AUTHOR'S NOTE: This doesn't take place in the same storyline as my "Forced Base" and "Fractured Heart" stories, so forget those when you're reading this. Also, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.
SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a sequel to "The Life and Times of Red X", which is in my profile. Read that before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.
O-O-O
The DNA within the quantum computer stored information in a similar fashion to an average hard drive, and it was quite easy for Robin and Cyborg to pull files from the computer's storage and convert them to raw data. Within the hour, the Titans had recovered evidence about several business dealings that Frederick Dullahan and his bodyguard Sedaris had had with the other four members of their group... and other files on the computer linked those four men to their attempts to destroy the city.
With the evidence they'd recovered from the quantum computer, the Titans had proof that Dullahan and Sedaris had committed crimes. It would now be up to them to take the two men down before it was too late to save the city. After storing and backing up the information on the Tower's computers, Robin and Cyborg returned to the main room of the tower, where Starfire, Raven, Terra, Beast Boy, and Sanza were seated in the kitchen, enjoying a dinner that Terra had made.
"I learned a few recipes during my travels," said Terra, watching as Sanza lifted a spoon from what appeared to be a bowl of soup. When the soup touched his tongue, he smiled and gave a slight nod.
"This isn't bad..." replied Sanza, quickly taking another spoonful of soup. "It's... spicy, but not too spicy... it's kind of like... I'm not sure, exactly, but it's good."
While Cyborg sat down at the table and got a bowl of soup for himself, Robin leaned on the counter and watched his friends for several minutes, waiting until they had finished dinner before interrupting them. As soon as Starfire had finished her soup, she looked over at Robin and gestured for him to come sit at the table.
"Please, come enjoy dinner with us! Terra has made a wonderful meal for us all to enjoy... it may not be warm anymore, but it is still very good!"
"I'm not really that hungry right now... I'm trying to figure out whether we should go back to the Mycoso Building to look for those two, or..."
Dullahan and Sedaris had obviously been out while Red X was at the building earlier that day. If they hadn't, the thief would have seen them... but would they have returned to the building in the time that Robin and Cyborg had been spending with the quantum computer, or would they still be out on whatever excursion had occupied their time earlier?
"Y'know, I pulled up a file on that computer that had their plans for this week... today's entry said something about an opera," said Cyborg, with a hint of uncertainty in his voice. "At least, I think it did... never can tell with those two, though."
Robin rubbed his chin with his finger, deep in thought. Only one theater in Jump City hosted such events... the Civic Arts Theater downtown. Tonight was to be the opening night of Les Angel Enfantes, one of the most exclusive events in the entire city. Thousands of people would be there, their tickets ranging in price from $1,000 to over $50,000... it was the social event of the decade, and anybody who was anybody in Jump City made sure to attend.
Sanza, having just finished his soup, was getting up to put his bowl and spoon in the dishwasher when he heard Cyborg mention the opera. Sanza had heard about it too, in passing... a group of rich kids at his school were talking about going, and he'd made fun of them for it. In Sanza's mind, the opera was the most boring thing a person could go to, and anyone who'd pay thousands of dollars to watch fat people sing for three hours was out of their mind.
If the Titans were going to the opera to catch Dullahan and Sedaris, Sanza wasn't even sure he wanted to go... even fighting as Red X couldn't change the fact that in his mind, the opera was hideously boring.
"The opera starts in about ten minutes," said Raven, checking a clock on the wall that showed a readout of '6:50'. "We should probably hurry to get there before it starts..."
"Yeah, we should," replied Sanza, pulling his Red X mask over his face. "I hate opera, and I don't want to see one minute of that snoozefest... if we don't get there before it starts, I might fall asleep in the middle of the mission.
"Dude, you got that right," said Beast Boy, laughing and reaching over to give Red X a high-five. "Opera totally sucks."
Red X shrugged off Beast Boy's high-five and walked over to Robin, who was still leaning on the counter just outside the kitchen area. He seemed deep in thought, as if he was planning strategy for the potential battle that lay ahead. When the thief tapped him on the shoulder, he said nothing, and X had to tap him a second time to get him to turn his head.
