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
"Scanner's not picking up anything from this area anymore..."
The Titans and Red X had begun sifting through the rubble of the Laredo production facility, having no idea that just minutes earlier, Sedaris had already taken the quantum computer back to the Mycoso Building. Cyborg's negative scan didn't dissuade Robin from ordering a thorough search of the entire debris pile, but after nearly a half-hour of searching, it became apparent that wherever the quantum computer was, it was no longer there.
"It may have been destroyed in the collapse," said Red X, sitting on a large stack of drywall panels and placing his elbows on his knees.
"That's impossible, I detected it just an hour ago!" said Cyborg, taking another look at his scanner. "It was right here!"
Starfire wasn't going to give up on Robin's request so easily, and while the other Titans were taking a rest, she was frantically digging, her strong arms rapidly clearing away the rubble while her sharp eyes search for any sign of the quantum computer. Though sweat was beginning to form on her brow, she continued to search determinedly. She stopped when Robin placed a hand on her shoulder, turning her head to look at him.
"Starfire... I don't think it's here," said Robin, disappointment clearly registering in his voice. "We need to go back to the Tower and figure out something else... this isn't going to work."
"But Robin... Cyborg's scanners detected that the quantum computer was here!" said Starfire, before starting to dig through the rubble again. "You may not believe that the computer is in this debris pile, but I do, and I know that if I just keep searching, I will eventually-"
"Starfire..."
Robin's voice was calm, understanding... and his gentle touch signaled to Starfire that she needed to return to the Tower with the rest of the Titans. Letting out a sigh, the Tamaranian girl nodded and rose to a standing position, turning and joining the rest of her friends as they slowly walked back toward the T-Car in the building's parking lot.
"I bet someone came here and took the quantum computer," said Red X suspiciously. "Right before we got here... someone knew that we were looking for it and they came and took it away..."
Walking beside Red X, Raven briefly looked over at him before taking a glance around the entire perimeter of the building.
"That would explain why the computer wasn't here... but if someone removed the computer, Cyborg would've sensed that it was moved..." thought Raven, now bowing her head as she tried to think of anything that could explain the movement of the quantum computer. "There are some very sinister and powerful forces at work here... I just hope we can bring these last few people down before it's too late."
O-O-O
Outside of the Salazars' apartment, the T-Car had stopped to let Red X out in front of the building. Without any leads as to the whereabouts of the quantum computer, there was currently no one to go after at the moment, and the thief certainly didn't want to hang around Titans Tower any longer than he had to.
"I want you to call me up if you manage to find something," said Red X, walking over to the T-Cycle, which Robin had stopped right behind the T-Car. He handed Robin a slip of paper. "That's... that's my home number. Don't abuse it."
"We'll keep in touch," said Robin, still having his suspicions about Red X's motives, but putting them aside for the purpose of bringing down their common enemy. "And if you find anything..."
"You know where I'll be," said the thief, walking toward the apartment's fire escape and dashing up the metal steps. The T-Car sped off into the night, and Terra, seated in the back, gave Red X one last look as he climbed into his window on the third floor.
"Take care..." thought the blonde geomancer, still remembering the encouraging words she'd received from Red X earlier in the day. Seated next to Beast Boy in the back of the car, she could feel his right arm pressing up against her left side, and as the car turned a corner and headed toward the bay, Terra turned to Beast Boy and gave him a smile. "He's... kinda nice, when you get to know him."
"Yeah, he's not a bad bad guy like Slade... I mean, he doesn't actually hurt anyone, he just... likes to steal. A lot."
Terra looked up at the ceiling of the T-Car and let out a sigh, remembering that when she'd become a villain, she did enjoy hurting others... she even attempted to kill the Teen Titans. Was that the real reason that Red X had refused to become Slade's apprentice? Because unlike Terra, he never actually wished to hurt anyone?
"I was more evil than Red X was..."
On the other side of Beast Boy, Raven sat staring out the window, her chin resting on her left hand. For a brief moment, she could feel a strong negative emotion, and knew that once again, Terra was having a crushing moment of guilt and self-doubt. She glanced over at Terra and then returned her attention to the window, a hint of worry creeping up in her own mind as well.
"Be strong, Terra... be strong for Beast Boy's sake... you know how much he needs you..."
O-O-O
When Sanza emerged from his room, changed out of the Red X costume and wearing a red tanktop and a baggy pair of blue jeans, he could sense a wonderful smell drifting upward from the kitchen, and rushed down the stairs to see exactly what it was. He found his mother standing in front of the stove, cooking a generous amount of taco meat in a pan on one of the burners. She gave Sanza a smile as he entered the room, while Maddy, watching television in the living room, greeted him with a casual 'hey, Sanza'.
"You know, I saw the Titans' car pull up in front of the house," said Maria, using a wooden spoon to stir spicy ground meat in the metallic pan as she spoke. "I thought they usually took criminals that they caught off to jail."
"Ha ha, that's pretty funny," Sanza replied, peering over his mother's shoulder. "Actually, I'm helping them out now... there's a group of people trying to destroy the city, and we've gotta get some evidence so we can put them in jail."
Maria continued facing the stove, still having serious doubts about allowing her son to continue his lifestyle as Red X. Even if he was fighting for the side of good, Maria knew that Sanza was still putting his life in serious danger... and perhaps even endangering Maddy and herself as well. It would certainly take a while for Maria to get used to the fact that her son would be fighting alongside the Teen Titans... just a few days ago, she'd believed Sanza to be just another ordinary high school student with a few devoted friends and a bit of an attitude streak... she never dreamed that her son would one day become so much more.
"You... you remember to always be careful, Sanza... I want you to be safe, that's the important thing. You're my precious child, and..."
"Mom... I promise, I'm going to be all right," replied Sanza, punctuating his promise by kissing his mother on the cheek. "Just make sure to have supper ready for me when I get back from fighting crime."
With a cry of mock indignation, Maria set down her wooden spoon and turned to face Sanza, her hands on her hips.
"Now, just because you're a bigshot crimefighter now does not mean that I'm your slave, got it? I'm your mother and you're going to do what I say... and supper is when I say it is. If you're not back by the time it's done, then you'll get nothing for the night and you'll like it!"
Sanza, who could tell that his mother was joking, simply smiled and sat down at the kitchen table, laying his head down and waiting for Maria to finish cooking. Maria picked up her wooden spoon and continued stirring, while looking up toward the ceiling and issuing a silent prayer.
