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
Every moment of the twelve mile trip from the Salazars' apartment to the Laredo processing building outside of Jump City was horrifying for Cleo, who was completely helpless as the two men sitting in her back seat directed her every move. With the knife to her throat, Cleo couldn't even turn her head to signal to other drivers on the street that she was in trouble... though the zip ties holding her wrists to the steering wheel were nearly impossible to see in the darkness, and the clear tape that had been placed over her mouth was completely invisible from the outside.
All Cleo could do was follow the instructions as best she could... though she knew that the farther away from the city she drove, the more danger she was in. Tears fell down the sides of her face nearly the entire trip, an involuntary reaction to the sheer terror that she was feeling. The men ignored Cleo's tears and occasional sobs, continuing to direct her every turn, while constantly reminding her of the danger she was in if she deviated from their instructions in any way.
After about a half-hour of driving, the men had directed Cleo to turn her vehicle onto a state highway leading east from the city.
"In a few minutes, you're gonna see a dirt road leading to the right of the highway. Get on that road and keep going until we tell you to stop."
"These men are leading me out into the middle of nowhere..." thought Cleo, her tear-filled eyes fixed on the road ahead of her. "That could only mean one thing... oh, god... I'm too young to die like this..."
Again, Cleo began to sob, and the man behind her, the one still holding the knife to her throat, let out a tiny chuckle. The man seated next to him gently nudged his partner in the side, letting him know that he should be focusing on the task at hand.
"You heard what the boss said," said the man in the rear passenger seat, his eyes narrowed under his ski mask. "Don't be goofing around."
"I know what I'm doing. Don't worry, we've only got a little more to go until we reach the plant. I'm taking this just as seriously as you are."
Cleo could barely hear the whispered voices of the men behind her, but the words that she did manage to pick up gave her far more questions than answers.
"Boss? Plant? I thought these two were just a couple of rapists... what the hell are these guys talking about?" thought Cleo, her mind racing to figure out just what she'd gotten herself into. "This... this doesn't have anything to do with helping Sanza out today, does it?"
Cleo's thoughts had almost caused her to miss her turn, but she managed to spot the dirt road just in time, steering the car to the right quickly enough to make the tires squeal. As she began the long drive down the dirt road that she'd been instructed to turn onto, the man behind her slammed his fist into the back of the chair, causing her to let out a muffled yelp.
"You tryin' to get the cops on us?" shouted the man behind Cleo. The proximity of the knife to Cleo's neck made her reluctant to shake her head, so she tried emoting a 'no' as well as she could through the tape over her lips. "You heard what I said, bitch. I hear sirens, and your ass is dead. We don't need you alive, so just remember that. When you get to a fork in the road, turn left and keep going until you reach a fence. The fence'll open and then you just keep going straight until you get inside a garage. We'll handle everything from there."
More tears stung Cleo's eyes, and she began trembling in her seat, completely baffled as to what her two captors were going to do with her once they got into the 'garage' that they spoke of. She could only take comfort in knowing that there were people who missed her... her parents, her friends... someone would notify the police about this, someone would know that Cleo was missing. But even if they did know... could they ever find her?
Cleo followed the men's instructions perfectly, turning and continuing along until her car reached a large, barbed-wire fence. She had pulled in front of a metal gate, and as the gate opened, she could see the man in the guard station looking right at her and smiling. Clearly, someone was expecting her... there were more people in on this little kidnapping than she ever thought possible.
As soon as she pulled into the garage, a large, enclosed structure that could probably fit about twenty cars the size of hers inside, the large door closed behind her, trapping her and her car inside. One of the men leaned forward and turned the key in the ignition, switching off the engine and the headlights and leaving Cleo in complete darkness. The knife was lowered from her throat, and the two men climbed out of the car. As Cleo sat in the driver's seat, her wrists tightly bound to the steering wheel, she struggled for several seconds before realizing that these bonds wouldn't be nearly so easily escapable as those that some of the kids she babysat used on her. The plastic flex cuffs were secured tightly enough to nearly cut off her circulation, and Cleo soon resigned herself to her situation, her head drooping in the confines of her darkened car.
A few seconds later, a bright light illuminated the garage, and Cleo could see the two men who had abducted her standing about twenty feet away, speaking with a young man who appeared to be in his mid-20s. It took a few seconds, but Cleo slowly began to recognize the man that her abductors were speaking to... she'd seen him several times in the news, standing next to his famous businessman father.
"Is that... is that Lonnie Jarvin?" thought Cleo, her fear briefly replaced with shock at seeing one of the richest men in Jump City looking right at her. "What's he doing with...?"
The young man slowly approached the car, while the two men in ski masks exited the garage through a pair of double-glass doors in the back. He walked up to Cleo's driver-side window, tapping his index finger on the glass several times to get her attention.
"Hey. Hey, girl... ya know, I really didn't think you'd be this cute..."
Lonnie opened the door and continued staring at Cleo, a lustful grin forming on his face. She recoiled in her seat as much as she could, a half-angry, half-fearful expression on her face. Was this guy serious?
"I'm sure we're gonna have lots of fun together over the next few hours, but first, there's something I gotta do," Lonnie said, withdrawing something from one of the pockets of his blazer. He had taken out a thick white cloth, which he normally used as a handkerchief, holding it in the palm of his right hand while using his left to pour a small amount of liquid from a bottle that he'd taken out of his other blazer pocket. Cleo could briefly see the label on the bottle, and she didn't like what she read... chloroform!
Before Cleo could resist, Lonnie had pressed the cloth against her nose and mouth. With her lips sealed by the tape, Cleo had to get all of her air through her nose... and after letting out just one stifled scream, she passed out, her head slumping downward against the steering wheel of the car.
Her last thoughts as she passed out were of Sanza... and whether she would regret having helped him earlier that day. Though she didn't know it at the time, Cleo was about to have that question answered for her, in a very painful fashion.
O-O-O
Maddalena Salazar woke up on the morning of her twelfth birthday with a bright smile on her face, and wide, cheerful eyes.
Less than a second later, she was screaming. Her brother was leaning over her from the side of her bed, an equally bright smile on his own face. Before he could say 'happy birthday', Maddy had curled up in her blankets and was pressed against the headboard of her bed, gasping and angrily pointing at Sanza.
"Don't ever scare me like that!" shouted Maddy, her finger inches away from the bridge of Sanza's nose. "That's no way to wish your sister a happy birthday and you know it!"
"Mom told me to come wake you up, it's ten-thirty and we're leaving for the party at noon," Sanza replied, still wearing a smile on his face. "You should be happy, it's your twelfth birthday."
