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
The Teen Titans had arrived at Jump City Harbor just minutes after Red X had, and by following the trail of chaos that he'd created, they'd been able to find him inside the cargo ship... and not a moment too soon. Despite the fact that he'd attacked them just a day earlier, they'd still come to the thief's rescue, and were now facing him as he weakly stood up next to the unconscious bodies of the guards who had attempted to kill him.
"...kid, that was some very slick work you just did," groaned Red X, his body still tingling from the tazer jolt he'd received. Robin's expression did not change, remaining both stoic and serious. "So... why did you help me out?"
"Because I wasn't going to just let you die," said Robin. "But that doesn't mean we're going to help you steal the crystal. We came to stop both you and the people who want to use it to revive Terra."
Red X rubbed the back of his head, his fists beginning to clench. Obviously, if he wanted the crystal, he would have to go through the Teen Titans to get it... but none of them, even Robin, looked like they wanted a confrontation.
"What do you need the crystal for, anyway?" asked Beast Boy, stepping to the front of the group. As he attempted to place his hand on X's shoulder, the thief pushed past him, bumping Robin as he walked through the crowd of Titans and continued down the hallway.
"You should know me by now..." thought Red X, who didn't even stop when another of the Titans raised their voice to ask him of his motives.
"It cannot be the monetary value of the crystal that attracts your attention... there are so many other things that you could be stealing that would be much less dangerous for you to obtain!"
"I like the danger," Red X replied, rebuking Starfire's statement as he looked to his left, and then to his right for a door which he could use to get away from the Titans. He continued to walk down the hallway, but Starfire wasn't about to let him leave so easily. She quickly floated over to him, placing her hand on his shoulder.
"You... you nearly died," she said, almost a whisper. Red X stopped, not because of Starfire's words, but because of her touch... her hand expressing a concern he'd only seen manifested in one other person... his own mother.
Red X didn't fear death... Sanza did, but Red X... Red X was a thief, a thief who lived for danger and sought to bring even more danger to those who would dare to stop him. An adrenaline junkie who stole for the sake of stealing, who took what he wanted, when he wanted.
"You know... exactly why I want that crystal," he said softly, raising his hand to remove Starfire's from his shoulder.
"...not for its worth, but for its power..." thought Raven, immediately picking up X's familial concerns from the emotional vibrations he was giving off. "You want to protect your family, but this isn't the best way to go about it. You remember well what happened last time you-"
Red X turned toward the Titans, narrowing his eyes at Raven. He pushed past Starfire and stormed back down the hallway, an anger in his steps that hadn't been displayed since the last time he had fought the archvillain Slade, several months before. Starfire tried to stop him, but in a second, Red X was in front of Raven, his finger in her face.
"You know NOTHING about my family and NOTHING about what I do to protect them... so don't you EVER tell me how I can or can't protect them, because-"
Robin's fingers seized X's wrist, his grip tightly redirecting his hand away from Raven's face and toward his own. After holding X's wrist for several seconds, he slowly released the thief's hand from his grasp, and X slowly lowered it to his side, his attention now focused on the Titans' leader.
"I don't want to fight you... but if you don't leave, you're going to be killed. The crystal is heavily guarded, and you can't handle the sheer numbers of people that they have protecting it. Your weapons, and your skills, and your speed might get you close, but in the end the numbers are going to overwhelm you, and you know it. The best way to protect your family is by joining us... we'll get the crystal from this ship and put it somewhere where it can never, ever be used to hurt a living person."
Red X couldn't believe what he was hearing. After all the thief had told him, and with the wounds from their previous battle still healing, Robin wanted to form an alliance between the Titans and X... just like the alliance that had been formed to defeat Slade.
Surely the Boy Wonder didn't expect Red X to be a team player... surely he expected X to take the crystal as soon as the Titans had gotten him close enough.
"You can't be serious..." thought Red X, his mind mulling over the ramifications of Robin's offer.
"Are you sure about this?" Cyborg said quietly, his voice lined with suspicion. "I mean, weren't we just fighting him last night?"
Robin knew exactly what he was doing... it was an age-old strategy, to keep your friends close and your enemies closer. If Red X was traveling with the Titans, at least Robin knew where he was... and even if Red X tried to pull a fast one and take the crystal out from under the Titans' noses, they'd be right there to stop him. Raven knew this as well, and was confident in Robin's decision... Beast Boy, on the other hand, didn't want to leave Terra's fate potentially in Red X's hands. He gave Robin a quizzical look... but said nothing. Obviously, Robin had a strategy in mind...
And so did Red X. After a few more seconds of thought, he looked right into the eyes of the Titans' leader... and nodded his head.
"I don't trust you guys for a second, but six of us working together can take those guards out faster than just me. I'll stick with you for a while... but don't think that means you can boss me around, Robin. I'm working with you, not for you," said Red X, not even offering his hand to shake. Robin didn't say a word, just maintaining his serious expression as he looked into X's eyes, still confident that as long as he knew where Red X was, the thief wouldn't be getting the crystal any time soon.