"Going now isn't such a good idea," said Robin, looking back at X and the rest of his team.
"Why not?" asked Starfire. "We must apprehend the two men before the opera begins... we do not wish to interrupt-"
"And Dullahan probably doesn't want to make a scene either," interrupted Robin. "He's the CEO of a powerful corporation... it'll be embarrassing for him to be seen as a criminal in front of everyone. If we take him down during the opera, he might not put up as much of a fight as he would if we got there right before, when he can run or make a scene without being noticed."
Robin knew that Frederick Dullahan was no ordinary criminal... he would have to be taken down much differently than someone like Cinderblock or Overload would. If the Titans could capture him without incident, it would be the best result by far... but there was still a wild card in the equation, and it was one of great concern.
"Okay, so you can take Dullahan quietly... what about the big guy with him?" asked Red X, having had first hand experience with Dullahan's powerful bodyguard. "What about Sedaris?"
"We'll handle Sedaris just like we do every other criminal," said Raven. "If he fights us, we'll take him down."
"That won't be so easy," replied Red X. "He might seem like just another ordinary human, but... he's more powerful than anyone I've ever fought before. He kicked my ass in less than five minutes. It took him two seconds to break out of restraints that Starfire couldn't break in six hours."
Starfire let out a quiet gasp... the idea of a human more powerful than she was didn't sit well with the orange-skinned Tamaranian.
"Is that... is that true?" she asked, her trembling hand held up to her lips. Red X nodded solemnly.
"We'll worry about Sedaris when we get to the opera house," said Robin, looking over at the clock on the wall. "It's 6:53... we'll head out at 7:30. Everyone, remember... the fate of Jump City rests on taking these guys down. We've done a lot of work to get to this point, but we've still got a lot to do... and everyone in the city is counting on you."
The other Titans nodded, while Red X just leaned against an adjacent counter and listened to Robin, showing no sign of emotion whatsoever. He knew the importance of the coming mission... and he knew what danger the city was in if Dullahan and Sedaris remained at large.
And Red X also remembered Cleo... and how he still had to make the people responsible for what had happened to her pay. He remembered what his mother and Father Abuela had said about revenge... but at the moment, the thief didn't care.
"Sedaris... you and I are going to fight again... and this time, you're going to lose."
O-O-O
The opera played out to a beautiful, 5,500-seat theater, its walls and ceilings decorated with murals, lights, and golden-leaf paint that gave it a shining, brilliant appearance. The theater had four balconies, and on the very highest one were Dullahan and Sedaris, seated alone in the front two seats of the twelve-seat box directly in the center of the fifth-level balcony.
"It's beautiful... though in just a short time, it will all be gone," said Dullahan, a regretful tone in his voice. "Just a few days from now... though I'm sure a much more beautiful theater will be built on the ruins of this one."
Sedaris said nothing, simply giving a nod to his employer and staring down at the stage. The curtain had just begun to rise, and as the lights in the theater slowly dimmed, Dullahan opened his mouth to speak again.
"Sedaris, I hope you're not too enthralled with the events on stage to talk to me," said Dullahan, looking over at his bodyguard, whose eyes remained fixed on the rising curtain. "If this is about me rejecting your plan..."
Sedaris turned his head and gave Dullahan a quick, bitter look, then returned his gaze to the stage.
"You know that destroying more than one city at a time would make it impossible for us to secure all the necessary contracts! It would be a huge waste of money, as well as lives... this has always been about money, your plan would be far too destructive and-"
"You're the boss, sir," said Sedaris, watching as the first performer walked out onto the stage. He spoke as if he was in a daze... something was in the back of his mind, and Frederick Dullahan knew it... though he had no idea what his young bodyguard could possibly be thinking. Giving no further thought to the matter, Dullahan leaned back into his chair and began watching the opera.
"We're so close now... we've been close twice before and the Titans have ruined it... if Sedaris ruins THIS, I'll never forgive him. He's too smart for his own good..."
