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 alert came in to Titans Tower as soon as the earthquake had begun. A bright, flashing red light filled every room of the tower, accompanied by a warning siren and an indicator of the earthquake's location on a map of the city displayed on the tower's television monitor.
"Titans, we've got trouble!" said Robin, pointing at the screen. The other Titans, who'd been out of the room at the time that the warning went off, quickly filed in front of the screen to see what was going on. "A magnitude-6.2 earthquake has originated somewhere in the city!"
Upon hearing the word 'earthquake', a brief chill went through Terra's body, and she wondered whether she herself may have inadvertently caused it. None of the Titans, however, felt a thing... highly unusual for such a large earthquake at close proximity.
"Robin, if there was a 6.2 magnitude earthquake centered somewhere in the city, wouldn't we feel it?" questioned Raven, her eyebrow raised as she looked up at the screen. "The scanner is giving a distance of 3.7 miles from the tower for the earthquake... if it was centered that close, we'd surely feel something."
"Maybe it's just a localized event," replied Cyborg, using the seismic scanner built into his own arm to check for any fault lines that may have been activated under the city. "Scanner isn't showing any fault activity, so-"
"It's not a natural earthquake," said Robin, watching as the signal on the screen blipped out just as quickly as it had appeared. "And whatever happened... the quake is over now."
The earthquake had lasted just half a minute... but the Titans knew that anything shaken by an earthquake of that magnitude could collapse in just seconds. Even if the quake was over, it wouldn't be a bad idea for them to make sure that any survivors were able to get the help they needed.
"Robin, there is another call coming in..." said Starfire, looking up at the screen and seeing a new signal coming from the convention center, less than a mile away from the earthquake's epicenter. "...this is concerning Red X... who has apparently broken into the military expo, and briefly commandeered a tank..."
Two calls in less than a minute... an earthquake in a neighborhood, and now Red X in a tank. Robin sighed with dismay, his gloved hand raising to his face. He knew that it was going to be a very busy night.
"Starfire, you and I can go to the convention center and see what's happened there," said Robin, causing Starfire's face to briefly light up. Any mission together with Robin, especially a mission with just the two of them, was always something to look forward to for Starfire, even if she knew that it was just business. "We'll take the T-Cycle... the rest of you, get down to that neighborhood where the earthquake happened and make sure everyone down there is okay. We'll meet up with you when we get done."
The four Titans whom Robin had just deployed to the neighborhood nodded... Terra with some reluctance. Any mention of earthquakes, whether they were caused by her or not, were extremely unpleasant for Terra to hear... a terrible reminder of the trouble she'd caused when she hadn't been able to control her powers. She'd leveled villages and towns while trying to help the people who lived there... and in many cases, did much more damage than whatever calamity she had been trying to stop.
Hearing the screams of people trapped inside buildings, under cars and inside cracks in the earth would only bring those terrible memories back to her once more... and while Raven and Cyborg were quickly leaving the room to head for the T-Car, Terra didn't make a move... she simply closed her eyes and dipped her head, unwilling to recall the unpleasant nightmares of her past.
She was stirred from her recollections by Beast Boy, placing his hand on her shoulder and causing her to turn around.
"Terra?" said Beast Boy, concern in his voice. "Are you...?"
"I'm fine," she replied quickly, smiling and walking past him. "Let's go..."
Even Beast Boy couldn't make Terra comfortable this time...
O-O-O
The earthquake had knocked Red X completely off of his feet, and in the chaos around him, he hadn't been able to stand until the temblor was over. When the quake finally did come to an end, the thief could already hear the sound of loud cries and screams on either side of him. Buildings on both sides of the street had been severely damaged, with large cracks in their frames and their windows completely shattered. For nearly five blocks, homes, businesses, and factories had sustained at least some significant damage, with a few buildings in immediate danger of collapse.
The little device that had caused all of this damage, the prototype seismic generator, now lay on the ground just a few feet away, its lights dimmed. X's eyes drifted over to the device, and he began shaking his head.
"That little thing... did all of this?" thought Red X, once again looking to his left and to his right to see the damaged buildings nearby. He had no idea how large the earthquake had been, and had no way of knowing that his family was safe... their apartment, well out of the earthquake's range, had sustained no damage, and Maddy and Maria hadn't even felt the slightest tremor. "The whole city could be... oh my god, mom! Maddy!"
By now, people inside the damaged buildings were starting to make their way out... some of them carrying pets, a few children carrying precious items like toys or security blankets. Most of the people coming out were unharmed, though a few of them had sustained minor cuts and bruises, and one woman, just across the street had sustained a large gash across her forehead that would likely require stitches.
X took one more look at the device... and as it turned out, it would be a last look. Several bricks from the large flower shop immediately next to it suddenly dislodged from the building and fell to the sidewalk, slamming into the generator and crushing it under a pile of masonry. A few sparks and some smoke emerged from the pile of bricks, but that was it. The device was destroyed.
"I'd better get back home, right now..." thought Red X, worrying little about the fact that several people were staring at him, and much more about the fact that his family at home could be in serious danger. He turned and started to run in the direction of his own neighborhood, when suddenly, he could hear the loud cries of a little six-year-old girl, standing just a few feet away. She was accompanied by her parents and her two brothers, and was sobbing violently, with large streams of tears coming down her face.
"Mr. Fluffy didn't come out of the house!" cried the little girl, trying desperately to run back toward the entrance of her family's apartment building. Her mother quickly held her back, pulling her away from the door and holding her close to her body. "I WANT MY KITTY!"
"We can't go back in there, the building might collapse!" said the girl's mother sternly.
Red X let out a long, annoyed sigh. He'd see this in the movies plenty of times before. There would be a burning building, the little girl would get out and demand for the hero to extricate her precious pet, usually an adorable kitten, from the building. Well, that wasn't Red X's bag. He hated playing the hero, and he wasn't about to do it when his family at home could be in danger.
But as he heard the sobs of the little girl, his mind began thinking of just how much her cries sounded like Maddy's. Maddy never owned a kitten, but if she did, and it was her kitten in danger, she'd probably be acting exactly like this little girl was.
"God dammit, god dammit, god dammit," thought Red X, turning back toward the family and the sobbing little girl and walking up to them, his voice strained with annoyance as he spoke. "I'll get your cat out of the building. What part of the building is he in?"
The little girl saw Red X and let out a gasp, recoiling into her mother's embrace.
"Don't let him anywhere near Mr. Fluffy!" shouted the little girl, pointing right at Red X's face. "He's the thief on the TV! He'll just STEAL Mr. Fluffy!"
"I'm not going to steal your cat. I couldn't get any money for him if I did. There are homeless people on the street literally giving cats away out of boxes. Don't be ridiculous," said Red X, looking up from the girl to the girl's mother. "Now where in the building is your cat?"
"Second floor, third room on the left..." replied the girl's mother, prompting a loud 'no!' from her daughter, who was still terrified that Red X might steal her precious kitten. "Please, be careful..."
But by then, Red X had already turned and had gone into the building. The building itself was structurally sound... no fires had broken out, and the only indications that the building was damaged were a few large cracks on the outer facade and several shattered dishes and glasses littering the floor, forcing the thief to watch his step as he made his way down a long hallway and into a metallic door marked 'EXIT', leading to a flight of stairs that took him right up to the second floor.