"Just don't get any of us killed, and we'll be just fine," said Robin, walking with Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg down the hall. Red X was a few steps ahead of them, and the first to pass Starfire, who had maintained her distance from the others and had watched the exchange take place, without saying a word. As X passed her, he briefly looked into Starfire's eyes... and she looked at him, just before turning and rejoining her friends as they walked to the end of the hall. She too had many things to say about this mysterious thief, but she, like Beast Boy, kept her thoughts to herself... her only concern at the moment was stopping the crystal from reaching the hands of the people who wanted to revive Terra.
"I do not know whether you will choose to betray us or not..." thought Starfire, walking beside Robin as the group walked toward a metallic door at the end of the hallway. "Whatever happens, know that I will not allow you to bring harm to my friends... if you do, you should expect to feel the full force of my righteous fury."
But Starfire was also thinking something else... that anyone outside the team who wished to hurt Red X would encounter her fury as well.
O-O-O
Deep within the bowels of the ship, the Crisis Crystal had been mounted on a clear, glass pedestal, surrounded by an M-16 wielding guard on each side, north, sound, east, and west. The pedestal stood at the end of an enormous room, as long as half of a football field, and about thirty feet wide. The vast majority of the center of the room was taken up by an enormous pit, cordoned off by guardrails around its entire perimeter. Inside the pit lay the engines of the ship, the grinding, moving metal parts that gave the huge cargo ship its powerful locomotion. Michael Barrington stood at the end of the pit opposite from the crystal, a walkie-talkie held in his left hand.
"I heard that you had some trouble earlier this evening," came the screeching voice on the other end, belonging to Dr. Ruell. "and that the thief may have boarded your ship. Is that the truth, or-"
"Yes, but my guards are working feverishly to catch him, I assure you," replied Barrington. "I'm going to do whatever it takes to make sure that this transfer goes smoothly. You'll have the Crisis Crystal in your hands in a matter of moments."
There was silence on the other end for several seconds, then the doctor's voice began to sound once more.
"I'll take care of the thief myself if I have to... but from what you're telling me, that won't be necessary."
"Absolutely not," said Barrington. "I'm making the final preparations to transfer the crystal to you as we speak."
O-O-O
Almost directly above the massive boiler room, the Titans and Red X had entered into another storeroom, where right outside lay a hallway bristling with guards. More than a dozen men, armed with assault rifles, patrolled in front of the door, making sure that if Red X was nearby, he wouldn't have very much longer to live.
"Raven, how long will it take you to disarm those men?" asked Robin, crouched next to the blue-cloaked Titan behind a large stack of boxes. He wasn't going to lead his team out into the hall until he was sure they could take out the guards without getting hurt... even the superpowered Starfire couldn't survive a hail of rounds from armor-piercing ammo.
"Just a second or two," whispered Raven, already starting to conjure up a dark energy spell. Nearby, flanking either side of the door, were Red X and Beast Boy. He had transformed himself into a gazelle, and was preparing to charge out as soon as the coast was clear, trampling any guards that attempted to pick up their weapons. Crouched behind the door were Starfire and Cyborg, who would form the first wave of assault after the men were disarmed. Starfire was crouched in front of Red X, who snuck a quick peek at Starfire's lower back and behind before looking back up to the door, trying to focus on the task he'd been given.
"I'm not really an ass man anyway," thought Red X, "but if I was, I'd definitely give her an eight."
Just then, the men out in the hallway could feel their assault rifles becoming extremely heavy. One by one, the guns fell to the floor, glowing with black energy that Raven was focusing outward from her mind and through the steel door. As soon as Robin gave the signal, Starfire and Cyborg ripped open the door and charged out into the hallway, Starfire turning left, and Cyborg turning right. The two bombarded the guards they were facing with a hail of blasts, knocking some out while causing others to scramble for cover.
Red X and Beast Boy were next out the door, each peeling a separate direction and taking down the guards that remained. As a gazelle, Beast Boy was easily able to knock any guard he charged into to the ground, while Red X used a combination of martial-arts moves and binding cables to take out anyone who got too close. Soon, the few guards still able to run were in a full retreat, dashing out of the smoke-filled hallway just as Robin and Raven made it out into the hall. The attack was over in just twenty seconds... the Titans had proven to be victorious.
"Quick, down this way!" shouted Robin, gesturing to the right, a direction which none of the remaining guards had gone. The other Titans quickly followed, while Red X slowly lagged behind, stepping casually over the incapacitated men that had been left lying in the hallway.
"No need to rush, it's not like reinforcements are coming..." thought Red X, who couldn't have been any more wrong. As the Titans reached the corner, they were repelled by a concentrated, quick burst of heavy gunfire. Hundreds, if not thousands of bullets, came at them in less than a second, sending all of them fleeing back into the hall from which they'd came.
"We are under attack!" screamed Starfire, crouching into a defensive position as a massive, metallic gatling gun was suddenly wheeled into the hallway they were in, with three soldiers standing behind it to push it along. Before the next burst of gunfire came, Raven formed a psychic shield that blocked the bullets and saved her fellow Titans' lives, as well as the life of Red X, who crouched down right behind the other Titans and let out a cry of shock.