"You're trying to ruin it already, you stupid cabron!" said Maddy, slowly climbing out of bed. She landed on her feet across from Sanza, her pink nightgown ruffled by the movements she'd been making in her sleep. "How long have you been in here staring at me?"
"Like five minutes," replied Sanza, though it had actually been less than thirty seconds. He got an immediate groan from Maddy, who walked over to her dresser and began leafing through the drawers for the outfit she wanted to wear that day. "By the way, Maddy, isn't twelve a little bit too old to be having a birthday at Chuck E. Cheese? Ya know, talking animal robots are usually designed for the amusement of five-year-olds."
Maddy said nothing to Sanza, pulling out a yellow and blue sundress and holding it out a couple of feet in front of her face. She laid it down on the bed and placed her hands on her hips, obviously waiting for Sanza to leave the room. When he continued staring at her, she rolled her eyes and began removing her nightgown.
"C'mon, get out, you pervert," said Maddy, peeking at Sanza over the pulled-up collar of her nightgown, which she'd lifted up just enough to begin displaying her panties. "...I said-"
"You're not going to take that off with me in here," replied Sanza, smirking at Maddy. With a loud sigh, she lowered her nightgown and began staring at him again.
"...what do you want, Sanza!" Maddy shouted, frustration clearly evident in her voice. Sanza glared at her a few seconds more before finally beginning to speak.
"I just wanted to tell you happy birthday," replied Sanza, finally starting toward his sister's door, "without you yelling at me. So... yeah, happy birthday."
"...whatever," replied Maddy, waiting until Sanza had left and had shut the door behind him before finally starting to change out of her nightgown once more. "Weirdo."
O-O-O
While it was a day of recreation and celebration for Maddy, her mother, and her brother, for the Titans it would be a race against time to try and stop the plans of the men who wished to destroy the city. Robin, the Titans' leader, had remembered well the optimal locations where one would place a seismic generator, as the hallucinations that he'd once experienced of Slade were still fresh in his mind. He'd split up the six Titans into three groups of two in order to scout out the generators' locations... Beast Boy with Terra, Cyborg with Raven, and Starfire with himself.
Last time, it had been merely a wild goose chase... but this time, the generators and the threat to the city were real. The stakes had never been higher... Jump City could be destroyed by a cataclysmic earthquake at any time.
"We have arrived at the bridge, the exact location of one of the fault lines that run under the city," said Starfire, as she and Robin walked up to a tall, grassy hill just a few dozen feet away from one of the bridge's land-based support pillars. She too remembered the experience of Robin's hallucinations, as she had been one of the people most adversely affected by his reaction. "Robin, I do not wish to doubt you, but the last time we searched for seismic generators..."
"This is different, Starfire," said Robin, walking over the crest of the hill and down toward the support pillar, keeping his eyes open and his mind focused to search for any blinking lights or pieces of metal, telltale signs that something had been planted nearby. "This time, I'm not just hallucinating... this time, what we're looking for is real."
Robin had never quite forgiven himself for the way he'd treated his friends the night of those hallucinations. He'd attacked all of them... he'd hurt Starfire, having blamed her for letting Slade escape. She accepted his apology, of course, but he still felt a twinge of guilt every time the memories of that day entered his head.
"I understand," replied Starfire, staying close to Robin as the two approached the pillar, keeping her eyes open as well. "I cannot see anything yet... perhaps it has been buried?"
"Only one way to find out," said Robin, withdrawing a spherical device from his utility belt and setting it down onto the grass. The device, made of metal painted in bright yellow and red, gave a short series of beeping noises before extending two small, metallic probes into the ground and radiating a pulse of energy outward from the probes. "This should be able to detect anything buried in the ground... we'll find out in a minute or two."
Starfire nodded, and sat down on the ground, her legs crossed, her palms clasping over her knees. Robin walked over and sat down next to her, staring off into the distance at the bridge spanning Jump City Bay.
"It is... beautiful," said Starfire, her eyes also gazing at the bridge, though her true mental focus was on Robin, and by commenting on the bridge, she was actually trying to strike up a conversation with him. "I just hope that we can stop the people who are trying to destroy this city... so that things as beautiful as that bridge can remain standing for all who wish to see it."
"We'll stop them, Starfire," said Robin, keeping his eyes on the bridge, though his hands were shifting slightly, and he was bringing one of them over to Starfire. Before he could take her hand, she took the initiative, her right hand lifting from her knee and clasping around Robin's left hand, her fingers interlocking with his. "It's just a matter of time now."
She gave a quiet nod and continued staring out at the bridge with Robin, waiting for the device he'd placed to detect the seismic generator... wherever it was.
O-O-O
Cyborg and Raven had been sent downtown to the Jump City Museum... that left the pier for Beast Boy and Terra, who weren't in too much of a hurry as they made their way out to the area. Unlike Robin, who was all business as he went out to the bridge with Starfire, neither Beast Boy nor Terra were all that concerned about finding the seismic generator, though they did realize the seriousness of the situation.
"They just repaired this place a few months ago..." said Beast Boy, noticing the spot on the wooden pier that had been patched up after having been wrecked by having the Fireball ride thrown onto into by Cinderblock. "We fought a couple of Slade's minions here and they really trashed the whole pier, but fortunately we managed to take 'em out before anybody got hurt."
"Was that... was that when Slade was going after Red X?" asked Terra. She and Beast Boy walked over to an area of benches and sat down at one of them so that they could talk a little bit more.
"Yeah... I think I mighta told you about that... or maybe he did... I'm not sure, X did talk to you though, right?"
"A little bit," replied Terra, still remembering what Sanza had told her about his own history with Slade. The thought of Slade took the smile off Terra's face, and she placed her elbows on the table, her chin leaning against her hands. "He... he hasn't come back like Red X, has he?"
"We... we really haven't seen Slade in a long time," said Beast Boy. As he was talking, he briefly looked out over the pier to make sure that the generator wasn't nearby... while knowing that he and Terra should probably be doing an aerial scan of the entire area. "He hasn't popped up in a few months... Robin thinks he might be the one behind this whole destruction of the city thing, but none of the others think so."
Terra let out a sigh, knowing that anyone who was trying to destroy the city couldn't be good news, whether they were Slade or not.
"Hey... I know what'll cheer you up," said Beast Boy, pointing at a nearby cotton candy stand that was open for business. "I'll buy you some cotton candy..."
"Thanks, Beast Boy, but I'm fine... really, I am," replied Terra, standing up from the table and scanning the pier area. She looked over the entire carnival, past the rides and the people and the food carts, before looking under the pier at the pillars and the rocks underneath them. Out in the distance, she could detect a faint red blinking... and a glimmer of light, shining off of the surface of what appeared to be a metallic object. "I think I spotted it! C'mon!"