X still couldn't believe that he was actually doing this... risking his life by going into a damaged apartment building to rescue a little girl's pet. This is the kind of thing that firemen, or maybe the Teen Titans would do...
"Speaking of the Teen Titans," thought Red X as he made his way to the third door on the left side of the second-floor hallway and slowly opened the door to go inside, "where the hell are they? Aren't they usually the ones who show up when disaster strikes like this?"
The family's apartment was fairly small, certainly compared to his own family's, which took up two entire floors of a building and only had to accommodate three people. This apartment was made up of a living room, a kitchen, a small bathroom, and three small bedrooms... one for the parents, one for the little girl, and one for the two boys. X did a quick sweep of the apartment and found not a living creature in sight... no kittens, no dogs, no nothing. He checked all of the rooms, including the little girl's room... nothing.
"Did I get the wrong apartment?" said Red X, looking around the girl's bedroom and seeing a picture of her two parents on the tiny dresser next to her desk. The parents in the picture matched the man and woman down on the sidewalk... so yes, he did indeed have the right apartment. "There's no cat in-"
"Here's your kitten, little girl," came a voice from outside that Red X immediately recognized. He threw open the window, and saw Cyborg and Raven standing next to the family. Cyborg was handing the little girl her kitten, and immediately, the girl's arms went around his metallic waist, a broad smile on her face.
"HEY!" shouted Red X, leaning his head out the window and yelling down at the two Titans. Raven and Cyborg both looked up to see Red X wildly waving his arms at them, an angry tone in his voice. "THAT WAS MY SAVE, DAMMIT!"
The little girl looked up and stuck her tongue out at Red X, blowing raspberries at him for nearly ten seconds.
"Thanks, Raven and Cyborg, for saving Mr. Fluffy from that mean thief Red X," said the little girl, smiling and stroking her kitten's tail.
"Don't mention it," Raven replied sarcastically, though the little girl's thanks wasn't what was on her mind at the moment... what really puzzled her is what Red X could possibly be doing in the neighborhood damaged by the earthquake. Was this his neighborhood? Was this his apartment? Or did he have something to do with the earthquake that had just happened here... so many questions were on Raven's mind, and she wanted answers, in short order. Red X leapt down from the window, landing in front of the two Titans and immediately going into a fighting stance.
"If you're wondering what caused the earthquake, I just want to say right now that it was a complete accident," said Red X, looking back and forth between Raven and Cyborg.
"We got a distress call into the tower that says you stole a tank," Cyborg replied, an angry look on his face. "Now, as far as I know, tanks don't cause earthquakes, unless you stole a really big tank, in which case-"
"I stole a tank for a total of sixty seconds," said Red X. "It was something else I stole that caused all of this, and like I said, I didn't mean to-"
A loud rumbling noise from across the street diverted Red X's attention, and the attention of the two Titans, to another apartment building a few houses down. Everyone who had been inside was safely out, and now, they could only watch as the building completely crumbled, becoming a pile of bricks and metal that spread out into the street, nearly causing a fire rescue vehicle to run off the road as it tried to swerve around the debris. Cyborg charged over to the wreckage, while Raven turned to Red X, a grim look on her face.
"You wanna fix some of this damage that you say you accidentally caused?" shouted Raven, pointing at the destroyed apartment building. "Then you'd better help us rescue people, right now!"
And with that, Raven floated over to the ruined building, using a series of emotional pulse waves to check for anyone trapped in the wreckage. Red X, who was unaccustomed to seeing such emotion from the usually calm Raven, was still considering returning home to check on his family... but then realized that Raven was right, and that he had been the cause of all of this, even if he hadn't meant to.
It was his duty to help rescue people, as much as he hated being the hero. Not just his duty, but his penance.
O-O-O
At the convention center, a unit of police officers had arrived to assess the damage and to interview any witnesses who may have seen Red X and the havoc he'd caused in the building. Among the people being interviewed by the police was Nicholas Jarvin, the man who had crafted not only the large robot that had been used to attack Red X, but the prototype seismic generator as well. By posing as a security guard, he'd been able to see first-hand what the thief was capable of... though had been woefully unable to stop him.
After the police had concluded their interview, Jarvin started to leave... only to bump right into Robin and Starfire, the Teen Titans who'd shown up to stop any potential criminals, such as Red X, who remained at the crime scene.
"The Teen Titans... well, two of them, at least," said Jarvin Sr., feigning anger and pointing his finger in Robin's face. "Where were you when that blasted thief was blowing up half the convention center? He took out eight guards and nearly blew me to smithereens... me, an old security guard just trying to supplement his measly pension. I could've been killed!"
"And I'm sorry for that, but I still need to ask you some questions," Robin replied, "Such as-"
"The thief's gone, can't ya see?" said Jarvin Sr., pointing at the tank. "Almost drove that thing clear out of here, then the whole city would've been in trouble!"
The tank was still in the convention center, sitting right where Red X had left it. That was certainly a relief to Robin, but something about X's heist didn't quite add up... and something about this security guard didn't seem right. Robin knew he'd seen the man's face somewhere before... but exactly where he'd seen the man was something the Boy Wonder couldn't quite put his finger on. Starfire, meanwhile, wasn't looking just at the man... but at a remote control device that was sitting on one of the display cases nearby, an item that looked out of place, but one that Red X certainly should've stolen had he'd been given the opportunity.
"Sir? May I ask what exactly that device controls...?" said Starfire, walking over to the remote and picking it up in her hands, manipulating the buttons and levers for several seconds before turning back to the security guard and waiting for his response. The security guard immediately pointed to a small crater on the ground in the vicinity of the huge hole in the convention center's left wall.
"There was a big military robot, standing right there," Jarvin replied, "before that blasted thief blasted it away with that tank's blasted blaster. Just blasted it right off the face of the earth! Poof, gone, just like that."
"A military robot?" thought Robin, looking around the floor of the convention center and seeing the various military policemen standing among various displays, some of them being interviewed by police about their own encounters with Red X. "I don't think any of those men would've used a military robot against Red X... they would've shot at him themselves... unless..."
Robin stared at the security guard for several seconds, reading the expressions on the man's face as he talked with Starfire. He was hiding something... the expressions on the man's face were the same as those that Voscoti had shown after the Titans had freed him from Red X. The same deceptive tone, the wrinkles in the lining of the facial skin... and it was then that Robin came to the conclusion that this man was not just another ordinary security guard.
"Were you the one who was controlling the robot when Red X blew it up?" asked Robin, his eyes narrowing.
"Why, yes, sonny, I was," replied Jarvin, his hands on his hips. "I didn't have a weapon like those other guards, so I just had to use what was given to me... I just about managed to stop him too, until he hopped in that tank."
"And just how does a security guard with no actual military experience know how to use a military robot with complex controls?"
"That thief tried to use the robot too, you know," said Jarvin. "It's not really all that hard to use, that's the point of the design..."
Jarvin's voice trailed off. Immediately, he knew that he'd said just a little too much. Both Robin and Starfire could tell that the man was hiding something... but before Robin could ask any more questions, his T-Com began to ring. He took it out and flipped it on... it was Cyborg, with important news.
"Robin, you're not gonna believe who we found down here in the neighborhood hit by the quake," said Cyborg. "It's Red X..."
"Red X!" replied Robin, his eyebrows raising. "What's he doing-"
"It's kind of a long story, but something that he stole may have caused the earthquake that happened down here... he says it was an accident, and right now he's helping us rescue people, but... I think you might need to come down here and talk to him."