"God... please watch over my son... keep him safe and make sure he always fights with goodness in his heart... Amen."
O-O-O
A large, steady hand placed the durable glass test tube in a small, narrow hole built into the top of a tall, white pedestal. The pedestal stood in a room lit entirely with bright, blue light, a square room with white walls and crisscrossed by red lasers designed to alert everyone in the building to the presence of any person besides the only two men authorized to be in the room... Frederick Dullahan and Alex Sedaris.
"It's good to be returning the quantum computer to its rightful home," said Sedaris, turning to his employer and standing proudly in front of the pedestal. "And that is where it will stay... at least until it is ready to be moved again."
"In only a few days, the city will be completely destroyed... and this time, there's no way that the Teen Titans or that damned thief will screw it up," said Dullahan, staring at the test tube for several seconds before turning toward the door built into the room's front wall. He pressed his hand against the panel, causing the door to quickly slide open. "As for you and I... you did get those opera tickets I requested for the both of us tomorrow, didn't you?"
"Absolutely, sir," replied Sedaris, following Dullahan out of the room. As soon as he had exited, the door slid closed behind the two men. They began walking down a long, narrow hallway, passing through several more sliding security doors before returning to the main lobby of the Mycoso Building's 58th floor.
"Very good." The two men walked several more seconds before reaching a set of polished, wooden double doors, much different from the sliding glass panels that guarded the quantum computer. This set of double doors merely required a key to open, and soon, the two men were walking into Frederick Dullahan's plush, spacious office, complete with a carpeted red floor, small marble statues of Greek gods and goddesses placed strategically around the perimeter, and a large desk with a single leather chair sitting behind it. As soon as the door to the office was closed, Dullahan began to speak again. "The drill's been working for two weeks, correct?"
"That's right, it's getting very close to the point where the earthquakes can be triggered."
For several weeks, Dullahan's company had been in control of an enormous drilling device mounted several miles off the coast of Jump City. The drill was, of course, a last resort, a contingency plan in case the plans of Nicholas Jarvin and Dr. Ruell didn't go as scheduled. Both plans had failed spectacularly, but Frederick Dullahan was sure that his own plan, the most destructive and secretive of the three that the original group of six had concocted would work.
Far more confident of the plan, however, was Sedaris... and his plan took Dullahan's a step further. He had wanted to use the drill to cause more than just the destruction of Jump City... but his employer had rebuked him, wanting, at least for the moment, to keep the plan limited in scale. It was a point on which Sedaris had challenged Dullahan many times... but every single time, he'd been refused.
"Now, you'll be in charge of keeping operations at the drilling site secure... I will maintain remote control of the actual earthquakes themselves, for obvious reasons," stated Dullahan, walking over to his desk and looking up at Sedaris, who stood just across from him on the other side. "I trust that you will be able to handle anything that should come up."
"Of course," replied Sedaris, looking at his employer with one eye while keeping his other eye gazing at the window... from which the bay and the ocean could clearly be seen. "Just leave everything to me..."
O-O-O
Unlike the previous day, this day had not been very productive for the Teen Titans, who only had a couple of names to show for their efforts. The quantum computer had slipped through their fingers, and if there was an imminent threat to Jump City, the team was no closer to stopping it... even Beast Boy, the most optimistic of the group, couldn't be very happy with the day's events. He lay in his bed, staring up at the ceiling, thinking of all that had happened that day. The only good thing, in the changeling's eyes, was that Red X had shown up to help the group... but then again, Beast Boy knew that the thief could turn on a moment's notice.
"Just like Terra..." thought Beast Boy, instantly shaking his head to remove the thought from his mind. "What? No... no, Terra would never betray the team again! C'mon, Beast Boy, she's just been back a few days, and you're already... she's COUNTING on you... remember what Raven said..."
It was Raven who had given Beast Boy advice on numerous occasions throughout the week, and once Terra had returned, it was Raven who let him know how Terra was thinking... and that he needed to reassure her that everything was going to be okay.
"Terra's feeling better every day," thought Beast Boy, remembering how happy Terra looked when the two had spoken earlier that day, both in the Tower and in the T-Car. "She's slowly getting over what happened to her... and I've gotten over it too."
The door to Beast Boy's room slid open, and he sat up as the lights went on, almost expecting to see Terra standing in his doorway... but instead, it was Raven. She used her telekinesis to clear a path for herself through the trash and clothing strewn on the floor of Beast Boy's room and slowly walked over to him, stopping at the foot of his bed.
"Raven?" said Beast Boy nervously. "What... what do you-"
"Terra's still feeling uneasy... I could sense it in the car on the way home," said Raven. "Did she seem troubled when she talked to you?"
Beast Boy shook his head, his eyes widening as he thought about what Raven was telling him. Whenever he'd spoken to Terra, at least recently, it didn't seem like there was anything wrong... then again, Raven was an empath, and a lot better equipped to find out if there was anything wrong with Terra than Beast Boy was.
"I... I guess I could go talk to her again," said Beast Boy. Almost immediately, Raven shook her head. "But... but didn't you say she was-"
"She's trying to keep it hidden from you because she doesn't want you to feel any worse, Beast Boy... she's trying to deal with her feelings privately so you don't have to bear the burden of seeing her in distress."
"But... but I said... I said she could tell me anything, right?"
Of course he did... but then he found out about Terra working for Slade, and immediately condemned her. Beast Boy knew that he hadn't given Terra any real indication that she could trust him with some of her secrets, despite their friendship, despite the fact that they might be in love. Terra didn't want to hurt Beast Boy's feelings again by letting him know that she was sad. He knew that... and he also knew that Raven didn't want to see Terra hurt him again.
"Raven... Terra said that you... that you were really worried about me," said Beast Boy, slowly crawling toward the foot of the bed to get closer to Raven. "I... I remember everything you said to me after she was turned to stone... and I guess I never thanked you for any of that."
Raven was rapidly becoming uneasy herself, and as Beast Boy drew closer to her, she took a step back, unsure of exactly how she should respond to what her friend was saying. Any sort of emotional situation such as this was uncomfortable for Raven, who had to be careful to keep her emotions under control at all times... deep down, she was truly happy to receive Beast Boy's gratitude, but outwardly, any show of emotion would have to be carefully thought out.
"You needed it, Beast Boy. I was just worried that you might... not be Beast Boy anymore after going through something like that. It hurts to lose someone you care about... I just wanted to make sure that you'd be okay."