Terra leapt into the air and levitated a nearby rock under her feet, pulling Beast Boy onto the rock and quickly flying out to the spot where she'd seen the blinking light.
"That was pretty quick," said Beast Boy, following Terra's gaze out toward the rocks underneath the pier and spotting the same blinking light and shining metal that Terra had seen. "I see it too!"
The rock stopped just a few feet away from the object, levitating underneath the pier and over the shallow waters below. Terra could see the object clearly now, a metallic disk about three feet wide, seemingly embedded into the rock face. A small red light on top of the disk was blinking every couple of seconds.
"I bet I could take that thing out," said Beast Boy, rubbing his hands together. "Just lemme turn into a gorilla, and-"
"That's not a good idea," replied Terra, pointing at the metallic disk. "It's wired directly into the fault line... I can sense that if we try to take it out, it'll trigger the quake... we need to try and figure out where it's getting its signal from."
Terra's words worried Beast Boy, who knew that his fellow Titans probably didn't know about the object's properties, and may try to destroy one of the generators should they happen to come across it. Almost immediately, he began to take his communicator off his belt... only to hear it start to ring. He and Terra both took out their communicators at once, flipping them open to see Robin's face.
"Star and I found one of the generators," said Robin. "It's underground right where I said it would be. It's transmitting a signal somewhere, but I don't know where... and-"
"Don't touch it!" said Terra, a worried look on her face.
"I know, it's set to go off if we try to interfere with its operation," said Robin. "Raven and Cyborg just commed in... they found one of the generators too. We're going back to the Tower to try and triangulate a signal... as soon as we find one, we'll be able to stop these things at the source. Robin out."
The communicator flashed off, and Beast Boy and Terra both looked at one another at the same time.
"It looks like this problem might be worse than we thought..." said Terra, cautiously rubbing the back of her head. "Those guys that wanted to use me are already set up to try something else..."
"Yeah... but we're gonna stop them this time," said Beast Boy, a smile on his face. "Once and for all."
Terra nodded, and began to steer the rock that she and Beast Boy were standing on back toward Titans Tower. Both of them knew that saving the city was just a matter of finding the source of the generators' signal and taking out whatever machine had been built to transmit that signal. The thing that they didn't know was just how long they had... and time was rapidly running out.
O-O-O
A large stack of colorfully-wrapped presents sat on the kitchen table of the Salazars' apartment. Among the presents was the large book that Sanza had bought at the store the previous night with the help of Cleo's ten-dollar-bill. All of the others had been purchased by Maria, who delegated Sanza to carrying out the gifts as the family made its way to Maria's red convertible.
"You need any help?" asked Maria, who had her own hands full with Maddy's birthday cake, but was ready to assist Sanza with at least two of Maddy's eight gifts. "You can slide a couple of those onto the top of the cake box if you want..."
"Nope, nope, I've got it," said Sanza, though from the strain in his voice, it was clear that he was struggling to keep the tall stack of presents balanced.
"Sanza, if you break any of those..." Maddy began, admonishing Sanza as the three of them cleared the fire escape and walked over to the car. The girl popped open the car's trunk, allowing Sanza to begin piling the gifts inside. Once all the boxes were in the trunk, Maddy closed the lid and slid into the front seat next to her mother. "Since I'm the birthday girl, I get to ride in the front."
"I don't have a problem with that," said Sanza, slumping into his seat and putting on his safety belt. He rolled his eyes as his mother started up the car, mentally preparing himself for several hours of having to deal with Maddy's friends. "This is going to be an ugly, ugly day... maybe I should've asked Cleo to show up... she'd be great help in keeping all those giggling girls away from me."
Sanza had no idea of the predicament that Cleo was in... and as the family drove away, none of them heard the phone in the kitchen begin to ring. After several rings, the answering machine automatically turned on.
"Hello," came the voice on the recording, belonging to Maria. "This is the Salazar residence. We're busy right now, but if you leave a message, we'll get back to you as soon as possible."
After a loud beep, another voice began to sound on the phone... that of Cleo's mother, whose voice was trembling as she spoke.
"This is Mrs. Encina, I'm Cleo's mother... my daughter didn't come home last night, she was with your son and I'm really worried... please, PLEASE call back as soon as you can..."
O-O-O
The Chuck E. Cheese's establishment was located in a large shopping center about ten miles from downtown Jump City, in one of the city's many incorporated suburbs. The shopping center's large parking lot was filled with cars, and it took nearly twenty seconds for Maria to find a parking spot close to the restaurant.
"I think this place gets busier every day..." Maria grumbled, mostly to herself. She stepped out of the car and walked around to the trunk, opening it and allowing her son to take out most of the presents. "I told Ally's mother to reserve a few tables toward the front of the restaurant, so I hope they're already there... Sanza, I'm going to give you thirty dollars to spend on tokens, you don't get any more, so don't go blowing them all in ten minutes, try to make them last, okay?"
Sanza nodded, carrying his sister's large stack of presents into the restaurant. As soon as he opened the door, his ears were slammed with a cacophony of sounds... children laughing, arcade games buzzing and beeping, and the singing of the robotic animals that inhabited the stage at the front of the restaurant. Wonderful...
Most of Maddy's friends had already arrived, some of them accompanied by their parents. The large group occupied four tables up front near the stage, and this was the area that Sanza maneuvered for, setting the presents onto the large stack of boxes that had already been laid out to the right of the tables.
"There's like sixteen boxes here," thought Sanza, rolling his eyes as he stared at the stack of presents his sister had received. "Most I ever got for my birthday was like twelve. I guess that just means that I need to make more friends or something..."
O-O-O
Back at Titans Tower, Robin found himself busily attempting to triangulate the signals from the three seismic generators. Normally, such a task would take only a few minutes... but someone had placed a jammer on the signals, and it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to get a lock on any of them. With Cyborg's help, he'd been able to lock down the signal of the generator at the museum... but the other two weren't staying put, and the Boy Wonder was growing increasingly frustrated.
"This is one of the most sophisticated signal jammers I've ever seen," said Cyborg, who had connected the circuitry in his arm to the Titans' main computer in an attempt to lock down the signal frequency. "It's changing frequency every three-thousandths of a second, every time it seems like I've got it locked down, it changes on me again."
"Keep trying," replied Robin, his eyes focused on the screen and on his robotic teammate. "They could trigger an earthquake at any time..."
Watching the two of them from the back of the main room, Starfire knew quite well how frustrated Robin got when he couldn't accomplish something... and stayed in the room to serve as a calming presence should the Titans' leader happen to lose his cool. It hadn't happened yet, but she knew that the possibility was always there.