"I'll be there right away," said Robin, closing the T-Com and turning to Starfire. "Starfire, we-"
"I heard..." replied Starfire, walking toward Robin. The distraction had allowed Jarvin to slip away from the Titans, but at the moment, that wasn't their top priority... the earthquake and the theft at the convention center had been related, and the thread linking the two was Red X... who, even if he was helping the Titans, could be a serious threat. "We should go quickly."
O-O-O
Beast Boy and Terra, who had split off from Cyborg and Raven as soon as the group had reached the earthquake-stricken neighborhood, were now exploring a partially-collapsed electronics store. The left side of the roof had caved in while customers were still inside, which meant that people may have been buried. Terra, who had been growing steadily more nervous since she and Beast Boy had begun the rescue mission, was now shaking as the two passed a row of subwoofers and were now at the part of the store that had collapsed.
"I... I don't think there's anyone under there," said Terra, her voice trembling slightly. While it was true that there were no screams coming from under the rubble, that could be a sign that there could still be unconscious people buried, or that they were buried so much that their screams could not be heard from the outside. "We can check anyway, but-"
Beast Boy quickly transformed into a rat and jumped into a hole in the pile, navigating the tiny tunnels of available space to hunt for any survivors. Terra carefully approached the pile of debris, tossing chunks of drywall and metal away. She was nervous that she might pull out a piece that may have been supporting an air pocket, and so went very slowly, so as not to collapse the pile further.
"I can't screw this up..." thought Terra, her hands trembling as she threw small chunks of plaster from the pile. "Everyone is counting on me... the team... all these trapped people..."
A quick flashback entered Terra's mind, and she let out a small scream, clutching her head and trying to shake away the bad memories. Immediately, Beast Boy emerged from the pile of rubble and detransformed.
"Terra, what happened? Did you get hit with something, or-"
Terra shook her head and slowly began to walk away from the rubble pile, biting her lip and holding her hands in front of her face. By now, she was trembling violently, and struggling not to let any tears come to the surface. She had to focus... focus on helping people, not on how she might hurt them. It was what she'd done the very first few times she'd tried to save people... and every time it had ended with disastrous results.
The bad memories were quickly overwhelming the blonde girl, to the point that she almost wanted to flee the store, get on a rock, and fly away from everything... she couldn't handle this, couldn't handle seeing destruction identical to that which she had caused on her own... even if by accident, the hurt was still too fresh... not to mention the hurt she'd caused the Titans intentionally.
Just as the first tears began to flow, Beast Boy leaned into Terra, wrapping his arms around her from behind, his head leaning against her shoulder.
"Terra... I know this is hard for you... I know you might have hurt people before, but-"
"What if I hurt the people here, Beast Boy?" said Terra, pulling away from Beast Boy's grip and turning to face him. "What if... what if that earthquake I made yesterday, what if it... what if it woke up some fault line under the city, or-"
"I don't know jack squat about earthquakes, but... Robin said that if a fault line were activated, we'd have felt the quake at the tower... I don't know what caused this earthquake, but I know it couldn't have been you, Terra..."
Terra let out a sigh and bowed her head again, looking down at the ground and trying to wipe the tears that were coming down her cheeks. Beast Boy stood his ground, reluctant to approach Terra for fear that she might push him away again.
"Terra... I know all this destruction brings back some bad memories for you, but... if you can help some of these people, then maybe... I dunno, maybe you'll be able to make some good memories to replace all the bad ones of people getting hurt. Like... like how I'm already replacing the bad memories of Slade hurting you with all the good ones you've given me already in these past couple of days... I mean, I... I dunno, I'm trying to be like Raven here, she's the one who really knows people's emotions, but... I think... I think you should try to help these people, Terra."
Terra paused for several seconds... then, slowly, began to nod. She lifted her head and gave Beast Boy a quick smile.
"You're right... I need to do something to help these people, so I can forget about... forget about all those times when I wasn't quite so helpful. Thanks, Beast Boy."
Terra slowly lifted her arms, and the huge pile of rubble began to lift up on a slab of earth. Slowly, the slab shrunk, and debris from the pile began sifting off of it, falling to the ground around the slab as it slowly disintegrated and small pieces of dirt fell to the ground in its wake.
"As I'm doing this, look and see if any people are falling with the debris," said Terra, signaling to Beast Boy to stand a few feet away. "If you see someone, tell me and I'll stop shrinking this rock slab, then you can go over and place them off to the side."
Beast Boy nodded, though he couldn't quite grasp the physics of what Terra was doing. To Terra, it was quite simple... as the slab shrunk, the falling action of the debris would allow all the layers of the debris to be seen, instead of having to dig through the pile to find any people that might be trapped underneath. Anyone who was trapped would fall right to the top of the pile, and could then be safely moved as the debris was sorted.
It took twenty seconds for Terra and Beast Boy to check the entire pile before the slab was entirely gone. No people were found, which meant that everyone who had been in the store had managed to exit safely. Relieving news to be sure... and slowly, Terra was beginning to once again regain her confidence.
"Part of building a new life is to try and find a way to put the past behind me..." thought Terra as she walked over to rejoin Beast Boy at the center of the store. "It's going to take a while, but... whether anyone else trusts me or not, I have to find a way to trust myself."
O-O-O
After checking several damaged apartments, Raven, Cyborg, and Red X had gone to a large factory in the area that appeared to have been damaged by the quake. Two of its smokestacks had collapsed and fallen, and many of its windows had been shattered. Ambulances parked outside indicated that some of the workers had indeed been injured, and it would be up to the Titans and X to go and help those whom emergency personnel were too busy to save.
Once inside the factory, Raven had assigned herself the task of clearing away heavy machinery, and Cyborg and Red X were making their way to the north side of the factory, a large, open area with several metallic supporting beams that could prove quite dangerous should they happen to fall on anyone. Once the two reached a large brick dividing wall with only a single opening, Cyborg signaled for both of them to stop.
"I think I might've heard someone in one of those machines over there," said Cyborg, pointing to a large grouping of metallic crushers positioned by a wall to his right. The crushers were behemothic in size, nearly thirty feet tall and twenty-feet wide, designed to compact worn-out steel parts into usable scrap material, and were serviced by workers in the factory who would have to climb into the machine itself and fix a part that happened to be broken. "Could you go behind that wall and see if anyone's hurt in there while I go check the crushers?"
X gave Cyborg a slight nod, and dashed through the opening in the brick wall. Almost immediately, he saw a large, burly man in a hard hat, trapped under an enormous metal girder that had fallen from the ceiling. Occasionally, the man would give a weak, pained groan.
"Hey... hey... could you... could you come over and get this thing off me?" the man said, his voice weak and pained. It was clear from his tone that he was in agony, and from the size of the girder currently pinning him to the ground, it was clear that the man probably didn't have much time left. The thief could feel a pang of guilt as he ran over to the trapped man, knowing that the man's predicament was partially his fault.
X took a few seconds to inspect the girder. It was fifteen feet long, and probably eighteen inches high... most likely weighing more than a ton. It was a miracle that the man had survived the impact of the object on his back... and even more of a miracle that the man was moving his legs, albeit very weakly. Someone up there definitely liked this factory worker...
"I'm not gonna be able to lift it, but..." Red X waved his left hand quickly, causing a large metallic X to burst out from his palm and slam into the girder. The speed and force of the X knocked the girder backwards by several feet, forcing it off of the trapped man. "You probably can't get up on your own... don't worry, I'm going to help you."