Though Raven had tried to remain emotionally neutral, there was a deep-seeded caring in her voice as she spoke, and Beast Boy could pick up on that, if only faintly. He knew that deep down, Raven truly cared about him as a friend... and he began to wonder if perhaps Raven trusted him with her true feelings even more than Terra did.
"I think I'll be fine, Raven... I'm just worried about how Terra's feeling, that's all..."
From the sad look on Beast Boy's face, it was clear that all Raven had managed to do was worry him... maybe she shouldn't have let him know that Terra wasn't doing well. He had an emotional bond with her, and whenever she was sad, he was sad... Raven was doing Beast Boy no favors by informing him of Terra's latest bout with melancholy.
"I shouldn't have said anything," said Raven, turning away from Beast Boy and back toward the door of his room. "I'm sorry..."
Immediately, Beast Boy reached out with his hand and touched Raven's shoulder. She turned to look back at him, and he gave her a smile, attempting to cheer her up... or at least make her feel as if she hadn't totally screwed up.
"It's okay... I know Terra's still feeling down... she'll get over it and be back to her old cheerful self again in no time! Then I can get her to give you a few pointers..."
"...thanks, Beast Boy," said Raven, her eyes narrowing and her frown growing bigger. "It's good to know I need lessons on feeling happiness. If you need me, I'll be in my room. Don't come into my room."
And with that, Raven left, having been annoyed once again by one of Beast Boy's attempts to make her laugh. He'd been trying to make Raven happier... and while it seemed to have only gotten her angry, Beast Boy knew that at least now, Raven didn't feel like a screw-up.
"Always works..." thought Beast Boy, a smile starting to form on his face. "Thanks again, Raven..."
Beast Boy didn't consciously know it, but at times it seemed as if he cared about Raven's emotions as much as he cared about Terra's...
O-O-O
As Sanza walked through the halls of his school on Monday morning, there was one person's face that he never expected to see... but just before reaching his first-period class, a person walked out of the woman's restroom, and when her eyes met Sanza's, both of them stopped completely in their tracks, Sanza nearly falling down as the shock briefly overwhelmed his senses.
Dressed in a green sweater and a pair of blue jeans and wearing very little, if any makeup at all, was Cleo, her red hair messy and disheveled, hanging all over her face. She narrowed her eyes at Sanza, the hatred for him still apparent in her sullen glare.
"Cleo? I..."
Sanza could barely form a single word, because whenever he tried to speak, visions of Cleo from two nights ago began to fill his head. Tears began forming in his eyes as he remembered every hateful word Cleo had spoken to him... everything that he knew must have happened to her.
"Sanza..."
Sanza found himself walking over to Cleo, his legs wobbling as he rapidly closed the gap between the redhead and himself. She stood her ground, not turning away even as he stood just a couple of feet in front of her, his eyes barely able to remain on her own for even a moment before they would look away, or Sanza would bow his head toward the ground.
"Cleo, I just... I just wanted to say... I'm sorry, and-"
"Stop right there," Cleo replied, leaning in close to Sanza and whispering in his ear. He could see tears already running down the sides of her face, and as she spoke, he knew that she was still extremely angry with him... and almost afraid to be anywhere near him. "The only reason that I don't turn you in to the police is because you did save my life... so you just keep right on being Red X... running around putting your friends' lives in danger... you just keep doing that, but I never want to see you again... I never want to speak to you, look at you... I don't want you looking at me in class, sitting by me in lunch, walking by my house..."
Sanza, who still felt love for Cleo in his heart, began to speak, but she immediately cut him off and kept right on whispering angrily into his ear.
"No, I don't care if you quit being Red X... I never want to look at you again... I hate you... you ruined my life and if you ever say another word to me again, I'll let everyone know who you really are, Sanza! You miserable bastard, get the hell away from me!"
And for the second time in two days, Cleo slapped Sanza across the face. Before the sting of the slap had even started to fade, the girl was long gone, storming down the hallway without even looking back at Sanza. It was now quite clear that the relationship... the friendship was truly, irrevocably over... and there was nothing that Sanza could say or do to change that. He could only hope that Cleo would recover from what had happened to her... with or without him by her side.
As he bowed his head and began walking again toward his first-period class, his cheek still aching from Cleo's slap, he heard two voices behind him, one male and one female... both of them quite concerned with what had just happened to Sanza.
"Hey... what was that all about, man?" asked Rob, as gently as he could. "Did you guys break up over the weekend?"
"No shit, Sherlock," said Marcy, elbowing Rob in the side and walking around to face Sanza. "It's all right... can you tell us what-"
"It was my fault," replied Sanza, not wanting to have anything to do with any of his friends at the moment. He started to walk around Marcy, but she stuck out her hand to stop him, and Rob gently spun him back around. "Guys, I don't wanna talk about this right now. Cleo's had a rough weekend, so have I... just give me my space right now, okay?"
"Aw... don't feel bad, Sanza..." said Rob, trying as best as he could to cheer up his best friend.
"That's right, there's plenty of other girls in this school!" added Marcy, gently reaching up to touch the spot on Sanza's cheek where Cleo had slapped him. "And you're a really handsome guy... I'm sure there are girls just dying to be with someone like you!"
"Yeah... everybody fantasizes about having a Latin lover!"
"ROB!" Marcy almost shrieked, walking around and playfully beating him on the chest with her fists. Letting out a loud sigh, Sanza managed to crack a hint of a smile, grateful that at least some of his friends were still loyal to him.
"Thanks, guys... I... I still need time to get over this, though."
"Well, if you need to talk to anybody..."
"Don't talk to Rob, he's an insensitive jerk," said Marcy, reaching over and placing her hand over her boyfriend's mouth. "Talk to me, I personally know several girls in this school who have their eyes on you and would be super happy to know you're available."
"Oh yeah, real sensitive..." thought Rob, rolling his eyes. Sanza chuckled a bit before turning away from his friends and heading back down the hallway, while Rob gently pushed Marcy's hand away from his face and placed it back at her side. "You know, there are better ways to shut me up, you know."
"Like what?" asked Marcy, before Rob almost immediately wrapped his arms around her and gave her a kiss. She squealed out of surprise, but didn't try to pull away, wrapping her arms around Rob's back and reciprocating the kiss with an equal amount of excitement. Sanza took a look back at the two as he entered the classroom, sighing again, almost jealous of his friend Rob for having such a wonderful companion in Marcy.