"WHO THE HELL BRINGS A GATLING GUN ONTO A CARGO SHIP?" shouted Red X, a sentiment immediately echoed by Beast Boy, whose body began to tremble as more bullets ripped into Raven's energy shield.
"Someone who doesn't want us getting to the cargo, that's who," replied Raven, her voice straining as she struggled to maintain the shield protecting herself and her friends. "I can't keep this up much longer, somebody's going to have to take them out before they fire again!"
And that someone was Starfire, who quickly got up and ran around Raven's shield, charging headlong into the gatling gun and the men who were manning it. Robin's eyes widened under his mask, his concern and worry immediately mounting. Red X was concerned too, and almost got up to stop her... but Starfire knew that she was the only one who could stand up to the bullets and protect her friends.
Her eyes narrowed, her eyes began to glow, and energy formed in her hands, just as another hail of bullets came screaming out of the gun. The bullets impacted her body, but did not pierce her skin, as they would have had they hit any of the other Titans. She stumbled forward a bit, but reared back her fist and leapt into the air.
The scene seemed to play out in slow-motion... Red X let out a gasp, and Robin let out a scream. All the Titans had seen the bullets hit Starfire's body, and even as she punched and kicked the three men away from the gun, none of them could know how much damage the Tamaranian had truly taken. After the men were disabled, Starfire blew up the gun with a single Starbolt... then immediately fell to her knees. Raven took down her energy shield, and Robin rushed to Starfire's side, his hands quickly wrapping around her waist. She grimaced in pain... her outfit had been ripped in several places, and bruises and welts covered her skin, but she was mostly unharmed, and Robin's touch quickly neutralized whatever pain she might have been feeling.
"Starfire... that was..."
"Completely foolish," muttered Red X under his breath, silently thankful that Starfire had taken such a great risk to save everyone's lives.
"Way to go, Starfire!" cheered Cyborg, pumping his fist in the air as Robin slowly helped the Tamaranian girl to her feet. She gave him a smile, then quickly returned her focus to the task at hand.
"We must hurry to the crystal..." said Starfire, using her hand to cover up some of the uglier bruises on her stomach. "Let us continue..."
The Titans turned the corner and started down the other hallway again. This time, Red X kept up with the group, following them until they found another set of stairs that led them downward to a lower level of the ship. The whole time he and the Titans were running, the thief couldn't help but think of what might have happened had he encountered that gatling gun without the Titans beside him. Would he have escaped it? Found a way to disable or destroy it?
Or would he have turned right into a hail of bullets and met his end? All of those were possible. The group of six emerged from the stairwell and into another hallway... this time, a surprise ambush of guards would not be waiting for them. The long corridor was empty, its numerous doors standing unguarded. It was quickly becoming evident to both the Titans and Red X that the bulk of the guards would most likely be concentrated around the crystal itself... and in order to find that, they would have to keep going down.
"We're still a ways away from the crystal..." said Robin, attempting to discern whether he should lead his team to the left, or to the right. The other Titans, and Red X, stood behind him, waiting for him to make a decision. It was likely that both ways would eventually lead to a way down into the ship... and whatever path would take them there quicker was likely impossible to tell.
"Let's just hurry and start moving already!" said Beast Boy impatiently, knowing that every second that the Titans delayed the search for the crystal meant another second that Terra could potentially be in danger.
"Calm down, Beast Boy..." said Raven, quietly waiting for Robin to make his decision. She too was eager to start moving again, but she didn't want to encounter another large group of guards... not so soon after expending a good portion of her energy to protect the group from a hail of gunfire. "We're going to find the crystal..."
"We'll go this way," said Robin, pointing to the left and dashing down the long hallway, his boots making a metallic clang with each step they took across the grated steel floor. The Titans and X followed him, with the thief once again choosing to lag a couple of steps behind the group. Starfire looked back at him every few seconds... his head was down, and he appeared to be planning something... obviously a plan to steal the crystal once the Titans had led him to it.
She wasn't going to try to reason with him... she'd tried before, and he'd repulsed her. Only a select few times had Sanza, the person behind the mask, been open with Starfire about his feelings... about his motives... and about the people he'd sworn to protect.
Red X caught Starfire looking back at him, and raised his eyebrow, which she couldn't see under the mask. She knew, however, that from the way his eyes remained on hers, he knew that she'd been found out.
"I will not let you take the crystal..." she said quietly, in a tone that almost beckoned a response. Red X didn't offer a reply, and Starfire turned her head, just as the Titans came up to another stairwell, this one leading both up and down. A metallic sign next to the doorway read 'Master Stairwell: All Levels', which immediately triggered an almost celebratory response from Beast Boy, who knew that he'd just come a lot closer to seeing Terra again.
"We did it, this'll take us right to the bottom!" said Beast Boy, victoriously pumping his fists. Robin and the others were a lot less eager... they knew that on the bottom floor would likely be an entire swarm of guards... all of them determined to take out anyone trying to reach the crystal.