As Red X walked over to the man, the man's eyes turned wide with fear. Red X stopped, wondering if perhaps his reputation as a thief extended to the man he'd just saved, and if the man actually thought that he was in danger. But in reality, it was Red X who was in danger. The girder just above his head had been dislodged from the ceiling and was now plummeting toward him.
"LOOK OUT!" shouted the man, prompting Red X to look up and roll out of the way, just moments before the girder came down on the concrete floor with a loud crash, cracking the ground in several places. When X looked behind him, he was amazed to see a pale-skinned girl with light pink hair, smiling at him from behind the fallen girder.
"Looks like your luck hasn't quite run out yet," replied the girl, in a sinister tone. "But it's just about to!"
The girl fired a blast of pink energy at the fallen girder, which skidded along the ground before slamming into Red X's legs, knocking him clear off his feet and to the floor.
"Who... the hell... are you?" stammered Red X, rubbing his now-bruised back as he stood up and saw the pink-haired girl now floating in the air in front of him. By now, the man whom Red X had just saved had decided that he wanted no part of this encounter, and was crawling out of the large room, finding the first emergency exit that he could and making his escape.
"I'm Jinx," replied the girl, mischievously placing her finger to her lips. "You might remember me from earlier... you remember that little trip you took just before the earthquake, right?"
Red X's eyes widened under the mask. His foot had fallen into a crack in the sidewalk... which Jinx, hiding in a nearby alley and completely unseen by the thief, had created. She'd had no idea that X was carrying a seismic generator that would cause a large earthquake to take out nearly 25,000 square feet of the city... but it's the kind of thing that one would expect to happen, considering Jinx's penchant for bad luck.
X's hands clenched into fists, but before he could attack, Jinx created another crack in the ground, right under the thief's feet. He fell again, and was immediately bombarded by more pink energy waves, which he quickly blocked by creating a large, metallic X to shield his body. The pink waves slammed into the shield and were deflected up to the ceiling, causing two more girders to fall and slam into the ground. One of them was right above Jinx's head, and she, like Red X, had to slide out of the way at the last minute.
"Now who's the one not having the best luck?" taunted Red X, standing up and firing an exploding X at Jinx's stomach. The X slammed into her, knocking her back and causing her to let out a scream. She quickly recovered, but instead of attacking Red X again, she turned to flee the room... and bumped right into Cyborg.
"Funny seeing you here," said Cyborg, leveling the business end of his blaster at Jinx's head. "And bad luck in an earthquake zone is definitely not what anyone needs right now."
Realizing that she was outnumbered and outmatched, Jinx quickly raised her hands to the ceiling and shot out a large blast of pink energy. The blast triggered the fall of the rest of the girders, and the subsequent collapse of the entire ceiling, an event that caught both Red X and Cyborg completely by surprised. As a huge cloud of dust and debris filled the room, Jinx took advantage of the chaos and escaped quickly, while the roof came collapsing down on the two unfortunate souls left inside.
"That ain't good!" thought Cyborg, immediately crouching to protect himself from the debris.
"Azarath, metreon, zinthos!"
A wave of black energy swept across the room, clearing out all of the debris and leaving Red X and Cyborg both crouching down in what was now an open area, the light from the stars illuminating freely the large, roofless space. The two looked up to see Raven entering through the still-intact brick wall, her body glowing brightly with an aura that matched the color of the energy she'd used to save them both.
"What happened in here?" asked Raven as the two stood up and dusted themselves off.
"Nothing, the roof just collapsed on its own," said Red X, in a sarcastic tone matched only by Raven in her worst moments. "You most certainly didn't see the both of us almost getting killed by a pink-haired priss with skin as pale as yours."
"Jinx," said Raven simply, looking over at Cyborg, who confirmed with a nod.
"She took out the whole roof without even breaking a sweat," said Cyborg, looking down and checking the scanners on his arm. "There are a whole bunch of unstable buildings in this neighborhood because of the quake... the destruction that that girl could cause might be magnified a hundredfold!
"Which means that we've got to stop her, right?" asked Red X, rolling his eyes and putting his hands briefly behind his head. "Great... first I have to go after kitty, and now some crazy pink-haired bitch is running around having the best day of her life... and my mom and sis could still be in trouble! This day's certainly turned out wonderful..."
The sound of a motorcycle could clearly be heard nearby, and soon, the motorcycle could be seen by all three of the people in the destroyed room, moving down a nearby street and turning down an alley to reach the area where Raven, Cyborg, and Red X were standing. It was the T-Cycle, and it easily made its way out of the alley and onto the concrete foundation of the building, rapidly traversing the room and stopping just beside Cyborg and Red X. Robin quickly hopped off, not bothering to set the kickstand as he confronted Red X, an angry look on his face. The force with which Robin had dismounted the bike nearly knocked it over on top of Starfire, who hopped off of it and watched as it hit the ground on its side. She made a quick cry of surprise before turning in the direction of Robin and X, whom she could tell were about to have a very heated discussion.
"What the hell were you doing at the convention center?" shouted Robin, pointing his finger in X's face, "and exactly what did you steal that caused all this?"
"You know what I was doing," replied Red X with a chuckle, "and as for me causing all this... I think you've got your facts a bit mixed up. I tripped, and when I got up, there was an earthquake. The real person you oughta be looking for just got away."
"X is sorta right," said Cyborg, pointing up to where the roof once stood. "Jinx is back... she came here and attacked us before knocking down the roof and getting away."
Robin, like Cyborg, knew the ramifications of Jinx being on the loose in an area filled with unstable buildings and shaky ground. She was definitely capable of making an already bad situation into a horrific disaster... and unlike Red X, Jinx showed absolutely no qualms about hurting anyone.
"I'll help you guys go after her... she did try to take me out, I'm not letting her get away with that," said Red X, looking over at Starfire. "And besides... I can't enjoy myself knowing that this cutie might be in danger."
Starfire narrowed her eyes at Red X before turning to Robin and pointing up at the sky.
"I will scan for Jinx from the air..."
"So can I," said Raven, already floating a few inches above the ground.
"That leaves me, Cyborg, and X to search the ground, and look for any more people who might need our help," said Robin. "Also, we should probably try to find Terra and Beast Boy... wherever they are..."
O-O-O
The two of them were a short distance away, walking down the sidewalk and looking for any other buildings that may have collapsed. By now, emergency services had covered most of the area, and the vast majority of the injured had been found and were being tended to.
"We should probably try to find the others," said Terra, turning to Beast Boy. "Now that all these ambulances have arrived, we don't really need to cover as much ground as before."
Beast Boy nodded, just before seeing Starfire and Raven flying in from his left. They passed overhead, stopping above Beast Boy and Terra and waving down at them.
"Starfire! Raven!" Beast Boy called out, looking up at them and waving his hand. "We were just talking about finding you...
"Beast Boy, you and Terra should be on the lookout for Jinx," said Raven, causing Beast Boy to give a slight cry of surprise. "She's going around making trouble, and in this kind of environment, her powers are really dangerous."
"Raven is correct... Jinx does not have any idea of all the people she is harming with her actions," added Starfire. "She must be brought to justice before she does any more damage..."
"Beast Boy, maybe we should go with them," said Terra, pointing up at Raven and Starfire. "Both of us can fly, and with eight eyes in the air, finding Jinx might be a bit easier..."