A woman in the middle of the stage, her platinum-blonde hair and flawless white angel costume shimmering in the bright lights shining upon her, began to sing with a beautiful soprano that lifted all the way up to the top balconies... thanks to the theater's perfect acoustics, Dullahan and Sedaris could hear the woman perfectly. As a warm smile slowly appeared on Dullahan's face, Sedaris retained a deadly serious scowl... his eyes were trained perfectly on the young soprano's, and his chin came to rest on his interlocked fingers.
"Such beauty... such beauty that I will destroy... not for the sake of money, but for the sake of destruction itself..."
Sedaris looked over at Dullahan, who seemed to be completely transfixed with the beautiful woman's music. It was a stark contrast from just a few minutes ago, when the old man had chastised Sedaris for wanting to focus only on the stage.
"You think you can do whatever you want... but you're wrong. I'm the only reason you still have a plan to destroy the city..."
The bodyguard leaned back into his own chair, listening to the remainder of the song... he was lying in wait, in wait for a moment, a moment whose imminence was unknown to everyone except for Sedaris himself... a moment when the first of a sequence of deadly and terrible events would be wrought upon the world.
And Frederick Dullahan had no idea...
O-O-O
"Azarath, metreon, zinthos... azarath, metreon, zinthos..."
The time that the Titans spent waiting to go out to the opera was the perfect time for Raven to perform her daily meditation... she sat in a hallway facing a window and closed her eyes, calmly focusing her inner energies.
A finger tapping on her shoulder quickly brought her out of her peaceful state. She kept her eyes closed and tried to focus again, only to hear Beast Boy's voice ringing in her ear.
"Raven? I need to ask you something..."
Beast Boy hadn't wanted to interrupt Raven's meditation... he had an important matter to discuss with her and he didn't think that it could wait until after the Titans' mission. An annoyed Raven stood up and turned around, her left hand firmly resting on her hip.
"Beast Boy, I do not have time to-"
"Before we go out, and um... finish this whole corporate destruction of the city thing, I just... I needed to ask you something important..." Beast Boy nervously tried to finish his sentence, but Raven knew exactly what subject that her changeling friend wished to address, and as he opened his mouth to speak again, Raven finished for him.
"Beast Boy, if this is about Terra... you already know what I think. We've talked about this, and-"
"Do you trust her?"
Raven let out a sigh, leaning back her head and trying to show Beast Boy that she'd grown annoyed of his constant questions about the blonde geomancer.
"Because, I just... I think that maybe if she knew you trusted her, she might not... I mean... she might not be so sad?"
"Beast Boy, I know she's not going to betray us again..." After Raven and the Titans had gone through so much because of Terra's betrayal, Raven found herself surprised to be saying such a thing... especially considering how unsure of herself Terra still was. "She's not sad because she thinks I don't trust her. She's sad because-"
"Maybe she thinks I don't trust her..."
"Beast Boy, you've always been her biggest supporter," said Raven, turning her head toward Beast Boy and looking into his eyes. "After she betrayed us, you were the only one who wanted to give her a second chance... after she turned to stone, you visited her statue almost every day..."
"You came with me a few of those times..." thought Beast Boy, remembering how, especially in the first and second months immediately following Terra's transformation into a statue, that Raven had accompanied him to make sure he was all right... Robin, Beast Boy, even Starfire had other things to do, but Raven had come with him... she could sense how sad he was feeling and wanted to give him support, even if he spent the trip there and back attempting to make her laugh at his jokes. "Raven... thanks for everything you did for me... if I didn't have someone like you around to... I mean, I..."
Raven turned back toward the window and closed her eyes again... Beast Boy's words of thanks, as much as they meant to her, were keeping her from being able to focus... and filling her with emotions that she needed to keep under control. When Beast Boy saw that Raven had begun meditating again, he let out a sigh and turned away from her. Immediately, the two of them heard Robin's voice echoing down the hallway.
"Titans, it's time to move out! Let's get to that opera house and take down a couple of criminals!"