"Robin... perhaps I could be of some assistance... I am not as skilled with computers as Cyborg is, but-"
"Maybe you could help, Starfire," said Robin, turning to her and pointing at the computer. "Cyborg can only work on finding one signal at a time... if you can work on the second signal, we may be able to get this done twice as quickly. I know you can't interface with the computer like Cyborg can, but your reaction time is just as fast, if not faster than his. Try to narrow down the field of possible frequencies by scanning every one we find and eliminating it, the more we narrow down the field, the better chance we'll have of locking onto something."
Starfire nodded, and walked over to the computer, pulling up a chair and sitting down in front of a keyboard that slowly slid out of the console. She gazed up at the screen and took note of every frequency she saw, her fingers rapidly working away at the keyboard.
"Thank you for giving me a chance to help... I promise, I will not let you down..."
"I know you won't, Starfire..." said Robin, placing his hand on her shoulder and smiling as he leaned forward to look into her eyes. She smiled back, glad to see Robin in such a good mood. "Just take your time... we'll get this, I'm sure of it..."
O-O-O
While Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg were downstairs in the main room, hastily attempting to locate the source of the seismic generators' signal, Terra and Beast Boy were in the former's bedroom, sitting next to one another on Terra's bed, their legs dangling off the side. In Terra's hands was the metallic, heart-shaped mirror box that Beast Boy had made for her just before she'd betrayed the team. It was simultaneously a painful reminder of her betrayal and a wonderful reminder of Beast Boy's love... she hoped, that in time, the painful memories of all the bad things she'd done to her friends would fade from her mind. It was moments like these, where she could be alone with Beast Boy, that helped to heal all the wounds of her past.
"I guess I should start putting things in here, huh?" asked Terra, looking at Beast Boy and smiling.
"You can do whatever you want with it, Terra... it's all yours, remember?"
"Yeah... but still, it is a box. I was thinking maybe I could put stuff like makeup in here... not that I ever wear any, but... I mean, the mirror and everything, it kinda screams 'makeup box'."
"You could put some springy snakes in it and give it to Raven for her birthday," said Beast Boy, "and when she opens the box..."
The thought of Raven falling victim to such a juvenile prank made Terra giggle, putting one hand over her mouth and another over her stomach.
"That would be great! But I don't know if she'd let me have the box back afterward... she'd probably destroy it or something."
"Yeah, better not... besides, scary stuff like that works better on Cyborg anyway," said Beast Boy, rocking back and forth a few times before rocking forward just a little too much and falling face first off of the bed.
"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" asked Terra, though even louder giggles. She helped Beast Boy back onto the bed, cheking briefly to make sure he didn't have any bumps before continuing to speak. "Be careful next time..."
It had only been three and a half days since Terra had returned to the team, but already, a sense of normalcy had made its wake back into Beast Boy's mind. Terra was a Teen Titan again... and this time, it would be for good. No running away, no betrayal... she was back in Titans Tower, where she belonged. Beast Boy wouldn't have it any other way... the past few days had been some of the best of his entire life, even though the Titans had been so busy recently.
"Terra... when all of this is over, this whole business with the city being threatened and all, do you wanna... ya know, go out and do something?"
"You mean another date?" asked Terra, causing Beast Boy to blush and give a slow nod. "Sure, Beast Boy... heck, I'd go out right now, but Robin told us to be on standby, so..."
For Terra, the sense of normalcy hadn't returned so quickly... and she still wasn't entirely sure whether Titans Tower was the right place for her. Sure, Beast Boy trusted her, and she knew that she would always have his friendship... but the others might still resent her. She knew that, and it made her uncomfortable to think about. It would be at least a week or two before she'd be entirely sure about what she really wanted to do... but for now, she was happy, mostly because of Beast Boy and everything he'd done to make her feel comfortable and welcome.
"Beast Boy... I just want to thank you again for everything you've done for me since I came back to the team..." said Terra, a smile on her face. She leaned in slightly, and Beast Boy turned toward her, leaning forward as well.
"Anything... anything for you, Terra..." replied Beast Boy. "I... I'm just glad you're back... I hope you're happy here, that's all I really-"
Terra's lips touched Beast Boy's, cutting him off in mid-sentence. At the same time, the door to Terra's room slid open, and Raven stood in the doorway. Her voice stopped the kiss, which had lasted just one second, almost immediately.
"I need to see Beast Boy in the hallway... just for a second."
"Um... okay," said Terra, allowing Beast Boy to slide off the bed. "What about me, do you-"
"Just Beast Boy," replied Raven, looking into his eyes as she spoke. He was reluctant to leave Terra's side, but did so anyway, stepping out into the hall with Raven and allowing the door to slide shut behind them. "We need to talk."
"Is it about Terra?" asked Beast Boy almost immediately, a worried look on his face. He knew that Raven had been skeptical about allowing Terra to remain on the team, and wondered if she still held her old animosity for the blonde geomancer. "I know she might be a bit nervous, but-"
"I just wanted to ask how she's been lately," said Raven. "I told you yesterday that you should probably speak with her... she's talking to you now, so I assume she's better than she was."
"Yeah... she's doing just fine, Raven..."
Raven wasn't so sure, and she could tell from Beast Boy's tone that something was still wrong.
"I know she's got much better control of her powers now, but she's still got a lot of the old insecurity that made her such an easy target for Slade last time. She's not going to betray us again, but I'm just worried that she might not be able to mentally handle being a Teen Titan for a while."
Raven's concerns were valid... but Beast Boy had seen Terra over the past few days, and she was fighting extremely well, right back in her old form again. She still had emotional issues, but she was making a concerted effort to conquer them.
"I'll keep talking to her," said Beast Boy, slowly turning back toward the door to Terra's room. "It's like you said, she needs someone to be there for her... and I'm that someone."
Raven said nothing, just continued to gaze at Beast Boy, who was still standing in front of Terra's door. Beast Boy started to open it up, when finally, Raven began to speak again.
"I'll talk to her too... if she wants," said Raven, her arms crossed in front of her chest. "We all have to be there for her... just tell me if she wants to speak to me."
"I will, Raven," Beast Boy replied, briefly turning his head back toward Raven. "Thanks."
The door opened, and Beast Boy walked inside, the door quickly closing behind him. Raven continued staring at the door for several more seconds before slowly walking back down the hallway toward her own room. She could sense the waves of emotion coming from Terra's mind, and knew that they hadn't changed all that much from when the girl had first been revived, just a few days earlier. She seemed happier, and maybe she was, at least a bit, but the insecurity, guilt, and fear inside Terra were still there... and they weren't going to go away any time soon.
"I know you care about her, Beast Boy," thought Raven, placing her hand on the panel that sat on the wall next to her room's entrance. "And I know she needs someone to talk to right now, but... I just don't want to see you get hurt again... not like last time..."