"I don't need to be thinking of love right now anyway..." thought Sanza, sitting down toward the back of the class and setting his backpack next to his chair. "I've got too much to think about without having something like that to distract me... I've got a city to help save."
O-O-O
As soon as he'd gotten home, Sanza had retired to his room to think of just where the quantum computer had been taken to. He knew that someone had gotten to it before the Titans had been able to search for it in the rubble... most likely someone working for Dullahan and Sedaris, or perhaps even one of the two men themselves.
"Sedaris I know isn't afraid to do his own dirty work... I'm surprised I didn't see him when the Titans and I went to take down the Jarvins..."
He still associated Sedaris closely with Cleo's abduction, despite the fact that it had been Lonnie Jarvin who actually raped her. Ever since he'd been soundly defeated by Sedaris in that shopping center parking lot, he'd wanted another shot at the young, burly bodyguard... even if he was tougher to beat than Slade. The thought of Slade made Sanza tremble, but Sedaris, despite the fact that he might be even stronger than Slade was, was a welcome challenge for the young thief... if only because Sedaris' arrogance might prove to be a glaring weakness.
But in order to get to Sedaris, Sanza knew that he had to figure out just where the quantum computer was... the computer that had caused him to become Red X again in the first place. He'd undertaken his first mission in several months to steal the computer, and had failed miserably... having been sent fleeing from the Mycoso Building with his tail between his legs.
It was then that Sanza got an epiphany... if the computer had been in the Mycoso Building once, then... perhaps it would be there again.
"They did have great security there last time... stopped me in my tracks..."
If the computer was back at the Mycoso Building, then Sanza knew he would have a tough task ahead of him... but this time, he'd know what he was up against, and his skills wouldn't be quite so rusty. This time, he would be successful...
"I'm going back to that building... but I'm going to need backup."
O-O-O
A half-hour later, Red X was back at Titans Tower, explaining his plans to Robin, Cyborg, and Starfire, who had all been gathered in the main room.
"Trust me, I already scanned that building along with the rest of the city... the computer's signal is off the map."
"I have a different idea," said Robin, turning toward the computer console and running a different kind of search. "I'm going to check the signals given off by all the skyscrapers downtown..."
"What will that accomplish?" asked Starfire, peering over Robin's shoulder as he ran his search.
"The reason that Cyborg can't scan for the computer may be because the antenna of one of these buildings is giving off a jamming frequency," said Robin, comparing the frequencies of all the downtown buildings to look for any abnormal readings. "I may have missed something yesterday... I'll try going into a bit more detail."
"I'm telling you, if my scanner was being jammed, I would know," said Cyborg, staring up at the screen as several sequences of green numbers and letters rapidly flashed by. Suddenly, one of the number sequences lit up in bright blue, and Robin triggered an immediate pause on the screen. Scrolling back several pages, he went carefully over the blue letters and numbers before managing to discern where they originated from.
"The Mycoso Building," said Robin, staring up at the screen.
"I knew it," replied Red X, his arms crossed over his chest. "I can steal the quantum computer and bring it back here... I just need you guys to back me up. Hack into the cameras and make sure I'm not being followed by any guards... I can do the rest."
X's confident tone was in stark contrast to the uneasiness that Robin was feeling about allowing X to go and steal from a corporate building... even if it was for a good cause.
"How do I know you won't just take that computer and keep it for yourself?" asked Robin. "I know you say that you want to bring these guys down, but... I don't feel good about helping you steal something."
"You won't lose any sleep," replied Red X. "Besides, even if I do keep the computer after you get all the evidence off of it... what's wrong with that? Guys who do drugs get their stuff taken by the police all the time. You call it stealing, I call it asset forfeiture."
"That's way different and you know it!" shouted Robin, pointing a finger in Red X's face. Cyborg immediately stepped between the two of them, his arms extended out to keep them away from each other.
"Robin, you know that Red X is the only one who can get that computer out of the building, and he needs our help to clear out the guards."
"All of this fighting will merely endanger Red X... if he cannot trust us to protect him, then how will he be able to successfully retrieve the quantum computer?"
Cyborg and Starfire both wanted Robin to allow the mission... and Robin did want the quantum computer, he just didn't fully trust Red X to get it to the team. Not only that, but the thought of helping Red X steal anything went against what Robin had made himself out to be as a hero... still, he knew that his teammates were right. Red X was the best person for the job, and he'd already gotten close to stealing the quantum computer before.
"All right... we've got your back," said Robin, his voice returning to normal. "But once you get that quantum computer, you bring it straight back here..."
Red X smiled beneath his mask, secretly relieved that the Titans had agreed to help him steal... as for bringing back the quantum computer, he knew that there would be no way for the Titans to stop him if he actually wanted to steal it for himself. He had their trust, and with the Titans' help, the guards would be powerless to do anything about him...
"One more thing," said Red X, his hands on his hips. "In order to stay in contact with you guys, I'll need one of your communicators..."
As Red X was speaking, one of the entrances to the main room had slid shut, and someone was walking toward the couch. Robin turned toward Red X and reached toward his belt, reluctantly ready to hand over his communicator, at least temporarily, to the thief... but, as he would soon find out, he wouldn't have to.
"You can borrow mine," said Terra, her voice coming from behind the couch. Red X turned to see the blonde holding her communicator out to him, a calm look on her face. "Just... be careful."
"Don't worry," said Red X calmly, reaching out to take the communicator from Terra's outstretched hand. "I won't let this thing get busted."
"I mean... you be careful, Sanza," said Terra, knowing that the thief was about to embark on a dangerous mission. Before he could respond, Starfire immediately chimed in with her own words of caution.
"Yes, please return safely... you are taking a great risk in attempting a mission that you once failed."
Red X shrugged his shoulders, clipping the communicator to his waist and walking toward the front door of the tower without a word. He could feel nervousness growing in his body, but managed to stave it off by thinking of the people who cared about him... his family at home... his friends... even the Titans. He remembered Starfire's kindness, and Terra's concern... and took one last look at Terra before making his way out of the room.
"I'll come back," he said, waving at the Titans, but mostly at Terra, whose beauty the thief was starting to notice even more... especially after Cleo had broken up with him. His thoughts of Terra were interrupted by Robin, who called out to Red X just before the door closed behind him.
"You know what your job is... don't make me regret trusting you..."