With another loud sigh, Raven stood up and turned to run down the hallway... Beast Boy was already running. She hadn't gotten time to finish her meditation... and it had been because she'd spent the last few minutes of her time talking to him.
"Why did I even give him the time of day?" thought Raven, following Beast Boy as the two returned to the main room of the Tower. "He's got Terra to talk to now, he doesn't need me..."
That Raven understood Beast Boy's emotions even better than Terra did didn't even occur to the gray-skinned empath... all she had to focus on now was bringing down Dullahan and Sedaris before they could inflict destruction on Jump City. She had no idea that Beast Boy was harboring feelings for her potentially as intense as the ones that he openly professed for Terra... but Beast Boy himself was becoming increasingly aware of the emotional conflict in his mind, and it bothered him more with every second... the fact that Terra was still unsure of herself brought Beast Boy no comfort.
"Hey, Beast Boy!" Terra called out to him, waving her arms as he entered the main room. She, the other Titans, and Red X, were standing by the front door, preparing to head out. With a smile and a laugh, Beast Boy ran over to Terra, who seemed to be as joyful as ever. "You ready to go catch these guys?"
"I've never been more ready for anything in my life!" said Beast Boy, eagerly pumping his fists.
"Awesome," said Robin, a smile on his face as he stood next to the front door. "All right, Titans... let's do it!"
O-O-O
"I can't get enough of this ingenue that they've got... her voice is just amazing!"
Dullahan looked over at Sedaris, who hadn't said a word or made a sound since the conversation that the two had had at the start of the play. The bodyguard remained deep in thought, his eyes focusing directly on the lead female... it was a familiar expression for Sedaris, who, as part of his job, remained stone-faced and vigilant as he guarded his rich and powerful employer. Perhaps he was scanning the crowd for snipers, or watching the stage for anything that might go wrong in the play... and Dullahan shrugged and gave it no heed.
"Still on the job, always on the job... you're so good at your job, Sedaris. In the eighteen months since I hired you, I've never been so much as looked at the wrong way... Voscoti was right, you're the best bodyguard in Jump City."
Sedaris gave a quick, proud smirk, but his eyes remained fixed on the stage, where the action was really beginning to pick up... the orchestra was entering into a loud, chaotic movement, and the sounds of the instruments perfectly complimented the singing on stage. It was at this moment that Sedaris rose from his seat and began walking to the back of the box.
"Sedaris, you're going to miss the best part of the whole opera!" said Dullahan, pointing at the stage. "This is the Vivaldi Movement, I've read about this in the paper... it's very uplifting, and-"
"I'll be back," replied Sedaris.
"All right... but you're going to regret not being able to hold it in."
As soon as Dullahan had turned back toward the stage, Sedaris stopped and slowly began walking back up to the front of the box. His steps were silent, his mind working with cold, efficient precision. When he was directly behind his employer, his hands slowly drifted around to the front of the man's neck... only when his grip was firmly in place did Frederick Dullahan suspect a single thing.
"You business types are all the same... thinking only of the profit margin, never looking to the big picture... always wanting to stop before your returns begin to diminish."
Sedaris' voice showed not a hint of emotion... retaining the same calmness that it had during his eighteen months as a bodyguard. Dullahan started to speak, but the hands around his neck were far too tight, and far too strong. He could feel his bodyguard's fingers slowly drifting toward a single bone in his neck... and he let out a silent scream.
"Project Deep Rupture? I prefer to call it Dark Calamity..."
O-O-O
The Titans and Red X rushed into the opera house, pushing past a man in red who meekly attempted to ask for their tickets. The man was immediately chastised by his manager, who explained to the man in no uncertain terms that the Titans were obviously on one of their missions.
"I just... I just... I'm sorry, sir," said the ticket-taker, meekly bowing his head.
"I just wonder what the hell could be going on in my opera house that the Titans need to stop?"
The seven teens dashed up to the front desk, where three people, two of them well-groomed men in tuxedos, and another of them a woman in a black dress, were running an information booth that distributed programs and souvenirs from the opening night of the play. As soon as they saw Robin and his team, the three of them immediately focused their attention on the Boy Wonder.