And it wasn't just Beast Boy who'd been hurt by Terra's betrayal... Raven had been hurt as well... Terra was her friend too, and it tore at her heart when she had learned that Terra had betrayed the team. Terra might not betray the Titans again, but if she left, Raven knew that Beast Boy would be devastated.
"All I'm saying is to be careful, Beast Boy... and take good care of her."
O-O-O
Sanza had eaten his pizza in a record amount of time so that he could return to the arcade and be as far away from Maddy and her friends as possible. With more than a hundred tokens jangling in his pocket, he was more than well-equipped to keep himself occupied until it was time to leave.
"Let's see... should I play Ultimate Sniper Attack 7, or Universal Martial Arts Champion 5?" Sanza mused to himself, staring at a large row of game machines. It was then that his mother's call jarred him out of the decision-making process, returning his attention to the group of tables near the stage.
"Sanza, Maddy's opening your gift, come watch her!" shouted Maria, waving her arms up in the air to get her son's attention. With a long sigh, Sanza departed from the arcade machines and walked down to the tables, where Maddy's friends were watching in eager anticipation as the excited twelve-year-old tore the wrapping paper off of the box containing the book Sanza had bought for her.
"I bet he got you a really cheap gift," commented Vivian, a girl with short, red hair sitting immediately to Maddy's left at the table. "Like a candy bar or something..."
"No, this box is pretty heavy," Maddy replied, removing the Scotch tape that had been placed on the outside to seal the box. "It's not clothes, I don't think... let's see here..."
She opened the box and saw the front cover of the book. Her eyes widened, and she let out a gasp.
"Oh, this... this is that pretty book I saw at the store!" shouted Maddy, pulling the book out of the box and holding it in her arms. She looked visually excited as she began rapidly flipping through the pages, her excitement heightening with each picture she saw. "Oh wow... this is really awesome!"
"Lemme see, lemme see!" shouted Suki, one of Maddy's more eager and energetic friends, running around behind Maddy's chair and trying to look at the book over her friend's shoulder. "Wow, this is like one of the books my mom has on her coffee table..."
"I know, I know!" shouted Maddy, closing the book and setting it down on the table. She turned to Sanza and leaned up, kissing him on the cheek several times. "Thank you so much!"
It was certainly a far cry from the sour mood that Maddy had been in upon waking up, but if she was happy, then Sanza was happy... even if she had completely forgotten about giving him the third-degree that morning. After a quick 'you're welcome', Sanza went back to the arcade machines and resumed his play session, while Maddy began opening the remainder of her presents.
Just as she was in the middle of peeling away the wrapping paper, a loud, nasally voice began to sound from the stage. It was the restaurant's mascot, Chuck E. Cheese himself, and he was standing right at the front of the stage, his body turned toward Maddy, holding his microphone in one hand while keeping the other behind his back.
"And I'd just like to make a special happy birthday wish to little Maddy Salazar, who turns twelve today!" said the mouse robot. Maddy gave a squeal of delight and began clapping her hands, turning to her mother.
"Mom, did you tell the person at the front desk it was my birthday?" asked Maddy. Maria, who hadn't done anything of the sort, was baffled by Chuck E.'s announcement.
"Maybe the person at the front desk overheard us and assumed, but don't you usually have to pay for something like that?" thought Maria, scratching her head. "Um, no, I didn't, but-"
She was interrupted by the same nasally voice as the robot began to speak again.
"And now for a special announcement. Not only is today little Maddy's birthday, but it's also going to be the day of her death! How wonderful is that, folks?"
The robot then took out its other hand from behind its back... revealing an assault rifle. The gun was leveled at Maddy's head, and Maria, reacting quickly, tackled her daughter to the ground and protectively dove over her body just as the robot began to fire. Dozens of bullets blasted across the table, missing Maddy and her party guests but destroying the cake and ripping several of her presents to shreds, including the book that Sanza had given her. As the panicked patrons of the restaurant began to dive for cover, the other robotic animals on the stage also turned toward Maddy, their eyes glowing bright red.
"Holy shit!" shouted Sanza, turning away from his game and down toward the stage area, from which dozens of people, including several of Maddy's party guests, were running. Maddy and Maria themselves had ducked under a table, and were now being fired upon by Chuck E.'s robotic friends, who were armed with powerful handguns. Only a few of Maddy's friends had remained, and all of them were in serious danger. "What in the hell is going on here?"
Though terrified for his own safety, Sanza ran out of the arcade and leapt over a wooden divider wall into the stage area, nearly plowing over two of Maddy's friends as they made their escape. He dove underneath the table with his mother and sister, watching in horror as the five animatronic creatures on stage began making their way down toward the tables. They had exhausted the ammunition from their guns, but their robotic limbs were no less lethal, and they began casually tossing away tables and chairs in their hunt for Maddy and her mother.
"Mom, sis, let's get out of here!" shouted Sanza, pointing at the five animal robots, led by Chuck E. Cheese himself, getting closer and closer to the table that he and his family were crouched under. Maria shook her head, pointing at another of the robotic creatures who was blocking off the exit to the arcade.
"You might be athletic enough to jump that guard wall, but your sister and I aren't," said Maria. "Go out and try to get some help... the manager and the workers have left, see if you can find someone at another store, a security guard or something-"
"I'm not leaving without you guys, and you know that!" shouted Sanza, turning to Maddy, who was already shaking terribly, her fists clenched protectively in front of her.
"I... I'll be fine... really, I-"
"I'll help her get over the wall," said Bradley, who had stayed behind with two of Maddy's other friends, and was gesturing for the girl to come out from under the table. "C'mon, Maddy... your mom's gonna be just fine..."
"I... I don't know..." Maddy said timidly, looking over at her mother, who was frantically nodding her head.
"Go with him!" Maria shouted. "Your brother and I will be fine! Sanza, as soon as they leave-"
The table was suddenly ripped out from over them and thrown violently onto the stage. Standing over Maddy, Maria, and Sanza was an anthropomorphic elephant, its robotic arms raised high in the air. Maddy let out a scream, while Sanza struck at the robot's knees with a mighty kick, knocking its legs out from under it and causing it to crumple to the ground, sparking profusely. At that moment, Bradley grabbed Maddy by the wrist and rushed over to the divider wall separating the arcade from the stage area. Vivian and Suki followed, and while they attempted to scale the wall together, Maria picked up a knife from the floor and faced down the three robotic animals coming toward her, a fierce look on her face.
"Sanza, I am not gonna tell you again, go get help!" screamed Maria, taking a step toward the three robots and clenching her left fist. "And as for you, you creepy animal bastards... you come and get me! NOW!"