"Everyone, get ready to meet some serious resistance..." said Robin, withdrawing his bo staff and extending it to its full length.
"The belly of the beast, I can't wait!" said Cyborg, charging the plasma cannon built into his arm, which took on a bright, blue glow. For Red X, it was time to prepare for two challenges... the task of fighting through a slew of guards, and the task of both grabbing the crystal and escaping the ship without the Titans stopping him.
"This is it... for you, mom, and for you, Maddy... I promise I won't let you down."
O-O-O
Inside the large engine room, Barrington now stood on a balcony, overlooking both the pit, the pedestal, and the room's only entrance, a metallic door all the way across the room's wide expanse. All four men who had been guarding the crystal had already left... and now, the shipping magnate stood poised on the balcony, almost expecting someone to come right through the door at which he was staring.
The sound of loud explosions, gunfire, and metallic crashing from outside the room confirmed Barrington's suspicions that someone was indeed coming into the room. The Titans and Red X were just outside, meeting resistance from the twenty or so guards who had stayed to protect the bottom of the ship, and the crystal inside. The Titans handled the guards on the bottom floor almost as quickly as they'd handled the guards in the hallway above, and soon, the door of the engine room came flying open... and Red X rushed inside, dashing toward the wide, open pit, and the glass pedestal that stood just across it.
But on the pedestal where the crystal had once sat, now there was only nothing... and Red X stopped in surprise, just a few feet away from the edge of the pit.
"Surprised, thief?" shouted Barrington, immediately drawing Red X's focus up and to the balcony. "I'm afraid you're a bit too late... the transfer has already been made."
The Titans were the next to enter the room... led by Robin, they immediately headed toward the spot where Red X was standing... and, as he was doing, looked up to see Barrington taunting them from the balcony.
"Well, this is a pleasant surprise... do your job, Teen Titans, get this thief out of my sight!" Barrington said, pointing straight at Red X.
Robin took a quick look at Red X... then looked back up into the balcony, right into Barrington's eyes.
"Actually... we're with him," said Robin, pointing at Red X with the tip of his bo staff. Barrington, who had heard earlier that the Teen Titans were among the group that was taking out his guards, wasn't surprised at the news. He simply chuckled, and his finger moved toward a button on a large control panel in front of him. The Titans suddenly heard the door behind them, the entrance through which they'd entered the room, close and lock with a loud metallic clang.
"I know," replied Barrington, the smile not leaving his face. "And I will tell you the same thing I just told your rogue friend here... you're too late. The crystal is gone."
Now, Beast Boy, who could no longer contain his rage at these men who had had the audacity to force Terra into their evil bidding, stepped forward, his right hand tightly clenched into a fist. Almost trembling with rage, he walked past Red X, looking straight up toward the balcony and launching into a furious tirade.
"HOW DARE YOU!" shouted Beast Boy, shaking his fist up at the man on the balcony. "You might think of Terra as only a weapon... a weapon for your sick schemes... but she's not a weapon at all! She's a human being, and she was my BEST FRIEND! She sacrificed her life to protect this city, and for... for you bastards... for you to use her to try and destroy it again... for you to use the girl I love..."
Beast Boy's voice began to break, and Red X quickly looked over at him, his eyes widening under the mask. Tears had formed in the changeling's eyes, and as he struggled to stand, his knees began to buckle.
The other Titans looked on, all of their hearts going out to their young comrade, whose dearest friend was in dire jeopardy of being made into a soulless weapon.
"Beast Boy..." said Cyborg quietly, taking a single step forward and reaching out his hand, having heard so many times from Beast Boy about his experiences with Terra... and the memories he still had of her.
"Love is useless," replied Barrington, almost with contempt, "because it is powerless and weak. What we are trying to achieve is much more than you could EVER comprehend. We will use your precious Terra as the cornerstone of a new foundation of power for this country, something that will make us rich and powerful beyond our wildest dreams! And none of you are going to foul it up..."
Barrington's finger slowly drifted to another button on the control panel... and suddenly, the entire room was shook by a loud, violent explosion from the large pit in the center of the room. The explosion contained such force that it blew both Beast Boy and Red X backward, causing them to land on their backs right in front of the other Titans, who had to shield their faces to block away the heat from the large fireball now rising from the center of the room.
"What in the world...?" groaned Red X, painfully peeling himself up from the ground. "What the hell did he just DO?"
What Barrington had done... was to blow up the ship's engines with a bomb that had been planted several weeks before, as a safeguard should the ship be compromised by a hostile force. In place of the engines now stood a fiery, molten, sparking hole from which there was no escape. The entire room was still shaking, and even Barrington had to struggle to keep his footing.
"I'll see the rest of you in hell," said the shipping magnate, pressing another button on the control panel. The walls on the left and right sides of the rooms opened up in several places, and in each place where the walls had opened, a large, silver cannon slowly protruded out, its barrel ready to fire.