O-O-O
The thief entered the Mycoso Building just as he had done the last time, going through the parking garage to reach a working elevator, and climbing up the elevator cable to reach the 57th floor of the building, where the computer had once been kept. He emerged in the very same filing room that he'd phased into on his previous trip to the building, and after a quick check to make sure there was no one in the room, he emerged into the hallway, which at this hour of the early evening was well-lit. It was five-thirty, and most of the workers had left the office about a half-hour earlier... but there was still the occasional worker milling about, and whenever X saw someone coming, he had to phase into the wall, disappearing into another room until the person had walked by and the coast was clear.
"If I remember where to go, then the computer is on this floor..."
The thief quickly made his way to the lobby just outside the Advanced Research and Development wing of the building. It was in this lobby that he'd fought a giant, scorpion-like robot created by Nicholas Jarvin to keep any would-be thieves from getting to the quantum computer... on this occasion, however, there was no such robot, and Red X had an easy path to the room where he expected the computer to be.
He passed easily through several security doors, walking past the familiar rows of offices on the way to where he'd been stopped on his last visit, the laser-guarded door at the back of the research wing.
"No guards?" thought Red X, standing in front of the laser door and looking behind him to make sure that no one was watching. "I mean, it's still bright out, but... one would think that they'd always have rooms like this carefully guarded. Ah well... their loss."
He knelt down to the right of the door, the tips of his fingers lighting up as he pressed them against a black electronic panel just above his head. The panel began scanning his hand, and the xynothium on his gloves reacted immediately, forming fake fingerprints that signaled to the panel's AI that the thief's fingerprints matched those programmed into the database. The lasers guarding the door continued to glow, but another slot just above the panel opened, revealing a tiny black lens. X stood up and stared straight into the lens, which transmitted a laser that hit the material in front of Sanza's eye and was diffracted and reshaped to read his eye as the eye of someone who was authorized to enter. The slot above the panel closed, and the laser's guarding the door slid away. X stood in front of the door, which opened to reveal... a completely empty room.
"...the fuck?" muttered Red X, walking into the empty room where the quantum computer had once been placed, and looking around for several seconds to make sure it hadn't been tucked away in some hidden corner of the room that the thief had no knowledge of. He immediately took out the communicator that Terra had given him and opened it up.
O-O-O
Back in the main room of Titans Tower, all six members of the team had gathered to monitor Red X's progress. Raven had been able to hack into the building's camera system, including the camera placed in the very room where Red X was standing.
"Was that where the computer was before?" asked Robin, opening his own communicator to speak with the thief.
"This is the room, but now... they must have it somewhere else in the building," replied Red X, who could be seen on the camera standing in the middle of the room, looking down into his communicator. "Why the hell didn't you tell me it wasn't in here?"
"You didn't tell us you came in here to find it!" said Robin, a hint of anger in his voice. "You haven't said anything to us at all since you got inside the building!"
"Robin..." said Starfire, attempting to calm down her friend before addressing Red X herself. "We do not see the quantum computer in any of the rooms in the building... whatever room that they have it in does not have a camera."
Red X let out a long sigh, realizing that his task had just gotten a lot harder. He had no idea where the quantum computer was in the building, and even though he had the Titans to watch his back, searching the whole building for the computer's whereabouts would be a long, arduous process.
"I'm just gonna go up to the top floor and search," said Red X, his back turned to the room's entrance. In the main room of Titans Tower, the Titans' scan of nearby rooms had caught something moving rapidly toward the thief's location.
"There's something moving down the hall, through one of the security doors," said Raven, pointing up at the top-right section of the screen. "It's gone now..."
"I see it too, it just moved into the next room, but it's going really fast!" shouted Cyborg, glancing up at the section of screen just below the one Raven was pointing to. "Robin, you'd better warn X that there's something coming his way!"
But before any of the Titans could warn the thief, the section of screen that depicted the room X was standing in suddenly turned to static. The Titans let out an audible gasp.
"What's going on?" shouted Terra, her eyes widening and her voice lined with fear. "Red X is in trouble!"
O-O-O
While the Titans' indication of Red X's current state of distress had come in the form of static, the revelation had come in a much more dramatic form for Red X... in the form of a foot-long arrow, silver tip glistening ahead of a bright green shaft, embedded into the wall and sending a stream of sparks issuing from the room's destroyed surveillance camera. The thief immediately turned around, gasping at what he saw.
Red X was facing an enormous green robot, standing nearly twelve feet tall. The robot had taken on the appearance of a centaur, its bottom painted green while its human segment had a silvery glow, its arms extended to hold a large, green bow. Another arrow had been placed in it, and it was drawn back, the arrow's tip pointed right at the thief's head.
"I am Sagittarius Gamma," came a loud, booming voice from the mouth of the robotic centaur's humanoid front, "and I have been re-programmed by Sedaris to destroy all intruders."
The centaur robot fired another arrow, and Red X dodged to the right, barely able to get out of the way as the arrow whizzed past him and embedded itself in the wall. He glanced over and saw that the robot had completely filled up the doorway... in fact, it had actually crashed through, knocking out part of the frame of the door as its large body jammed into the room.
"I've got nowhere to run and not much room to dodge, either," thought Red X, watching in horror as another arrow emerged from the robot's chest, right into the humanoid section's arms and automatically loading into the bow. "Dammit!"
Instead of attempting to dodge the next arrow that came toward him, the thief raised his arms and formed a large, metallic, X-shaped shield. The arrow flew at Red X, piercing the center of the shield, which managed to stop the arrow, but not until it had completely penetrated the shield and was sticking two inches out of it.
"It punched right through the metal..." thought Red X, immediately putting down the shield and rolling to the left, doing another arrow before it could hit him. He raised his arms and blasted the centaur right in its face with several exploding Xs, which caused it to rear up on its back legs. "Now's my chance!"
Seeing a gap between the robot's legs and the room's exit, Red X attempted to dive underneath, doing a baseball slide through the gap. Unfortunately for him, he was about halfway through the slide when the centaur's front legs came down... right on his chest.
"OH MY GOD!" gasped Red X, letting out a loud, painful scream as he felt an intense crushing sensation pressing down on his heart. He immediately felt blood forming in his mouth, and his eyes widened as he realized that he severely miscalculated his slide. "I'm done for..."
The centaur robot's front legs continued pressing down on the thief's chest, rapidly pushing all the blood out of his lungs and putting an immense amount of weight on his ribs. In a desperate move, the young thief extended his arms and formed another X, this one designed to grab four different objects and then snap forward, pulling all of the objects together. The ends of the X hit the robot's legs at the ankles, providing just enough force to bring the legs up and off of Red X's chest. He rolled out from under the robot and emerged into a long, hallway, out of the room where he had believed the quantum computer to be, but clearly not out of danger.