As the knife-wielding Maria launched into a tirade of angry Spanish directed toward the homicidal Chuck E. Cheese and his two cohorts, Sanza turned his attention to the large bear robot guarding the exit to the stage area. The bear let out a roar and swiped its metallic claw at Sanza, who ducked and rammed his shoulder into the robot's chest, gaining only a bruised shoulder for his trouble.
"That's not gonna work..." thought Sanza, grimacing as he took a step backward. The bear began lumbering toward him, repeatedly swiping its claws at his face. "Okay, at least this guy is predictable..."
After the bear had taken a few more steps forward, Sanza ran as quickly as he could, around the side of the bear and through the gap between it and the entrance to the arcade area. By now, Maddy and her friends had made it over the dividing wall, but instead of going outside, all of them opted to duck behind the prize counter in front of the store, looking for weapons that they could use to fight the robots.
"Hey Sanza!" shouted Maddy, poking her head out from behind the counter as he ran toward the exit. "They have BB guns here! Like, lots of them! We're gonna stay and fight the robots..."
"...are you sure you wanna do that?" asked Sanza, looking back toward the stage area just in time to see his mother ramming a knife into Chuck E. Cheese's throat. "Damn... I knew she had some fire in her, but... whoa."
"I'm not leaving my mom here alone!" shouted Maddy. "Are you gonna stay and fight with us, or-"
"Mom told me to get help, that's what I'm gonna do," said Sanza, though in reality, he had other things on his mind as he ran out of the restaurant and into the parking lot. By now, the lot was deserted... everyone inside the restaurant had already left, as well as many of the people in the adjacent buildings after getting word of the commotion occurring in the Chuck E. Cheese restaurant. "No one's here... this is better than I thought..."
But before Sanza could take another step away from the restaurant, he heard a calm voice just a few feet to his right... and when he turned, he could see a brown-haired man, a foot taller and several years older than he. The man was wearing a well-pressed business suit and a pair of sunglasses, though Sanza could tell that the man was staring right at him.
"I suppose you're wondering why your family came under attack," said the man, a casual smirk on his face. Sanza clenched his fists tightly and turned to face the man, not intimidated in the least.
"If you're responsible for this..."
"Actually, that would be Nicholas Jarvin... AKA the security guard you tussled with a couple of nights ago. He's the world's leading expert on military software, which we managed to replace those robots' AI systems with just an hour or so ago. I can tell by the fact that you're not weeping that your mother and sister must've survived the attack... I figured they would, knowing how well you tend to protect them."
"Cut the crap, right now," said Sanza. "I wanna know who you are and what you want! Tell me!"
"My name is Alex Sedaris... you can call me Sedaris, everyone else does. I work directly for the men trying to put this city in the ground... and I'm here because you can't seem to stay out of their way."
Sanza still wasn't intimidated by Sedaris, even though he knew he was far outclassed in size. His anger gave him courage, and it was about to prompt him into a fight. He knew that after the incident in the LaredoSoft building, he'd need to watch his back... which is why he had concealed his Red X suit under his clothes before he'd gone to his sister's birthday party. After a quick check to make sure no one else was watching, he began removing his shirt... once he'd taken that off, he removed his blue jeans as well. Then, he pulled out his gloves and his mask from his pockets and put them on.
"You're making a big mistake," said Sedaris, extending his arms and popping his knuckles. "You're no match for me."
"We'll see about that," replied Red X, picking up the clothes he was just wearing and depositing them in a nearby trash can, concealing them from the view of any potential bystanders. "Now you're about to see what happens to anyone who messes with my family..."
Sedaris smiled as Red X rushed toward him. The battle was on.
The thief struck with a flurry of punches, followed by a high, spinning kick that sailed right above Sedaris' head as his opponent ducked out of the way. The punches had slammed harmlessly into Sedaris' chest, causing him little, if any pain.
"I warned you, smallfry," said Sedaris, striking Red X with a punch that sent him flying backward into a nearby light pole. The impact caused X to cry out in pain, his body slumping against the metallic pole, which nearly bent from the force of his body slamming into it. The thief quickly recovered, standing up and letting loose with a series of exploding Xs. The Xs slammed into and around Sedaris, throwing up a large explosion and a subsequent cloud of smoke. When the smoke disappeared, Sedaris was still standing... with only a few burns in his suit. The large man himself was unharmed... and was smiling.
Sedaris lunged forward with another powerful punch, this one missing Red X entirely, who was able to roll out of the way to avoid the blow. Sedaris' fist hit the lightpole and bent it in two, causing the top half to crash to the cement parking lot, throwing up sparks when its lightbulb shattered against the ground. Seeing his chance to strike, X dove to the ground and swung his leg into Sedaris' ankle. The leg sweep was successful, sending Sedaris tumbling... only to land on his right palm and somersault forward into a leaping kick that struck Red X in the jaw and knocked him back more than ten yards. As Sedaris landed deftly on his feet, Red X skidded along the hot, black pavement, landing in front of a hardware store, flat on his back. He grimaced and groaned as he picked himself up from the ground, now hearing a loud ringing in his ears. The kick to his jaw had given him a minor concussion, and he knew that he was lucky not to have any chipped teeth.
"How is he doing that?" thought Red X, looking across the parking lot and seeing Sedaris standing some distance away, gazing over at him. This man was stronger than any the thief had dealt with before... perhaps even stronger than Slade. He was quick, too... as quick as perhaps even Robin. "Someone's trained him well..."
"Well? Are you going to keep fighting, or are you just going to stand there?" shouted Sedaris, waiting for Red X to come toward him. "I can do this all day!"
Sick of waiting, Sedaris charged at Red X, who went into a fighting stance and prepared to strike with an attack of his own. As Sedaris came forward with a punch aimed down at X's head, the thief rolled out of the way, allowing the man's fist to slam headlong into the pavement, making a large crack in the ground. Quickly, X shot several binding cables at Sedaris, tightly pinning his arms to his sides before jumping backward again, putting distance between himself and his seemingly immobile opponent.
"Let's see you punch me now," Red X taunted, his arms crossed over his chest. Sedaris looked over at the thief and smiled, before flexing out his arms and bursting the metallic binding cables as if they were made out of putty. "WHAT?"
"I think you're seriously outmatched," said Sedaris, running over to the stunned thief and striking him with a powerful kick to the side, knocking him to the ground again. As Red X struggled to recover, Sedaris stomped hard on his leg, prompting another loud scream from his much smaller opponent. "It's time for you to give up."
"It's time... for you... to shut up!" said Red X, his voice strained because of the pressure being put on his leg. He pointed his palm at Sedaris and fired another exploding X, hitting him in the face at point-blank range. This did get a reaction from Sedaris, who stumbled back, allowing X to roll out from under his foot and get back to a vertical base once more. He pointed his hands at the ground underneath Sedaris and focused, triggering a powerful burst of electricity to engulf the ground around him. As Sedaris grimaced in pain, X then leapt forward with another kick, striking him in the nose. "I can't stop attacking... the best defense in this fight is definitely a good offense."