"Right now, Robin, Cyborg, and X are searching an area of the city in that direction," said Raven, pointing to the area from which she and Starfire had just come. "You and Terra should probably keep searching around here... we'll meet up at the Value-Star Supermarket about a block north of here. If you find Jinx, call to the others."
Beast Boy nodded, and turned to Terra, who didn't seem to like Raven's idea very much, but decided to go along with it anyway. She reluctantly nodded, and Starfire and Raven took off, continuing to fly in the same direction.
"Raven gave me a great idea," said Beast Boy with a smile. "A supermarket's an awfully big place, I bet Jinx is in there... the only problem is, I don't know which way is-"
"North? This way," said Terra, pointing straight ahead. "The sun set to our left a couple hours ago, which means that straight ahead is north. When you've been around as much as I have, you kinda have to figure out some unusual ways to know where you're going."
"Ohhhhhhh... maybe you should lead the way then," said Beast Boy, as Terra quickly ran off down the sidewalk. Beast Boy followed, and within a few minutes, the two were in front of the supermarket, its wide windows and glass doors shattered by the force of the quake. Inside, several shelves had been knocked down, and there were literally tens of thousands of items scattered about the floor... the place was a total mess, though thankfully, there wasn't anyone inside... at least from what the two heroes could tell. "No sign of Jinx from outside..."
"Beast Boy... I'm gonna go around back to see if she might be behind the supermarket," said Terra, indicating an alley to the right that led behind the large building. "You should go inside and-"
"Already on it," said Beast Boy, noticing a large, still-intact produce display near the entrance of the store. "Meet you inside!"
Terra nodded, and with a smile, began walking toward the alley, briefly giggling at the thought of Beast Boy gorging himself in the produce aisle. Sure, there were much more important issues at hand than feeding one's face, but it was definitely nice to get an occasional respite from the trials and tribulations of the superhero life. For Terra, the chance to take a brief, mental break from what had been up to this point a sad, and at times a horrifying existence, was certainly something she desired as well... but for now, she had to find Jinx.
She was just about to turn into the alley when a pale hand clasped over her mouth, pulling her backward. Terra let out a loud, muffled scream, which only caused the hand over her mouth to press even tighter. Then, she heard a female voice.
"Guess this isn't your lucky day, huh?" came Jinx's voice, accompanied by another hand that grasped around Terra's arms, pinning them to her sides. "I don't know who you are, but I do know you'll make one valuable hostage..."
Terra was not going to let that happen, and quickly wrenched her right arm forward, out of Jinx's grasp. She then launched her elbow back, catching Jinx in the chest and causing the ground beneath the pink-haired girl to swell. Jinx was knocked away from Terra and pushed back, finally coming to a stop about twenty yards away at the end of the alley, flat on her back. Terra turned and faced Jinx, her fists clenched and her knees bent.
"You're not getting the jump on me that easily," said Terra, her eyes narrowing and glowing bright yellow. Jinx stood up and raised her arms, firing pink energy blasts at the buildings to the left and right of Terra. Before Terra could attack, she found herself buried in bricks that Jinx had loosened from both buildings. Jinx smiled slyly, just before Terra burst up from the bricks on a large swell of ground that she had formed underneath her. The bricks then lifted from the ground and came at Jinx like missiles, propelled by Terra's powers. Jinx swerved and ducked repeatedly to avoid the bricks, and was quickly forced to retreat when Terra leapt up off of her groundswell.
The ground came forward like a wave at Jinx, hitting her and throwing her backwards until she slammed into the front of a dumpster. Terra ran toward her, lifting up small rocks from the ground and flinging them at Jinx as she had done with the bricks. Jinx barely rolled out of the way, and the rocks hit the dumpster instead, denting and rupturing it in several places.
"No wonder the Titans didn't trust you," said Jinx, causing Terra to stop in her tracks just as she reached the vacant lot behind the supermarket, where Jinx was currently standing. "I heard all about it in the news, how you nearly destroyed the city with those powers of yours... you were Slade's apprentice, right?"
Terra clenched her teeth and ran at Jinx, who casually smiled and pointed at the dumpster. The dumpster fell over, dispensing all of its contents on top of Terra, burying her in muck and refuse.
"Don't listen to her, Terra..." thought the blonde girl, slowly picking herself up from the heap of trash, brushing food and dirt from her hair. "This is exactly what you did to try and make Raven angry... don't let her manipulate your mind, you have to FOCUS!"
"I lied earlier, when I said I didn't know who you were. I know exactly who you are, I've heard a lot about you."
"Then you'd know that I can do THIS!" shouted Terra, causing the ground beneath Jinx's feet to start to liquefy and pull her under. Jinx let out a loud scream, quickly firing another blast of pink energy at the ground beneath Terra. A large explosion of dirt and rock engulfed the blonde geomancer, allowing Jinx to pull herself up out of the ground and strike with a kick right at Terra's face. The kick came out of nowhere, impacting Terra's nose and sending her right to the ground, her back landing on a large pile of trash bags.
Terra retaliated quickly, lifting up several mounds of dirt from the ground and shaping them into hardened spikes of rock, which she then hurtled toward Jinx, aiming at her arms and legs. Jinx blasted the spikes with pink energy, destroying two and turning the other two into swords, which she then grabbed and swung furiously at Terra. Terra did a leaping backward somersault to avoid Jinx's slashes, clearing the pile of trash and positioning herself to strike back at her opponent. She uplifted the ground under the trash, causing it to fly forward and bury Jinx, just as she herself had been buried a minute before.
With a cry of rage, Jinx flew up out of the trash pile and blasted the ground near Terra several times, causing several more explosions that Terra was easily able to dodge. She continued leaping and walking backwards until she found herself backed up against a chain-link fence, and Jinx now knew she had the perfect opportunity.
"Say goodnight, dweeb," said Jinx, blasting the fence and giving it a powerful electric charge. Terra gasped and crumpled to her knees in front of the fence, grimacing in pain. "You know that it's never good luck to play around electric fences."
Terra looked up at Jinx, gritting her teeth as the girl got closer and closer. A bead of sweat trickled down Terra's face. She stared Jinx right in the eyes, determined to show that she wouldn't be intimidated.
"Get a little closer, Jinx..." thought Terra, the ground beneath her beginning to crack. "See what happens."
When Jinx was within a distance of four feet, the slab of ground underneath Terra burst upward, lifting Terra into the air and knocking Jinx off-balance, sending her to the ground on her back. As soon as Terra was about twenty feet in the air, she leapt backward off of the rock and sent it crashing downward, right on top of Jinx. It was too fast for Jinx to stop it, and she took a direct hit, the rock hitting her and smashing into pieces, burying her in dirt and pebbles. Terra landed in a grassy area about twenty-feet away, a rough landing, but a safe one. She looked over and saw Jinx in the vacant lot, still buried underneath the remnants of the huge slab of ground that had slammed into her.
Slowly, Jinx crawled out of the rubble, dusty and bruised but still very much able to fight. She looked at Terra and stood up, brushing herself off and clenching her teeth.
"That does it... no more Miss Nice Jinx... this fight is just BEGINNING!" shouted Jinx, just as Terra lifted up on a much smaller slab of rock.