"That... hurt... so much..." stammered Red X, weakly climbing to his feet and clutching his chest in pain. "Oh my god... aaaagh..."
As Sagittarius Gamma reared back again, the sticky X that had been trying to pull its legs together broke and dissolved, allowing it to turn around and face the thief, who was making his retreat by walking backwards down the hallway.
"Now I'm the one with a lot of ground to give..." said Red X quietly, his breathing still shallow as he looked behind him to see a wide-open doorway. "I can beat this thing... I just need to concentrate..."
Back in Titans Tower, Red X had walked back into the view of a working camera, and the Titans could catch a glimpse of both him and the large mechanical beast coming slowly toward him.
"He's okay!" shouted Beast Boy happily, though he wasn't too happy to see the robotic monstrosity that had apparently been the reason that the Titans temporarily lost sight of Red X. "Ugh... maybe not for long..."
"That thing came on so quickly, we couldn't see it..." said Terra, her hands weakly pressed to her lips as she watched Red X slowly make his way back down the hall. "He looks hurt... what happened to him?"
More arrows were fired toward Red X, who avoided most of them by jumping into the air or dodging to the side. He backed into another hallway, making his way past several offices at the large centaur continued its lumbering march toward him, clearly lusting for the intruder's blood.
"You cannot escape," stated the robot, its loud voice coming in an inhuman monotone. "Surrender or die."
"Funny, I was about to say the same thing to you," said Red X, firing several explosive Xs up at the ceiling and triggering the hallway's sprinkler system, showering the robot with water. It continued marching forward, but the thief had expected that it would take more than a short circuit to stop Sagittarius Gamma... which is why he decided to increase the intensity of the charge. "You're right where I want you now."
The thief blasted the floor right underneath the centaur with an X that created a powerful electrical charge, a charge that was multiplied by the fact that the robot was standing in a large puddle of water. Huge bolts of electricity came shooting upward from where the X had been fired, and this time, the robot did stop... and smoke began pouring rapidly from its metallic frame.
"F...fatal error..." came the robot's monotone voice, its bow lowering to its side as its head drooped limply. "Massive circuit overload..."
Stopping only to mock the robot with a display of the middle finger, Red X turned and dashed out of the hallway, exiting from the research wing and dashing through the lobby, turning to the right and climbing into the first elevator that he saw. He pressed the button for the 58th floor, and in seconds, he was in a new area of the building, the elevator door opening to reveal a long, well-lit hallway lined with several executive offices. As soon as he stepped out of the elevator, he could hear Robin's voice coming from his communicator.
"I see you dealt with the security robot," said Robin.
"Yeah, it was pretty simple for anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of electrical physics..."
"There are security guards all over your floor," said Robin. "The hallway that you're in right now is one of the only empty spots in the area, and there are several guards coming toward it. We're not the only ones who can see you on these cameras, you know."
Without saying a word, Red X placed his communicator back on his waist belt and turned to the left, running as quickly as he could and preparing for an engagement with several guards. As soon as he could see movement around the corner, he fired an X that hit the wall at the end of the hallway. When four guards emerged, their guns ready to fire, the X disappeared and a large, X-shaped piece of drywall toppled over them, allowing the thief to simply walk over the downed men and turn the corner.
"That was good, but there are several more guards right in front of you," said Robin, stating a reality that Red X was already well-aware of, having turned right into the barrels of four more guns.
"Hands above your head!"
"Okay," said Red X, blasting the ceiling with four Xs, from which dropped down long red chains that wrapped themselves around the guards' arms, ripping the guns from their hands and pulling them upward, suspending them by the wrists. "Oh, wait... you guys were probably talking to me. My bad."
X ran around the incapacitated guards and turned to the right, pushing through a large glass doorway and running down another corridor that was packed with guards. This time, instead of using his gadgets, the thief decided to fight his way through with fists and feet, delivering an assortment of kicks and chops to six guards who were rushing forward to stop him. As soon as he had cleared these guards, he pushed through another glass doorway and emerged into a large, spacious, carpeted lobby... with two guards standing on either side of the entrance through which Red X had emerged. Before they could point their guns at him, he leapt into the air and swung his legs outward, catching both men in the chin and dropping them unconscious to the floor. The only other person in the room, a receptionist with a pretty face and an orange ponytail, stood up and waved her arms in the air, her eyes wide with fear.
"Please!" shouted the receptionist, trembling and looking Red X right in the eyes. "I've been attacked by Control Freak, Mumbo, the Hive, Kardiak, Dr. Light, Killer Moth, Adonis, Mad Mod, and you on several occasions, and I really, really, really, REALLY don't want any trouble!"
Shooting the receptionist a quizzical look, Red X walked toward her and leaned on her desk, looking at her with his head planted firmly in his hands.
"Have you ever tried going into a line of work that doesn't involve supervillains attacking you?"
"B...b...believe me, I've tried..." squeaked the terrified woman, taking several steps back and pressing herself against the wall. "Um... I've always wanted to be a ballerina...!"
"Good. Do that," said Red X, turning around and taking out his Titan communicator. The main lobby had five exits, as well as an elevator... he wanted to know for sure which way he should be headed. "Robin, I'm in the top floor lobby... there's five doors leading out-"
"Are you sure there's five?" asked Robin, checking all of the camera feeds that he was receiving from the top floor.
"Camera's only showing rooms leading from four exits," said Raven, "and the two cameras both mounted in the main room show four doors as well."
"Maybe there's a blind spot..." said Red X, his eyes now focused on the clear, sliding glass doorway built into a wall just to the thief's right. "There's two glass double doors and two wooden double doors in this room... I need to know what's behind the lobby's single glass sliding door."
"I do not see that door on any of the camera feeds..." said Starfire, realizing immediately that that was the door resting in X's so-called 'blind spot'. "That must be the door where-"
"The quantum computer, got it," said Red X, immediately putting away his communicator and walking toward the sliding glass door. As soon as he was a few feet away from it, the receptionist meekly called out to him.
"You're... you're not supposed to go in there... Mr. Dullahan-"
"Mr. Dullahan's a criminal, and I suggest you get out of the building," said Red X, pressing his hand against the keycode panel next to the door and sending an electrical charge through the panel that triggered it to slide open. "Right now, you're on the wrong team..."