Sedaris continued to stumble back, and Red X didn't let off the pressure for a second. He used shuriken Xs to slice into a nearby support pillar, causing a large section of the hardware store's overhanging roof to collapse, showering debris onto Sedaris' head. He then blasted two more of the store's support pillars with Xs attached to cables coming out of his hands. He used these cables to pull the pillars toward Sedaris, which both slammed into his back at once and showered him with even more debris. More of the store's overhang was about to fall, and seeing an opportunity, Red X ran around to kick Sedaris in the side, hoping to knock him right into the path of the collapse.
As he struck out with a kick, Sedaris grabbed him by the leg and flung him backward, under the collapsing overhang. The thief let out a scream just moments before he was buried in a large pile of debris and was heard no more.
"I must say, you did put up a bit more of a fight than I expected," said Sedaris, looking down at his ripped and stained black suit. "I'm going to need a new suit now... but other than that-"
An X-shaped hole appeared in the pile of debris, and Red X leapt out through the hole, bruised but not yet beaten. He looked up into Sedaris' eyes, and it was quite clear that the thief definitely still had some fight in him.
"You're not getting rid of me that easily," shouted Red X, pointing his palms at Sedaris' chest. "But I'm about to get rid of you!"
The thief fired two small Xs at Sedaris, which expanded and turned into two large nets, both of them stretched out and ready to ensnare him. Sedaris simply smiled and allowed the nets to fall over him, before flexing out his arms and bursting them to pieces. He charged toward Red X again, who attempted to slide between his legs, only to be stopped by a powerful kick that struck him right in the chest. X flew backward and crashed through the window of the hardware store, which had already been abandoned by its many patrons. As X struggled to stand, Sedaris walked into the store and grabbed him, flinging him back out through another window.
"Unnnggh..." Red X groaned, noticing already that there were several cuts in his uniform, some of them slowly dripping blood onto the ground. It was becoming clear to the thief that he was not going to be able to put Sedaris down by force... and instead, would have to outsmart him... but right now, even that seemed like a lofty goal. "This guy doesn't have a single weakness... he survived my bombs, he survived being buried in debris... he burst out of my binding cables in two seconds! Starfire couldn't do that in six hours!"
Of course, Red X didn't have very much time to think... Sedaris was rapidly coming back toward him, and he didn't seem to be tiring, even a single bit.
"Like I said, we can do this as long as you want..." said Sedaris, just before launching another punch aimed at Red X's face. X dodged to the left, noticing that Sedaris' arm had continued forward, following through the entire punch before starting to pull back. In a feat of great agility, X grabbed Sedaris' outstretched arm and swung himself upward, slamming both of his feet into the man's jaw. This stunned Sedaris, giving X enough time to leap around behind him and blast him in the side with another large, metallic X. This X carried Sedaris backward for nearly thirty feet before slamming him into the side of a truck, smashing his body up against the truck's frame, while at the same time sending his head right through the window.
"Now if that doesn't give him whiplash for the next few days, I don't know what will..." said Red X, crouching into another fighting stance and watching as the X disappeared, leaving Sedaris leaning against the crumpled side of the truck. He began walking toward X, and sure enough, his neck had been snapped back nearly an inch... and he was staggering with every step. "Yes! Got him good!"
With a loud, sickening crack, Sedaris' head quickly snapped back into place. As a shocked and disgusted Red X let out an audible gasp, Sedaris ran toward him, slamming his fist right into the thief's stomach. X gasped again and doubled over, only to be punched twice more in the exact same spot.
"That should just about wrap it up," said Sedaris, watching as Red X gasped loudly for breath, before finally yanking off his mask and collapsing to one knee. As a thin stream of blood began trickling from Sanza's mouth, he clutched his stomach tightly, fighting back involuntary tears that were rapidly filling his eyes.
"I... I can't... I can't breathe..." gasped Sanza, wide-eyed and horrified as the ground began swirling beneath him. "Oh... oh god... I can't breathe..."
"It's called 'getting the wind knocked out of you', and believe me, if I really wanted to make it hard for you to breathe, I could've snapped your neck," replied Sedaris, his arms folded over his chest. He looked down at Sanza, who was continuing to struggle and gasp, taking nearly twenty seconds before finally being able to catch his breath. Tears were running down Sanza's cheeks... not from pain, but from panic, the body's natural response to a sudden, rapid loss of oxygen. "It would've only been fair, seeing as how you just about broke mine."
Sanza made it back to his feet and quickly put his mask back on, not bothering to wipe the blood from his lip. He had no idea why Sedaris hadn't pounced on him... he'd been completely helpless for the entire time he was trying to catch his breath, so why didn't Sedaris finish him off? He wasn't about to ask why... he was just going to make Sedaris regret giving him a chance to recover.
"This... this isn't over..." said Red X, clenching his fists and running toward Sedaris. "Do you hear me? It ISN'T OVER!"
"Suit yourself," Sedaris casually replied, dodging or blocking every single one of Red X's blows as they came in. They were slower now, with a lot less power behind them... the thief had exhausted himself, and after having had the wind knocked out of him, he was much more nervous about every move he took. After allowing X to punch or kick at him nearly two dozen times, Sedaris backhanded the thief hard across the face, knocking him backward and nearly off of his feet. "Like I said, you can fight as much as you want. I don't care."
The fight was over... Sedaris knew it, and Red X knew it, as much as he didn't want to. Fighting Sedaris was a waste of time... especially when Maria and Maddy were both still in serious danger. Still, X knew he had to fight on... he had to punish Sedaris for being part of the group who had directed the attack on his mother and sister... he wasn't about to let Sedaris get away with attacking his familia!
"What... do you want...?" gasped Red X, looking up into Sedaris' eyes as he struck up another, this time half-hearted battle stance. "If you didn't come to fight me, then..."
"I came to make sure you wouldn't be interfering in Project Trembling Heaven," said Sedaris, reaching up and taking off his sunglasses. He slid them into the inside pocket of his ruined jacket, while removing something else from the pocket and holding it to his chest. "You shouldn't be fighting me... instead, you should be getting your family as far away from this city as possible, because by midnight tonight, there won't be a city left."
X's eyes went wide under his mask. If Sedaris was telling the truth, then Jump City would be destroyed in just a few hours... it was happening even sooner than he'd thought!
"Why... why the hell are you telling me this?" asked Red X, quizzically looking up into Sedaris' piercing green eyes. "What makes you so sure... that I'm not going to try... and ruin your little plan?"