"You're right, it is," said Terra, levitating to Jinx's level before rushing forward at her with amazing speed. She reared back her fist and prepared to strike Jinx in the face, but as she rushed past, Jinx ducked under her punch, and blasted the rock beneath Terra with a burst of energy. The rock immediately crumbled, and Terra fell flat on her face. Not wasting any time, Jinx rushed toward her fallen foe, stomping down at Terra's head. Terra grabbed Jinx by the ankle and attempted to tug her to the ground, only to have Jinx use her other foot to kick Terra in the side, sending her rolling several feet.
Terra stood up and through another punch, which this time was successful, striking Jinx in the side of the face. Jinx stumbled back, then rushed forward and attempted to headbutt Terra in the chest. Terra dodged to the side, turning around and striking Jinx in the back with her elbow.
"Uggggggggggnnnnggggh..." groaned Terra, quickly grabbing her elbow and falling to one knee as burning pain began to shoot through her arm. "My nerve... aaaaaggggh..."
"Dont'cha hate when that happens?" Jinx taunted, turning around while rubbing her back with her left forearm. "I bet you'll hate this even more!"
Jinx launched a quick, cruel kick that struck Terra right in the same place on her elbow, causing her already frayed nerve to issue forth another sharp wave of excruciating pain. Terra let out a loud scream and collapsed to the ground, rolling on her side as her entire right arm was rendered temporarily unusable.
"And that's really unlucky," said Jinx, her hands on her hips as she watched Terra roll about on the ground for several seconds, her face twisted in agony. "Now, how am I gonna finish you?"
"You're NOT!" shouted Terra, thrusting her other arm forward and causing a slab of ground underneath Jinx to tilt backward, knocking her off her feet and causing her to land hard on the ground... on both elbows.
The sudden jolt of pain triggered a scream from Jinx, who, like Terra, began rolling on the ground as the nerves in her arms triggered a wave of pain that made Jinx briefly feel as if she would vomit. By now, the pain in Terra's arm had subsided, and she slowly began making her way to her feet, while Jinx lay on the ground with her arms clenched tightly to her body, gritting her teeth to try and make the pain go away.
"Hey!" shouted Beast Boy, emerging from the back of the supermarket and standing in the doorway of one of the market's emergency exits, not expecting to see Terra standing victoriously over a grimacing, groaning Jinx. "Whoa... tell me I didn't just miss the whole fight..."
"You didn't..." said Jinx quietly, standing up and blasting the door next to Beast Boy with a blast of pink energy. Suddenly, the large, metallic door swung back, right into Beast Boy's face. He was sent flying back into the room from which he'd came, most likely with a bloody nose from the force of the door having slammed into it. Jinx turned around, only to see Terra's fist flying straight at her forehead. The punch nearly knocked Jinx senseless, but she managed to maintain her footing long enough to bring up her knee into Terra's gut, knocking the wind out of her long enough for Jinx to dash back into the store, using a different door than the one she'd blasted Beast Boy back into. As Terra stood in the vacant lot, gasping and trying to catch her breath, a feeling of dread came over her as she realized that she just allowed Jinx to escape.
"Dammit!" cried Terra, running to the door Jinx had used and trying to rip it open. The door was now locked... obviously a result of Jinx's manipulation. Just before she resorted to ripping away the walls around the door, Beast Boy poked his head out of the supermarket's other back entrance, his nose bandaged up as he gestured for Terra to follow him.
"Jinx went back in the store, we gotta go catch her! Hurry!"
Terra nodded and ran over to Beast Boy, hoping that the two could catch up to Jinx before it was too late.
O-O-O
Meanwhile, Jinx was casually strolling up to the destroyed front of the supermarket, a smile on her face, even though her body was covered in dirt and muck from the fact that she'd been hit not only by a huge slab of rock, but by a bunch of trash as well.
"That was almost as fun as destroying a building," said Jinx, her right hand beginning to glow with pink energy. "That reminds me..."
Jinx turned around and pointed her palm up at the ceiling of the supermarket... no sense in letting the opportunity to destroy it go to waste. Just before she could fire, a green Starbolt slammed into the back of her hand. Jinx let out a yelp and turned around... to see Starfire and Raven staring her down, both of them with serious looks on their faces.
"Your reign of destruction is over, and now we are going to take you to jail," said Starfire, her green eyes aglow. Jinx growled and took a step back, into one of the aisles that had been only slightly littered by the quake.
"You can't take what you can't catch," said Jinx, "and let's see you try to catch me after I do THIS!"
Jinx extended her arms and fired a wave of pink energy into both racks of items in the aisle, causing every single canister, bottle, and jar to explode violently, their contents rushing forward at Starfire and Raven. Before either could get out of the way, they both found themselves completely covered in an amalgam of baby powder, baby food, applesauce, marshmellow cream, and practically any other disgusting substance that a person could find in a supermarket.
Starfire simply stood in shock for several seconds, blinking her eyes, while Raven cleaned herself up with one swipe of her powers, causing the goo and muck covering her body to simply fall to the floor.
"Star, let's go," said Raven, flying forward into the aisle, which, because of the exploding baby powder, had become an environment of choking, blinding fog. Jinx had already made her escape, navigating through the fog into another area of the market, with the memory of Raven and Starfire covered in the contents of all those jars and cans still fresh in her mind.
"What idiots," Jinx said to herself, wiping her eyes and giggling as she made her way down an aisle of sports drinks and juices. "By the time they've cleaned up, I'll be long g-"
Jinx's next words were a series of shouts, muffled by a red X that had been pasted over her mouth. The thief had been leaning against a display of Atlas-Ade and had been watching Jinx for several seconds before deciding to make his move.
"Now when you can learn to play nice and not laugh at the misfortunes of others, I'll take that X off your mouth," said Red X, who then let out a chuckle. "By the way, what I just did... that was pretty funny..."
Jinx frantically reached up and tried to remove the X from her mouth, but found it far too sticky to even begin to peel the sides. Failing in that, she ran at Red X, angrily punching and kicking at him with little success. He easily dodged her blows, before leaping back and firing another X at her, this one forming into cables that would hopefully bind Jinx's arms. She reached out and blasted the X with pink energy, causing it to backfire and bind Red X's arms instead.
"Shit," Red X grumbled, suddenly feeling a mosquito bite into his shoulder. "Double shit."
He began struggling, and it was a few seconds before he finally managed to extend one of his wrist blades. "Really should've seen that coming..."
Jinx again began to laugh, despite the fact that it was muffled by her X-shaped gag. Suddenly, she could feel someone tapping on her shoulder, and instinctively turned around.
For the second time that day, she was staring straight into the barrel of Cyborg's energy cannon.
"I'd tell you to say goodbye, but... ya know, the X and all..."
A blue energy blast slammed into Jinx's chest, sending her flying all the way back down the aisle.
"BOOYAH!" shouted Cyborg, turning to Red X, who had just freed himself from his own X-bands.
"Nice one," said Red X, giving Cyborg a thumbs-up and looking down the aisle to see if Jinx had gotten up yet. Unfortunately, she had gotten up... and had again disappeared, having made her way into yet another aisle of the supermarket.
"I swear, those Titans follow me everywhere..." thought Jinx, running back into the store's produce area, no longer caring that she still had an X pasted over her face. "I'm not gonna embarrass myself like the rest of the Hive already did... I'll come back and take care of those Titans some other time!"
Out of nowhere, a kick struck Jinx right in the side of her face, knocking her backward into a large stack of oranges. She landed on her back, several of the oranges having burst underneath her, staining her cloak with tangy citrus juice.