"Titans, move! NOW!" shouted Robin, just as the first volley of cannon fire lit up the room. The Titans quickly scattered to either side of the room, avoiding both the fiery pit and the large projectiles shot out by the cannons, which created a moderate-sized explosion as soon as they impacted the floor. While Robin, Beast Boy, and Cyborg broke to the left, Red X and Starfire broke to the right... Raven stood her ground, watching as Barrington attempted to flee via a door that had just opened up at the back of the balcony he was standing on.
Just before he could exit the room, a swirling gate of darkness opened up in front of him, and Raven emerged, her eyes glowing solid black.
"You're not going anywhere," Raven said, anger in her voice. "A captain always goes down with his ship."
A violent kick to the chest sent Barrington flying over the end of the balcony, screaming as he fell. He landed hard on his back about fifteen feet away from the pit, the wind having been knocked out of him. Another volley of cannon fire lit up the room. Beast Boy transformed into an ankylosaur, using his thick, plated body armor to shield Robin and Cyborg from two projectiles as they came close.
"Nice work, Beast Boy," said Robin quietly, looking up toward the balcony where Barrington had been attempting to exit from. "Can you get us up there?"
Beast Boy nodded, transforming into a pterosaur and gesturing for Robin and Cyborg to climb onto his back. Meanwhile, as Red X was running down the right side of the room, he could feel strong arms looping around his shoulders and lifting him into the air.
"I am going to carry you up to the balcony," said Starfire, wincing briefly as the room's cannons let out another volley.
"Thanks," Red X replied, almost before he even knew what he was saying.
"You are most welcome."
Starfire's tone had softened from earlier, when she'd admonished him about attempting to take the crystal... a crystal that had almost become secondary to the mission of mere survival, which the fiery pit in the center of the room was making very clear. The ship didn't have much longer before it would sink into the harbor.
A single gunshot rang out, and Starfire let out a loud, piercing scream, immediately releasing her hold on Red X and dropping him to the ground. She clutched her left shoulder, from which a trickle of blood was slowly oozing out, and began floating to the ground, grimacing in pain. Barrington stood just a few feet away, holding a silver pistol in his right hand.
"Four eighty-six Ruger, diamond bullets... even an alien superheroine can't take a hit from one of these," said Barrington, a smile on his face. The bullet hadn't gone through Starfire, or even lodged inside her... but it had penetrated several layers of flesh, and she'd definitely felt its effects.
Watching from the balcony, Robin wanted to leap down to go to Starfire, but a hand on his shoulder gave him pause. He looked back and saw Raven, slowly shaking her head.
"I can't let that guy get away with-"
"Starfire can handle him," Raven replied quietly, watching as her alien friend took a deep breath and slowly returned to a standing position. "I should've gone down there myself and made sure he wasn't armed... I'm just glad he didn't have an even deadlier weapon..."
"Dammit..." thought Robin, his teeth tightly clenched. "She's right, if I go down there I'll be exposed to the cannon fire... but we need to hurry and get out of here, right now! Not only to save ourselves, but... if whoever has that crystal now is still here, we have to stop them!"
But Red X was also still down on the main level of the room, and he dashed toward Barrington, not carrying that the enhanced gun he was carrying still had five bullets left in the chamber... and one of them had the thief's name on it.
Barrington pointed the gun right at Red X's forehead, and put his finger on the trigger. At point-blank range, the thief's head would shatter like a watermelon from the impact of the bullet... but the wily businessman never had the chance to fire. Red X's elbow smashed right into Barrington's throat, and he stumbled back, the gun drifting to the right and discharging a bullet harmlessly in the wall. As Starfire looked on, Red X rained a shower of blows on the businessman, bringing him to one knee with a punch to the gut.
"You... you little punk..." gasped Barrington, his trembling hand leveling the gun toward Red X's head once more. With a single kick, Red X disarmed the man, knocking the gun from his hand and sending it skidding across the floor, coming to a stop a few feet away from the large, smoldering pit. Then, he struck Barrington across the face with a punch, sprawling the man out across the floor.
"Looks like you're out of the shipping business," X remarked, turning to Starfire and briefly glancing at the wound on her shoulder. "You okay?"
Starfire nodded, walking over to Red X and placing her arms around his waist.
"I will bring you up to the balcony, and then come back for him..." said Starfire, gesturing to the man lying sprawled out on the ground just a few feet away.
"Just hurry up, this place is about to blow!" Cyborg called out. By now, the cannons lining the room had run out of ammunition, but the bomb in the engines had caused a fire that threatened to destroy the entire ship... and the smoldering flames in the pit were growing higher and higher with every second.
The crystal was probably long gone by now... neither X nor the Titans had ever had a chance of retrieving it... even if X hadn't joined up with the Titans in the first place, he wouldn't have gotten to this room any faster, and he knew it.
"It's because of them that I even made it to this room alive..." thought Red X, looking into Starfire's eyes. "And because of her that any of us made it..."
Barrington's hand closed tightly around the grip of the Ruger lying on the floor... he could feel the flames from the pit lapping his body, and he knew that he had to kill at least one of these kids... he couldn't let them escape without knowing exactly the kind of people they were dealing with.