O-O-O
After passing through several glass security doors, the same doors that Dullahan and Sedaris had passed through the previous day, Red X found himself with only one door between him and the quantum computer... a single red door at the end of a long, well-lit hallway. He smiled to himself, casually walking toward the door and thinking of all the trouble he'd gone through to get this far... he knew that the object he was seeking, the quantum computer, lay behind this last door... and though the Titans could no longer detect the presence of any guards, it didn't matter to Red X... he'd beaten back twenty guards on this floor already, and if any more were coming, he'd simply phase through the floor. Once he had the quantum computer in hand, the guards no longer mattered.
"And to think... before I came in here, even I had my doubts about being able to steal that thing... but look at me now. I'm at the top of my game... watch out, Sedaris... I'm coming for you next."
Red X was halfway down the hallway, when a large green arrow pierced the floor about twenty feet away. He took a step back and let out a gasp, only to have another large arrow burst through the floor, even closer to where he was standing. Several more arrows then emerged, each one getting closer and closer, until one burst up just a foot in front of his face, embedding itself into the ceiling like all the others. By now, X was stumbling backwards so quickly that he nearly lost his footing.
"No way in hell..." thought Red X, looking down toward the floor. "I thought I-"
The floor in front of the thief exploded in a spray of carpet and concrete, and the barrage of debris caused X to raise up his hands in front of his face to shield himself. Sagittarius Gamma emerged from below, leaping up through the large hole it had made. Its body was still smoking and sparking, but it was still quite intact, and its powerful bow was as dangerous as ever.
"F...fatal... fatal error..." said the centaur robot, in an erratic, screeching mechanical voice. "Must... regain... integrity-"
"Stop him!" came a loud voice from behind Red X, causing the thief to turn around and see a large group of nearly three dozen guards, running toward him from down the hallway and smashing glass security doors with the butts of their rifles in order to get to him. The thief was trapped, and his way to the quantum computer had been completely blocked off.
"SHIT!" thought Red X, turning forward again to see the centaur robot leveling an arrow at his head. He quickly phased through the wall to his left, causing the arrow to miss him and head straight toward the group of guards, who threw themselves to the ground. The arrow passed by all of them, landing just inches behind the three guards in the rear of the group.
Red X was safe, at least for the moment. He'd phased into a large room with a long table in the middle... the conference room from which Dullahan and his cohorts had planned the multiple attacks against the city. Unlike the hallways leading to the room where the quantum computer was contained, this area did have a camera... and the Titans could once again see the thief perfectly.
"What happened?" asked Beast Boy, his eager voice emerging over the communicator on X's belt. "Didja get the quantum computer?"
"No," replied Red X, slumping against the wall and holding the communicator up to his face. "That damn security robot's back... and there's a bunch of guards with him."
"Didn't you short that robot out?" said Beast Boy, before Robin came in with a question or two of his own.
"How close are you to the computer? Do you know?"
"I was about to go get it when that robot popped up," said Red X, his eyes scanning the wall for several seconds before a realization popped into his head, and he closed the communicator. "Gotta go."
X ran along the length of the wall, dashing past several chairs and nearly reaching the head of the table before placing another X on the wall and creating an opening for him to go through. When he phased through the wall this time, he was no longer trapped between Sagittarius Gamma and three dozen guards... he was now behind the robot, with the door leading to the quantum computer right behind him.
Sensing the thief's presence, the robot spun around, leaping across the hole it had made in the floor and landing just a few feet away from Red X. It raised its arrow to fire, but the fact that it was shorting out made it difficult for it to regain its balance after such a powerful leap, and it began twitching for several seconds.
"Time for me to get the computer..." said Red X, turning away from the robot and placing his hand on the door's security panel. As the glove he was wearing began to form a set of fake fingerprints, X could see out of the corner of his eye that Sagittarius Gamma was beginning to fire an arrow. He reacted by crouching down and pulling his hand away from the panel... and instead of his hand, the centaur's arrow pierced the center of the security panel, throwing up a huge spray of sparks and causing smoke to emerge from the edges of the red door. He tried pulling the door open, but it wouldn't budge... and the robot was preparing to fire again. "NOW WHAT DO I DO?"
Another arrow rushed forward, and X dove out of the way. The tip of the arrow hit the red door and bounced off, the arrow itself landing several feet from the door. The robot then slowly lumbered forward, sparking with every step, while the guards behind the robot were separated from the intruder by both the robot's wide girth and the large, eight foot-wide gap in the floor between them.
"I may have to take matters into my own hands here..." thought Red X, blasting every spot that the robot was sparking from with an exploding X, in an attempt to destroy it by hitting its apparent weak points. The robot stumbled back, then charged forward, leaping toward Red X and swinging out both of its front legs in an attempt to kick him to the ground. He quickly ducked, and both of the robot's legs slammed into the red door, denting it and stunning Sagittarius Gamma. "That's it..."
X rolled beneath the robot's legs again, leaping onto its back and climbing toward the silvery, humanoid section in front. Clenching his fists as tightly as he could, he began beating on the back of the robot's head, diverting its attention and causing it to kick its legs forward again. With Red X on its back, its arrows were useless, though it could certainly attempt to buck him off... which is exactly what it did. The robot reared its back legs into the air, thrusting its head forward. X quickly wrapped his arms around the stomach of the humanoid section and held on for dear life, smiling to himself as the robot's head and legs slammed into the red door in front of it over and over again.
"Just a few more hits and that door should come right down..." thought Red X, just before a powerful forward thrust of the robot's head sent the thief tumbling forward, right over the centaur's head and back-first into the red door, his head and back slamming against the metal hard enough to nearly knock him out. "AGH!"
Dazed from the impact, his body racked with pain, Red X slumped against the dented door and looked up, just in time to see the tip of the robot's arrow pointed right at his forehead.
"Mom... I'm sorry..." thought Red X, once again able to taste blood in his mouth. "I... I told you I'd be safe, but-"
At that moment, the entire robot was surrounded by bright, blue electrical energy... it sparked several times, and a large plume of smoke emerged from its frame. Another field of electricity formed... and then another... and Red X began to cough, his eyes watering from the smoke and flames now emerging from Sagittarius Gamma's body.
"That's not good..." thought Red X, turning to the right and pressing his palm up against the wall. "Definitely not good!"