"As for warning you, I have my reasons," replied Sedaris, who then revealed to Red X what he was holding... a PDA. On the screen was displayed a still image of Cleo, who was gagged and bound to a chair in what appeared to be a large, empty warehouse. "And if you try to stop us, your girlfriend will die."
Red X was stunned... and angry... and scared, all at the same time. It was happening again... people close to him were being threatened again... first his family by Slade, and now the girl he loved, by this group of people trying to destroy the city. He clenched his fists, and a field of bright red electricity began surging around his body, as the Xynothium reactor flared up in sync with his emotions.
"You hurt her... and I'll kill you... I'll kill you, I'll kill your friends, and anyone working for you..."
"You leave us alone for the night, and tomorrow, you can return to what's left of your home, and we'll have dropped off Cleo, safe and sound. But if you try to interfere in any way... well, you know what will happen. Goodbye, Sanza."
And with that, Sedaris left, not saying a single word as he slowly walked out of the parking lot, placing the PDA back in the inside pocket of his jacket. Red X was tempted to go after him, but knew that fighting him was useless... and the hopelessness of the situation was too much for the thief to bear. He collapsed on his knees to the ground, he felt like crying again but he held himself back... he held back the tears and he picked himself up, walking back over to the trash can where he'd stashed his clothes and slowly putting them on again.
"Cleo..." thought Red X, removing his mask and gloves and placing them into the pockets of his blue jeans. It seemed like he couldn't go even a few days as Red X anymore without the people he cared about being put in danger. This is why he'd given up being Red X in the first place... because he wasn't able to protect his loved ones.
Sanza Salazar had screwed up again... and again, someone else was paying for his mistakes.
"Sanza?" said Maddy, who had emerged from Chuck E. Cheese's as soon as Sanza had started back toward the building. She was followed by Bradley, Vivian, and Suki, all of them carrying in their hands as many toys as they could carry away from the prize redemption area. "Are you all right?"
Sanza mustered up a smile and nodded, walking over to Maddy and making sure that she was all right. After seeing that she wasn't hurt, he wrapped her up in as tight of a hug as he could, knowing that even if Cleo was in danger, he could take some relief in the fact that Maddy was all right.
A few seconds later, Maria emerged into the parking lot, covered in metal scraps and pieces of fur from the robots she'd just destroyed.
"As soon as we get back from Mass tomorrow, remind me to call my lawyer and have them sue Chuck E. Cheese's asses off!" shouted Maria, an angry glare on her face. She quickly walked over and hugged both of her children, grateful that they were both safe and sound. "My poor babies..."
"We're both fine..." said Sanza, pulling away from his mother and facing out toward the parking lot, his eyes staring off into the distance and back toward downtown Jump City. "I just hope I can say the same for Cleo..."
O-O-O
Maria was in no mood to check the answering machine upon returning home, and Maddy and her three friends decided to venture to the ice cream shop, in order to salvage what was left of the 12-year-old's birthday. That left Sanza alone in the kitchen, and he was the one who ended up listening to the message that Cleo's mother had left. He heard the worry in her voice, and was almost tempted to call her... but what would he say if he did?
"Hello, your daughter's been kidnapped by corrupt corporate cocksuckers? That'll go over really well," thought Sanza, slowly trudging up the steps to his bedroom and walking inside. He shut the door and locked it behind him, flopping down onto his bed and burying his face in his pillow.
Almost immediately, the tears began to flow... he didn't want to cry, but what had happened that day was a nightmare... his mother and sister almost killed, Cleo being abducted... his life was coming apart around him.
"What am I going to do?" sobbed Sanza, his pained cries muffled by the pillow in his face. "GOD! HELP ME!"
His entire body shook with every sob, his pillow quickly stained with all the tears that he could cry out in five minutes... not only had he failed Cleo, but he'd failed his father again... he didn't deserve the suit, he didn't deserve this duty... every single painful memory was rapidly coming back to him. His family's abduction at the hands of Slade, and now Cleo's abduction at the hands of Sedaris and all the other men involved with that conspiracy...
And in just a few hours, Jump City would be destroyed. His mother and sister were still in danger... but if Sanza tried to do anything about it, Cleo would be killed.
"Dammit... what the hell am I supposed to do? It's not like I'm choosing between my family and Cleo, but... even if I do try to stop them... that guy was almost invincible, there's no way that I could..."
Sanza sat up in his bed, wiping the tears from his face. He was still wearing the Red X suit under his clothes... and had recovered all the energy that he'd expended during his fight with Sedaris.
"It's not going to happen again... I'm not going to let them hurt someone I care about again..."
Slowly, Sanza slid off his bed and began to stand... and his sad, grief-filled expression had changed into one of pure determination. He was about to teach Sedaris and all of his friends the most painful lesson that any of them would ever learn...
"Nobody messes with the people I care about and gets away with it. I don't care what that fucker Sedaris told me... I'm going to make ALL of them pay."
O-O-O
It had been a long day of work for the Teen Titans, who had managed to lock down two of the frequencies that the seismic generators were giving off. Now, it was down to the third and final frequency, and after a quick break to go out for dinner, the team was ready to get back to work.
"I don't know about you guys, but I think that out of all of us, I'm going to end up kicking the most butt when we finally track that place down," said Beast Boy, eagerly pounding his fist into his palm as the six Titans approached the front door of the Tower.
"Let us not make this into a competition... I am sure that we will all kick an equal amount of the butt," said Starfire. "But actually... it will be me who will kick the most of the butt."
"We won't be kicking any butt until we actually find that place," said Robin, opening the front door of the tower, "so let's get to work and lock down that final-"
When the Titans saw who was sitting on their couch, all of them let out a loud gasp. It was Red X, and in front of him on the main screen, the location of the Laredo production facility was flashing brightly. He had locked down the final frequency and had triangulated the location of the generators' signal.
"I changed my mind," said Red X, leaping over the back of the couch and landing directly in front of the Teen Titans. "I do want to help you guys save the city."
"...as much as I'd like to yell at you for breaking into the tower," said Robin, his gaze alternating between the thief and the screen, a look of astonishment clearly etched onto his face, "I think that now might not be the time..."
"Damn right it's not," replied Red X. "They're gonna set off a quake in the next four hours, so I suggest we get over there and kick some serious ass."
O-O-O
And so, the mission begins! X and the Titans off on another whirlwind adventure... but is Cleo going to end up paying the price for Sanza's disobedience? And can Dullahan, Sedaris, and the two Jarvins be stopped? Or will Jump City crumble to pieces when the big one strikes? It's time to give me some reviews! Otherwise, I won't post the next chapter until three days from now! ...oh, wait, that's the schedule I keep anyway. ...damn.