He slowly rose to his feet, and pointed the gun at Red X's head. X, his back to Barrington, didn't see the man pointing the gun at him... but Starfire did, and she reacted almost immediately. She raised her hand and fired a Starbolt at Barrington's hand, knocking the gun out of his hand and sending it flying into the pit. He stumbled back, clutching his hand in pain... and was immediately engulfed by an enormous explosion that ripped through the center of the room. The ship's fuel tanks had been exposed to the heat, and were now starting to ignite. Starfire screamed and tightened her grip around Red X, carrying both of them rapidly up to the balcony as flames began filling the entire room.
"LET'S GO! NOW!" screamed Robin, leading the Titans and Red X through the door at the back of the balcony, and up a long, winding staircase. A violent rumbling shook the entire ship, and flames engulfed everything behind and below the group of six, who emerged into a hallway somewhere toward the center of the ship. By now, all the guards had evacuated, and so the Titans would meet with no armed resistance... but the ship was like a maze, and all of them were in grave danger.
"I'll get us out of here," said Raven, stretching out her arms and struggling to focus her energy despite the violent and intense sensations taking place all around her. "Azarath, metreon, zinthos... azarath, metreon, zinthos..."
O-O-O
The explosion of the giant cargo ship ripped apart the concrete pier and tore up a large portion of the harbor itself, destroying several other ships docked nearby and shaking the entire area with a violent rumbling that could be felt for several hundred feet around. The massive fireball could be seen all over the city, even from the Salazars' apartment building, about a mile away.
Raven had brought the Titans and Red X to the front of the harbor's control center, which was rattled but not damaged by the huge blast. She collapsed to one knee, having exerted a great deal of energy to get them all out of the ship. The mission had been a complete bust... both literally and figuratively.
"What... what are the chances that the crystal was destroyed in that blast?" Cyborg said, only half-seriously. The other Titans sadly shook their heads.
"They already passed it off..." sighed Beast Boy, sadly bowing his head. A tear came to his eye, and he gently wiped it away, before rubbing his eye with front of his arm. "Terra... I'm so sorry... I completely failed you..."
Starfire and Robin stood side-by-side, both of them having fought valiantly to keep the crystal out of enemy hands... and had ended up barely achieving their own survival. Robin tightly gripped Starfire's hand, his fingers interlocking with hers... and she returned the gesture, glancing over at him.
"All is not lost," said Starfire, attempting to raise the spirits of her friend. "It will take them some time to revive Terra... if everything that we have tried has failed, then..."
"Starfire's right," said Robin. "That crystal might not even work... and if it does, Red X already said that they'll need to interface it with their computer. This is a complex operation... we've still got work to do. We need to return to the Tower and draw up a plan for battle... we're not letting them bring back Terra without a fight."
Red X stood off to the side, a good distance away from the other Titans. He glanced over at them, before looking up into the night sky, his hands resting at his side.
"And I'm not letting them keep that crystal..." thought Red X, not flinching as a small army of firetrucks, police cars, and ambulances raced down to the harbor to deal with the urgent situation of the burning remnants of the cargo ship. He turned to the Titans and slowly began pacing toward them, his voice casual as he spoke. "I'm coming back to the Tower with you."
X's words surprised both Robin and Starfire, who turned in the thief's direction and wondered why, after he'd been reluctant to follow them into the ship, that he would so quickly agree to continue the hunt for the crystal.
"I'm not going to let those dicks use it to destroy the city," said Red X, still maintaining little emotion as he continued. "If they revive Terra, she'll be just as dangerous to my family as Slade was."
Robin stepped forward, until he was just a couple of feet away from X.
"You're really going to help us fight them?" asked Robin, prompting Red X to nod.
"I wouldn't do anything if it didn't benefit me, kid," replied Red X. "There's strength in numbers... so do you want my help, or not?"
A smile slowly crossed Starfire's face. She too stepped forward, and Robin stepped aside to allow her in front of Red X.
"It is wonderful that you have decided to help..."
The tone in Starfire's voice, and the expression on her face had both changed... with every hint of kindness Red X showed her, a bit of warmth returned to Starfire's heart. It was something about her that Red X couldn't stop admiring... the fact that the girl never gave up on him, never lost hope that despite whatever he did, he could still be a good person.
"What is it about me that... that makes her so willing to forgive whatever I do to her?" thought Red X, staring into Starfire's shimmering green eyes. "...does she know I'd never... I'd never want to hurt her?"
The mixture of emotions... the lust and the love, all flooding into Red X's mind at once... it was weakening him, and he quickly had to block it out. Slowly, he managed to focus himself and stammer out a few words.
"Y...yeah, I'll help you," said Red X, turning away from Starfire and looking back over to the site of the smoldering cargo ship. Somewhere in that wreckage was the ashes of one of the six men that Red X had seen in that room... one of the evil businessmen who'd been planning to destroy Jump City was now dead... and, Red X hoped, was burning in Hell. "Judge not lest ye be judged... but I already know what your eternal judgment is going to be. Guilty, guilty, guilty."