"It's over, Jinx," said Robin, standing over the fallen, pink-haired villainess.
"Mmmph hmmrrrrrrrph, mmmmmgh mmmph hmmm mmmmmmm!" shouted Jinx, before letting out a loud growl of frustration, narrowing her eyes, and with all of her strength, ripping the X off of her mouth. "I SAID, it's not over until I SAY it is!"
Jinx raised her hands and blasted the display of celery behind Robin... causing all of the sprinklers mounted above to spray Robin with water. His cape and the back of his head now doused, Robin maintained the same calm, serious, and angry look on his face, while Jinx, realizing she'd been defeated, now bore an extremely nervous grin. With one punch, Robin KOed Jinx, sprawling her out next to the large display of oranges.
He was soon approached by Raven and the still-messy Starfire, followed just a few seconds later by Cyborg and Red X.
"Wow," said Red X, reaching up to wipe some of the baby food from Starfire's face. "Even when you're messy, you're still cute."
Starfire narrowed her eyes... before smiling and starting to giggle.
"Sometimes, Sanza, you are just... how do you say... too much," she thought, using her hands to wring some of the food from her hair, still giggling slightly.
A few more seconds later, and Beast Boy and Terra arrived, rushing in from the back of the store. Upon seeing that Jinx had been knocked out, Beast Boy let out a groan.
"Now did I miss the whole fight?" groaned Beast Boy, his shoulders slumping. Terra smiled and began to nod.
"Yeah, Beast Boy, I think you did..." Terra replied, looking around at the other Titans, who, like her, were smiling. "But as for me... I'm glad all of this is finally over."
O-O-O
A few minutes later, a police squad had arrived to take Jinx off to jail. The Titans, and Red X, looked on from the sidewalk in front of the destroyed supermarket.
"I'm surprised you didn't ask for those police to take me away too," Red X said, casually leaning against one of the windowpanes. "Especially after how mad you were at me just a while ago."
"If you hadn't helped us out today, I probably would have," replied Robin, still shooting a serious look at Red X. "And don't think you're off the hook yet... something was up at the convention center, and I want to know exactly what that something is."
The device Red X had stolen had caused an earthquake... military or not, the thief knew that it certainly wasn't something that one would normally find at a technology expo. There was something afoot... and X couldn't help but think that the security guard who had tried to take him out at the convention center was someone he'd seen before... in a much different capacity.
He needed to do something to jog his memory... maybe take a trip... another trip to Titans Tower.
"Tell you what. I'll come back with you guys and give you my theory about what's going on. If you don't wanna believe me, I don't blame you, but I'd definitely like to know why something I stole from a stupid technology expo nearly destroyed the entire city."
"Actually... you did not destroy the entire city... there was a fairly small area of destruction, about five blocks out from the epicenter of the quake," said Starfire. "At the tower, we did not feel a thing."
Starfire's words were certainly news to Red X, who had been sure that the earthquake he'd felt was big enough to affect the entire city. That's how earthquakes worked, right? At least it's what he had been taught in science class... if the quake only affected a five-block radius from where he'd fallen, then his family, several blocks outside the radius... his family was safe.
Without saying a word, Red X ran over to Starfire and gave her a tight hug. Her eyes widened, but she didn't push Red X away... only gave him a quizzical look when he finally did let her go.
"I... wouldn't have done that," said Raven, observing that Starfire was still covered in everything that had been sprayed onto her when Jinx had triggered the huge food explosion.
"...we'd better just get to the tower," said Red X, walking away from Starfire and toward the T-Car, which Cyborg had parked in the supermarket's lot. The Titans followed him, and Terra shot him one last quizzical look as the group piled into the T-Car, with Robin and Starfire hopping onto Robin's T-Cycle.
"Okay, first he's a badass, and now he's hugging people?" thought Terra, scooting into the back seat of the T-Car between Beast Boy and Red X. "I have got to know who's behind that mask..."
O-O-O
The meeting that Robin had scheduled with Red X and the other Titans would have to wait while Starfire and Terra both took showers. While Terra was taking her own shower, Red X was feeling the effects of the cabbage dinner he'd had just a few hours earlier, and was forced to wait outside while Terra cleaned the smell of the trash that Jinx had dumped onto her off of her body.
He leaned against the wall just outside the bathroom, and as Terra came out, wrapped in a towel, X immediately turned and tried to get in. The two ended up bumping into one another, and Terra nearly dropped her towel.
"Sorry about that... should've let you go by first," said Red X, briefly observing Terra's figure before looking back up at her face.
"I saw that," replied Terra, raising her hand to slap Red X, before her calmer side prevailed and she slowly lowered her arm to her side. "What... what are you-"
"Waiting for you to get done so I could go in there," said Red X, who, while having had many a bathroom confrontation with Maddy over the years, had not quite learned the proper rules of bathroom etiquette.
"Oh," replied Terra, slowly stepping out of the way so that Red X could go inside. He started to go into the bathroom, but stopped in the doorway, turning back toward Terra and looking into her eyes. "...eh?"
"I promised I'd show you who I was, didn't I?" said Red X, lifting up his hand to remove his mask. "All the other Titans know who I am... I figure I might as well let her know, before somebody, probably Beast Boy, goes and tells her anyway..."
"I... I assumed you didn't want me to-"
"I trust you," interrupted Red X, slowly lifting the mask from his head and revealing his true face... as well as his true name. "I'm Sanza... Sanza Salazar. You can call me that when I'm not wearing the mask."
Terra's reaction was one of surprise... Sanza looked a bit younger than she had expected him to be, though at the same time, she realized that he was probably a bit older than Beast Boy. His face and hair made him almost resemble a darker version of Robin... though Robin's hair was significantly spikier.
"He's cute..." thought Terra, briefly reaching up to brush her hand across Sanza's cheek, though again, she pulled it back before actually achieving contact with his face. "Maybe even cuter than..."
"I'll tell you the story of how I got the suit some other time... well, actually, I guess you know how I got it. You must know. I took it from the Titans while me and my sis were visiting their tower. That's why Robin's so pissed off at me all the time, this was his suit."
"Well... I don't blame him, I'd be mad too if somebody came into my home and took my stuff..." but instead of being angry or judgmental, Terra's tone was casual... and she was smiling. "May I ask why you stole the suit?"
"If I can ask why you betrayed the Titans," said Sanza, quickly causing Terra to recoil. It was not a question Terra had expected, and something far too personal for her to talk about, especially with someone she'd just met. The smile disappeared from her face, and her eyes widened. "Terra, Slade tried to get me to be his apprentice too. He saw that I had this suit and came after my family, but even after he'd kidnapped them, I still told Slade to fuck off. What's your excuse?"
Terra didn't know whether to be angry at Sanza... she wanted to slap him again, while at the same time, she wanted to burst into tears. He'd asked her a confrontational, personal, hurtful question... right after he'd introduced himself to her. The tone of the conversation had changed so quick, and it felt like Terra's head was about to start spinning.
"I... I don't have an excuse," said Terra, hanging her head briefly before looking back up at Sanza. "I don't have a family, and... and at the time that I attacked the Titans, I... I didn't even think that I had any friends. I had nothing to lose by going along with him, and... and I..."
"You were scared of him," replied Sanza, his tone easing up slightly, almost apologetic as he spoke his next words. "I know what that's like, Terra... I was scared of him too."
