He was looking for steps... steps that went down.

The first door he looked into contained several sailors, who were seated at a table in the center of the room, enjoying what appeared to be their coffee break. When they saw Red X, they raised up their hands, having no weapons with which to defend themselves.

"P...please, don't hurt us..." stammered one of the sailors, who'd dropped his coffee on the floor and was now trembling beside the table. With a loud, annoyed sigh, Red X shut the door and continued on down the hallway... right into the path of several more guards, who already had their weapons drawn. Red X quickly phased through a wall to avoid the gunfire, emerging in a large, open room with a door built into the left wall. This room appeared to be a storeroom, and contained hundreds of boxes, as well as hundreds of sacks of coffee beans.

X ran through this room, peering through the small glass window in the door to make sure that guards wouldn't be waiting for him when he emerged. Once he saw that the coast was clear, he opened the door and ran out into the hallway, now unsure whether to go left or to go right. Either way could lead him toward the stairway, but then again, either way could also lead him right into the path of dangerous armed guards.

After a few seconds of deliberation, X ran to the right, and could already hear the sound of numerous feet on the floor nearby, seemingly from all directions. There were guards above him, below him, to the right and to the left. He ran down the hallway and stopped in front of the corner, now faced with the choice of turning left or going through another metallic door, similar to the door through which he'd exited the storeroom.

"Maybe I should just phase through the floor," thought Red X, peering through the grated floor and seeing nothing but darkness below. He knew that many compartments of ships like these were tightly locked and sealed off, and if he wasn't careful, he could find himself in an area from which there was no escape... or drop right into one of the ship's engines, which wouldn't be pretty. "The conventional way is probably a bit better..."

And certainly, a bit less dangerous. He decided to turn the corner and go left, and immediately saw several guards run past him, quickly dashing down a corridor intersecting the one where he was currently standing. Had any of them looked to their left, they would have seen him... but X still would've had the element of surprise. He dashed past this corridor and continued in the same direction, stopping quickly to check and see whether doors to his left and to his right led to a stairway. None did.

Finally, when X had reached the end of the hallway, he saw two more doors, one leading left and the other leading right. He checked the left door... it led to another hallway, in which five soldiers were standing, their backs to him. X quickly closed this door, and opened the door to his right... and immediately saw a set of metal steps leading down.

"Jackpot," thought Red X, jogging down the first set of stairs, turning, and going down several more steps before finally emerging in front of another door. "One level down... and probably a bunch more to go. But hey, it's a good start."

He opened the door and stepped out... and immediately received a painful jolt of electricity to the side of his neck. A taser, which the Red X suit did not protect him from, sent the thief crumpling painfully to the ground, twitching slightly. Before he could think, or even move, three rifles were being pointed in his face.

"Stop right there," said the holder of one of the rifles, a tall, muscular man wearing what appeared to be a dark green helmet. "End of the line."

"Shit..." thought Red X, his vision fuzzy as he looked into the eyes of the men, their rifles just centimeters from his face. He'd come so far... only to be stopped before even getting close to the crystal.

"We were authorized to use deadly force," said another one of the men, glancing over at the man in the helmet, who appeared to be the leader of the squad. "If we try to take him into custody, there's a good chance he could just escape and make more trouble for us."

X's eyes widened under the mask. Were these men serious?

"Hey, you caught me," said Red X, as casually as he could. "No need to-"

"SHUT UP!" shouted the man in the green helmet. "You know, you're right... Red X is a very, very dangerous criminal."

The impromptu conference came to a sudden, immediate end when all three men were bombarded with green energy balls, creating a huge explosion that filled the hallway with smoke. Their guns were yanked away, followed by the men themselves, with what appeared to be... metal cables?

"No way..." thought Red X, peering up into the smoke. "Energy blasts and cables like those could only mean..."

The next figures that Red X could see in the smoke were shrouded in silhouette, five in all... but despite his hazy vision, the thief could immediately discern the identities of his saviors.

The Teen Titans had come to the rescue.

O-O-O

Sorry, no cliffies here... but then again, I guess X's reaction to the Titans' rescue may be a bit of an intriguing plotline. So, will the Titans and X manage to find the Crisis Crystal? Will Terra be revived? Will this chapter get more than one review? Oh, the excitement is mounting!