Slowly, the Titans and Red X began to make their way away from the harbor... it was Beast Boy remained behind, his head still bowed as he tried to keep all the thoughts of what might happen to Terra out of his mind. A hand gently brushed his shoulder... it belonged to Raven, who was gesturing with her head toward the harbor's entrance.
"The sooner we get back to the tower, the sooner we can go save Terra..." said Raven. Beast Boy didn't respond... he gave Raven a brief, sad look, then bowed his head again.
Raven began to rebuke Beast Boy, but then again sensed the pain raging inside of him, and instead of yelling at him, simply used her hand to turn his face toward hers.
"Listen," she said, as quietly and in as understanding of a tone as she could. "I promised you that I wouldn't let them use Terra... I still intend to keep that promise. I'll fight them all myself if I have to..."
Beast Boy nodded his head, and finally began walking with Raven toward the entrance to the harbor.
"I'm not gonna let you fight alone, Raven... I'll be right there... we'll all be there... Robin's right, there's still hope, there's gotta be!"
The familiar, optimistic Beast Boy was starting to return, and for a brief moment, Raven actually cracked a smile, thankful that the person with the greatest connection to Terra hadn't yet given up the fight.
"She's counting on you Beast Boy... she knows you're not going to let her down. I know you're not going to let her down."
The two continued to walk down the sidewalk, closely behind Red X and the other three Titans. He could see Starfire lift Robin up from the ground and begin flying off with him, and knew it was about time to take flight as well. The two of them stopped, and Red X and Cyborg turned to them, waiting their turn to be picked up.
"Just... tell me one thing, Raven. You don't usually seem like the encouraging type, so... these past few days, why have you been so-"
"Because you needed it," said Raven, walking over to Cyborg and taking off, carrying him by the shoulders. "That's the only reason..."
O-O-O
"I'm not detecting anything at the site where Terra's statue is..." said Cyborg, monitoring for any signs of life in the area where her stone body had been resting. "And the statue's still there, so-"
"They wouldn't have gone there right away, they'd be expecting that," replied Robin, "plus, as I said earlier, they'll need time to get everything set up... which gives us time to get ready for when they DO move in."
In the main room of the tower, Robin and the other Titans had been talking for the past half-hour, discussing the best way to prevent Terra from being awakened by whoever possessed the crystal. Obviously, they would then want to retrieve the crystal and revive Terra themselves... but that was the secondary objective, and even Beast Boy knew that protecting the city came first. Red X leaned against a pillar nearby, listening in on the conversation but offering no input of his own. He'd go along with whatever plan the Titans came up with... all while remembering that he had to make sure to grab the crystal for himself whenever he got the opportunity.
After a few more minutes, Robin called for a break to the meeting. The Titans would reconvene in the main room in fifteen minutes time... he needed to be alone to figure out a battle strategy that would allow for the Titans to use their powers to the fullest without risking the destruction of Terra's statue. Cyborg remained with Robin to assist with the planning, while Raven and Beast Boy both departed from the room.
Starfire, however, decided to make one stop before leaving for her own devices. She walked over to the pillar where Red X was still standing, and began speaking to him.
"You seem disinterested," said Starfire, "perhaps even sad... I assume that you were going to use the crystal to enhance the powers of your own suit, am I correct?"
Red X nodded slightly, sliding down into a sitting position against the pillar. Starfire sat down next to him, her legs crossed Indian-style in front of her, her hands touching the front of her knees.
"I can't protect my family from Slade..." said Red X, his voice almost a sigh. "Not with this suit alone... but that crystal... that crystal has the power to reshape cities... it has the power to-"
"Assume that you were able to somehow use the crystal with your suit... assuming that you did have all of its power, would it truly be enough? Terra had to sacrifice herself to destroy Slade, just as you would have had to. Even with your powers combined... I am not entirely sure it would be enough to overcome him."
"Of course I could beat him," said Red X, his voice rising slightly. "Maybe individually we would've had to sacrifice ourselves to defeat Slade, but... someone with the power of BOTH Terra and I..."
Starfire shook her head, reaching over and placing her hand on X's shoulder.
"And... and who is to say that Slade would not... that he would not attempt to place your family in a situation where if you used powers like that to destroy him, it would be risking their lives as well?"
"What do you mean?" Red X replied, almost indignant that Starfire would imply that his family would be endangered again. "What do you mean by-"
"In working with Robin, I have learned many, many things... including that you must be able to think like your enemy. Suppose that Slade learned about your powers, and that he was able to capture your family again... and that he placed him in the same room where the two of you would be fighting. With powers like those of Terra, which control earthquakes, landslides, and volcanoes... anything that you could possibly do to Slade would endanger your family as well."
Starfire's logic was a bit complicated... but the more Red X thought about it, the more sense it made... Slade was brilliant, there was no denying that... and he, like Red X, could adapt to the powers of all the Teen Titans... so what was stopping him from adapting to anyone else's powers as well?
Red X stood up, leaning against the pillar for several seconds, his head facing the pillar, deep in thought.