Red X phased through the wall, while the guards standing at the back of the hallway watched in amazement as the once-formidable security robot centaur gave off more and more smoke... before exploding in a huge fireball. The guards turned and ran as quickly as they could, running from the flames that were now engulfing the hallway.
Back in Titans Tower, the group watched in horror as flames burst through the conference room into which Red X had just emerged. They saw him disappear into the fire, and then the camera in the conference room went out, showing nothing but static.
"NO!" screamed Starfire, placing her hands to her lips. "No..."
"Tell me he got away before the fire hit him..." whispered Terra, leaning fearfully into Beast Boy's side.
"I... I don't know..." Beast Boy said, his voice trembling. "There was fire, then... I mean... he was..."
A crackling, weak voice, intermittent between moments of audio static, began coming through each of the Titans' communicators.
"The robot... blew up..." came X's coughing voice. "I don't... know if the computer... still... I'm gonna check, but..."
"Are you all right?" asked Robin, genuine concern in his voice.
"Please... please be undamaged..." said Starfire.
"I'm fine, I'm just worried about the computer... I'm... gonna check... I'll be back soon..."
O-O-O
The next hour was agonizing for the Teen Titans, who didn't hear a word from Red X as they continued to wait for him to return. They had no idea whether the computer had been blown up in the explosion... or even if it was behind the door that Red X had described to them.
"I haven't seen X on any of these camera feeds since he talked to us," said Cyborg, searching through as many of the building's cameras as he could. "Do you think the guards got him?"
"I'm not sure... he described that there were guards along with the robot, but they might've blown up in the explosion." Raven looked over at Beast Boy and Terra, who were seated on the couch, both of them looking very nervous as they watched the screen for any sign of Red X. She then glanced to Starfire, who was nervously pacing behind Robin and Cyborg, also intently waiting for any news. "At least we know he didn't blow up..."
Starfire nodded, staring up at the ceiling and trying to mentally reassure herself that Red X would be all right.
"He is very resourceful... he would not allow just a few guards to hurt him... he has fought against us before... mere security guards are no match for someone like him... I just want him to be safe, whether he gets the computer or not..."
"What if he's not coming back to the tower?" asked Cyborg, thinking for a brief moment that Robin's suspicions were true... that Red X would steal the computer and simply return to his home instead of bringing it back to Titans Tower as he was instructed. "What if... I dunno, what if he decided to steal it, like Robin said?"
"I don't think he would do that, Cyborg," said Terra, who out of all the Titans, knew the least about Red X... but from everything she did know about him, she knew that he was someone she could trust. "He might be a thief, but... he wants to take those guys down as much as we do. They hurt his friend... he's not going to do anything that would keep us from catching the people responsible."
Robin said nothing, continuing to watch and monitor the camera feeds for any sign of Red X. The other Titans didn't respond to Terra either... except for Beast Boy, who reached over and took Terra's hand, nodding in agreement to what she was saying.
"Terra's right... X wouldn't ditch on us... he's not like that."
While not nearly as eloquent as Terra had been, Beast Boy's words still made Terra happy, and she gave him a smile to let him know that she appreciated that he'd agreed with her. Just then, the door to the room opened, and all of the Titans turned their heads, watching as Red X walked into the room. He had Terra's communicator clipped to his waist, but nothing in his hands as he walked toward the Titans.
"Here," said Red X, reaching out to hand Terra the communicator. "I told you I'd bring it back safe."
Terra smiled and took the communicator back from Red X, relieved that he'd come back all right. Beast Boy stood up and smiled, though from the look that Red X was giving him, he realized that the thief had some bad news.
"You're back, that's awesome...!" Beast Boy said, raising his hand to give X a high five. X waved him off and walked over to Robin, who stood up and turned to him, looking the thief right in the eyes.
"So... did you get the computer?" asked Robin.
"You really put your butt on the line for us," said Cyborg. "Whether you got it or not..."
"Yes, please do not feel like you have failed... you had a difficult task, and there was no way that you could have known that the security robot would-"
"Starfire, shh," said Red X, turning back toward Robin. He bowed his head, then raised it again. "There was an explosion, and-"
"I see," said Robin, his voice clearly giving away his disappointment. "Well-"
"I'm not finished," replied Red X. "There was an explosion, right in front of the door leading to the room where the quantum computer was. After I stopped talking to you guys, I went back out to check the damage, and... everything was gone. The door, the wall, part of the floor... to make a long story short, well..."
Red X lifted his arm and reached behind his back, pulling a small, glass test tube out of the top of his suit. The tube was filled with a clear liquid, and both Beast Boy and Terra, having seen the tube when they and Red X were fighting Dr. Ruell, clearly recognized it as the quantum computer.
"You got it!" shouted Beast Boy. "Dude!"
"BOOYAH!" shouted Cyborg, pumping his fists repeatedly in the air. "Wait... that is the quantum computer, right?"
"Eighty grams of deoxyribonucleic acid suspended inside a glass test tube... yes," stated Raven, "that is the quantum computer. Well done."
A small smile had appeared on Raven's lips, though it was nothing compared to the joyous grin that was on Terra's face, followed immediately by the girl tightly wrapping her arms around Red X from behind, pinning one of his arms to his side, while the other, its hand still clutching the test tube, stretched out toward Robin, who took the tube from X's hand and handed it over to Cyborg.
"Extract all the information from this," said Robin. "It looks like we've got all the evidence we need to bring down Dullahan and Sedaris."
With a smile on his face, Robin turned toward Red X, who had just recovered from Terra's hug and had walked right into the arms of Starfire, whose crushing embrace pinned both of his arms and caused a great deal of pain to the thief's already bruised chest.
"Starfire, that gigantic robot STEPPED on me there," gasped Red X, trying in vain to get the Tamaranian to release her deathgrip on his midsection. "Aside from the horrific painful sensation, this is kind of nice..."
The Boy Wonder watched as Starfire hugged Red X, realizing that maybe he had made the right decision in sanctioning X's latest theft.
"Maybe you are capable of doing something besides stealing..." thought Robin. "If only you realized how much easier it would be for everyone if you decided to play the hero all the time..."
O-O-O
Red X got to steal and play the hero... and got hugs from Terra and Starfire on top of that! After several chapters of hardship, things are starting to look up for our favorite costumed thief... but even if the Titans now have carte blanche to go after the final two members of the doomsday cartel, it can only be assumed that Dullahan and Sedaris have a few more tricks up their sleeves... and as always, the clock is ticking!