And with that, Sanza turned and went into the bathroom, closing the door and leaving Terra standing out in the hallway, the cool air blowing across her wet, towel-clad body. She could only wonder what Sanza had meant when he'd said those words. Was he attacking her? Was he angry with her? Or was he just trying to sympathize her? One thing was clear... the more that Sanza talked to Terra, the more that she wanted to find out about who he truly was.
O-O-O
Inside the main room of Titans Tower, where all the Titans had gathered, Robin knew that he was about to find out what Jump City's real latest threat was. It wasn't from Jinx, and it wasn't from Red X... as much as he wanted to believe it was. He was sure that that security guard back at the convention center had something to do with it...
He just didn't know how right he was. It was in the bathroom that Red X had had his epiphany... he'd finally figured out where he'd seen that security guard before. It was the first thing out of his mouth when he walked into the main room of Titans Tower.
"There was a man at that convention center I stole from... a security guard who tried to kill me with a military robot."
"This we know," said Raven, pointing at Robin. "Robin told us. He and Starfire talked to the guy-"
"That guy was one of the people that I heard talking... the people I heard talking about using the Crisis Crystal to revive Terra."
The mention of Terra's name caused her to gasp, her hand immediately going to her mouth.
"The guy that brought Terra back... that guy that mutated into a monster, was he in the room too?" asked Beast Boy. Red X nodded.
"He and the man that blew up on the ship... and three others," said Red X. "They were going to use Terra to destroy the city... so that they could then rebuild it and collect all the money off of the building contracts."
It didn't take any of the Titans long to put two and two together... and it was the brilliant detective Robin, who, as he always did, came to the realization of what exactly was going on.
"Those six men must still be trying to destroy the city... and that device you stole to create an earthquake must have been part of their plan!"
The men were going to use Terra first... this did not sit well with the blonde geomancer, and she stood up from the couch where she was sitting, her knees trembling.
"I... I need to... need to get some water, or something," said Terra, looking around at the others briefly before slowly walking out of the room. Beast Boy attempted to stop her by taking her shoulder, but she pulled away from him and quickly exited the room, walking down a hallway and disappearing from sight.
"Terra, wait!" shouted Beast Boy, who also rose from the couch and ran after Terra, hoping that it wouldn't be too late to console her. He knew that she wouldn't take the news about her being revived just to be used as a weapon very well, which is exactly why he hadn't told her... but unfortunately, Red X had just let the cat out of the bag.
"I think I said something wrong," said Red X. Almost immediately, Robin shook his head.
"No... no, you said exactly the right thing... and now we know exactly what we need to do, team."
"Just like when we went after the Crystal... but this time, we can't be too late!" said Cyborg, standing up and pumping his fists. Robin turned to Red X, walking over and staring him right in the eyes.
"X... as much animosity as we've had recently, you... you've really been a big help going after these guys, and I'd really like it if you could help us bring the rest of them down," said Robin, once again offering his hand for Red X to shake. Red X looked down at Robin's hand and, without even a second to think, shook his head. "What? Why?"
"If I told you once, I told you a thousand times, Robin. I don't like playing the hero. Besides, there are six Titans now. You've DEFINITELY got this one covered."
Red X knew well the danger that these men posed to the city... and, consequently, his family. He knew that the Titans had been mostly unsuccessful last time, and had he not gone to Terra's statue when he did, she'd probably still be controlled by Dr. Ruell at this very moment. But Red X wanted nothing more than to be alone... he was going to go after these guys, but he was going to do it his own way. He took orders from no one, not Slade, or Robin, or anyone else.
"What about your family!" shouted Robin, as Red X casually walked toward the tower's entrance. "These guys are threatening the entire city!"
"A while ago, you didn't want anything to do with me," said Red X, triggering the front door of the Tower to slide open. "Now you're practically begging me to help you. That's pathetic, kid, and you know it."
Before Robin could say another word, he felt Cyborg's cold hand on his shoulder. He turned around and saw his friend slowly shaking his head.
"Let him go, man," said Cyborg, right as Red X walked out the door. "He's right... we've got this covered. There's six of us and four of them. We wouldn't be the Teen Titans if we couldn't stop a plan to destroy the city."
Starfire too was sad to see Red X leave... the brief time when they'd worked together to take down Slade had been, if not the most peaceful time in Starfire's life, then certainly one of the happiest. No matter what, she always maintained the belief that deep down inside Red X was a good, kind person... and she would never give up that belief, no matter what.
No one who fought that hard to protect their family could be evil... and she knew that even if Red X wasn't working with the Titans to stop the threat against Jump City, that he would still be fighting to keep the city, and his family safe.
O-O-O
There were four more people who knew Red X would be fighting to keep the city safe... and they wanted him stopped. As soon as possible.
"Very soon, the three seismic generators will be in place, and the city will be torn in half," said Nicholas Jarvin, as he looked down at three objects similar to the one that Red X had stolen, now laid out on the long, wooden table in the Mycoso Building's top floor meeting room.
"We've already got contractors lined up to repair the part of town damaged by tonight's quake," said Frederick Dullahan, a wide smile on his face. "Amazing how things work out sometimes..."
"Red X did us a favor... but he still pisses me off!" shouted Lonnie Jarvin, pounding his fist on the table. "What if he'd stolen the real generators, all that planning right down the toilet! He's gonna try to stop us... I know he is, that little punk..."
It was then that Sedaris, normally silent and unmoving during the meeting sessions, began walking toward the podium toward the back of the room, his fingers starting to work the keyboard mounted on top of the podium. Dullahan knew exactly what he was doing, but neither of the Jarvins had heard about anything that Sedaris had been up to.
"I'd like to know what your bodyguard is doing up there," said Jarvin Sr., an annoyed look on his face. "I hope he's not over there looking up pornography."
Sedaris chuckled slightly, then began to speak.
"I did something much more fun," said Sedaris, his fingers working the keyboard for several more seconds, before stopping. The monitor displayed a blank screen, which only brought more puzzlement to both the elder and younger Jarvins. "I tracked Red X to a supermarket, where he and the Titans were fighting one of the local rogues. While he was fighting, I sent in a tiny probe, disguised as an ordinary mosquito, to take a small sample of his DNA. From that sample, I was able to discover Red X's exact identity. Gentlemen, feast your eyes on the face of the enemy."
Sedaris pressed 'Enter' on the keyboard, and the blank screen was quickly replaced an image of Sanza Salazar, namely, the picture from his school ID. Next to the picture were all of Sanza's vitals... height, weight, his age, his blood type, his religion, his interests, and the names of his friends and loved ones. Sedaris had produced Sanza's life, right there on the monitor for all four men to see.
"Sanza Salazar," said Jarvin Sr., his eyes narrowing. "A high-school kid managed to kill Dr. Ruell and steal some of my best tech."
"I... I can't believe this!" shouted Jarvin Jr., angrily rising from the table. "I'm not gonna let our empire be destroyed by some goddamn kid!"
"Calm down, calm down..." said Dullahan, his fingers interlocking below his chin, his lips curving into an evil smile. "He's not going to destroy anything... because gentlemen, we're about to make Sanza Salazar's life a living hell."
O-O-O
Uh oh, that is NOT good for Sanza... or for Jump City. It's a race against time for the Teen Titans, while for Red X, it's a dangerous game where he'll have to watch over his shoulder every second... and he doesn't even know it yet! The excitement continues in the next chapter of Maiden of Stone!