"I... I do not wish to discourage you, but... I just... I just wish for you to understand that there is little point in stealing the crystal..."
X turned around and looked at Starfire, staring at her for several seconds. Then, he walked out of the room, without saying a word. She didn't attempt to follow him, but merely watched as he left down a hallway, a concerned look on her face. She glanced over at Robin and Cyborg, who were kneeling around the coffee table, both of them working at a laptop and discussing possible plans for the battle ahead.
Of all the people she never wanted to fight again, Red X remained near the top of her list... right below Robin.
"I am fully aware of the horrible evils that Slade can bring about... I have witnessed so many of them before."
O-O-O
Starfire's words had given Red X something else to think about... and if she was right about the crystal, if she was right at no matter what powers he had, Slade would always have a way to respond... then the thief needed to figure out a new plan, and quickly.
It was as he walked down the hallway that he saw Beast Boy, slumped against a wall, a serious look on his normally jovial face. He stopped beside Beast Boy, who turned and looked at X, his voice quiet as he spoke.
"What do you want?" Beast Boy asked. Red X simply chuckled, placing one hand on the wall next to Beast Boy and leaning in toward him.
"You seem disturbed at the moment," X replied, removing his hand from the wall and returning to a normal, standing position. "You know that there's no way in hell I'm gonna let those guys bring back Terra to knock down my family's house, right?"
Beast Boy nodded, still frowning as he leaned back against the wall and looked into Red X's masked face.
"You still just want the crystal for yourself, I bet," said Beast Boy. He expected Red X to nod, but when the thief shook his head, it brought an exclamation of surprise from the green changeling. "...you don't?"
"Well, there is another way to protect the city... and to protect Terra," replied Red X. It was a plan he'd just figured out, and he knew that Beast Boy wasn't going to like it, so he might as well get on with telling him. "We need to destroy the statue."
"ARE YOU NUTS!" Beast Boy shouted, immediately charging toward Red X, their faces now just inches apart. "There's no way I'm going to do that!"
"You love her, don't you? Spare her the agony of being used as a weapon and just let her rest in peace... if the statue's destroyed, they've got no chance of bringing her back."
It was an ugly solution, and even Red X didn't want to resort to destroying Terra to protect the city... but it was the only way to ensure his family's safety, and, he knew, Terra's as well. Beast Boy was still furious, enraged that Red X would even suggest such a terrible thing. He was about ready to punch Red X right in the face... already in a bad mood from having let the bad guys get away with the crystal earlier, X's suggestion had brought him right to the brink of a physical confrontation.
Beast Boy managed to calm himself down, turning away from Red X and placing his arms across his chest.
"Don't even think about it," said Beast Boy calmly, his teeth clenched. "I can't believe you'd even-"
"Forget I even said anything," replied Red X, sighing and turning back down the hallway from where he'd come. "...I know how much you care about her, but-"
"Then you should know that I would never, ever want to destroy her..." said Beast Boy quietly. "...even when she'd told me to do it..."
X knew that Beast Boy wouldn't like his suggestion, and the response he'd given hadn't surprised the thief one bit.
It would be up to the Titans, then... up to the Titans to protect the city, and ultimately, to protect Terra from a truly horrific fate.
And up to Red X to protect his family.
O-O-O
The stars shone brightly in this part of town... away from much of the lights of the city, away from the sounds of the traffic and the people and the chaos... a serene place, a ground that radiated energy whenever one set foot upon it.
Red X had visited this place once before, and now, in the darkest night, his way barely lit by the stars and moon, he was visiting again. Under most of the structures of Jump City, past a vast, grassy field, there was a stone pathway, swirling down into the earth and leading to the spot where a volcano had once threatened to destroy the city and all of its inhabitants.
On this spot, where the volcano had once been, stood a beautiful girl, forever frozen in stone. Terra, a Teen Titan, a true friend, stood silently, her arms outstretched, her sightless eyes gazing heavenward.
"I am truly, truly sorry... but this has to be done. To protect my family and to protect this city."
The lesser of two evils... the destruction of Terra to bring about Jump City's salvation. As Red X descended down the path, the statue slowly came into view...
Along with several other shadowy figures that Red X never expected to see, but recognized almost immediately.
"Baddalax security guards!"
Nearly a dozen in all, these guards surrounded the statue... while standing several feet away, next to a tall, metallic computer mainframe, was an old man with scraggly white hair... Dr. Ruell. On a stone pedestal next to the mainframe, with several wires and electrodes connecting it to the computer, was the very object the thief had been seeking... the object of power, now glistening in the dim light of two metallic lamps illuminating the area... the Crisis Crystal.
And the crystal was glowing... glowing brightly, small sparks shimmering off its quartz-like surface. Overlooking this horrific scene was Red X, his eyes now wide and terrified under the mask.
He was too late.
O-O-O
The moment of truth... Terra's about to be revived, and NOT the way that anyone would've wanted! It's up to Red X to stop the evil doctor from unleashing Terra on the helpless denizens of Jump City... is he REALLY too late, or is there some way to stop the plan from unfolding? You won't want to miss the next chapter!