"May I help you?" asked the woman in the black dress.
"We need to know where two of your guests are seated... Frederick Dullahan and his bodyguard, Alex Sedaris."
"The two of them have specifically requested that they not be disturbed during the evening," said the woman, who, after a brief check of her computer, realized that the men's names were blocked out of the system. "I... I can't tell you where they-"
"This is a VERY serious situation!" said Robin, his voice rising to a shout. He leaned over the front of the desk and looked the woman right in the eyes. "I don't care what they requested, I-"
"No, I seriously can't tell you!" replied the woman, turning over the monitor of her computer so that Robin could see it. "The computer lists them as if they weren't even here! They paid a lot of money for this privilege, I-"
"I'll see what I can do," said Cyborg, leaning over the woman's desk and rapidly typing instructions into her keyboard. "Lessee here... okay-"
"There it is," said Raven, pointing at the screen as soon as the two men's names came up. "They're on the Presidential balcony on the fifth level. Let's go."
"You heard Raven... Titans, move!"
The Titans and X rushed away from the desk and toward a flight of stairs on the right side of the lobby. Cyborg was the last to join the team, having bent himself into a position that made it very difficult for him to get off of the desk... finally, he did, and ran up the stairs to meet up with the rest of the Titans.
The group climbed one flight of stairs, then another... and soon, they were on the fifth floor, staring at a sign that pointed them in the direction of several balconies. To their right side was a long wall lined with fancy-looking wooden doors... but only one of them, the door right in the center of the hall, led to the Presidential balcony occupied by Dullahan and Sedaris.
"It's to our left, five rooms that way!" shouted Robin, pointing down the hallway as soon as the group made it onto the fifth floor.
"Ugh..." thought Red X, wincing as he heard the loud music emanating from just behind the nearby doors. "It sounds boring from here..."
As the Titans made their way down the hall, they passed several well-dressed patrons... including a particularly large man who appeared to be running in the direction of the stairs. The man rushed past the Titans, and bumped into Starfire before dashing down the stairs leading to the fourth floor. Starfire turned, and could clearly see the man's face for a split-second as he charged past. She stopped in the middle of the hallway as her mind processed what she had seen... a tall, muscular man in sunglasses, coming from the direction of what appeared to be the Presidential balcony...
"He is... could he perhaps be...?"
Starfire glanced to her left... Red X and her fellow Titans were already several doors ahead of her, and about to enter the area where Dullahan and Sedaris were supposed to be. She looked toward the stairs again... the muscular man was gone, having disappeared down the stairs.
"It will not hurt to take a look... I have my communicator, I will not be long..."
The group of seven, now a group of six, stood in front of a large door with 'Presidential Balcony' marked above it, the words engraved in a shiny, golden plate. Robin reached down to grab the handle, while the other four Titans took fighting stances. Red X, on the other hand, had noticed that someone was missing.
"Hey, you guys, wait... where's Starfire?"
Robin's hand loosened from the door handle, and he turned around, checking the group. He saw Raven, Beast Boy, Terra, Cyborg, X... but no Starfire.
"Starfire?" Robin looked back and forth down the hallway. Starfire was nowhere to be found... had she gotten lost in the halls of the crowded building? Or had she been the victim of something far more sinister? "Starfire!"
"Robin, chill... I'm sure she's fine, this is just a big building... let's just worry about Dullahan for now," said Cyborg, walking past Robin and placing his own fingers around the door handle. "After we take care of these two, we'll look for Starfire..."
Robin let out a sigh, realizing that Cyborg was probably right. The Titans wouldn't have a better chance to go after Dullahan and Sedaris, and if the team wasted time looking for Starfire, the men might slip out of their grasp. Still, Robin couldn't help being worried... and he kept his fingers firmly gripped around his Titan communicator, intending to call Starfire the instant that Dullahan and Sedaris were secure. Robin gave Cyborg a nod, and he slowly pulled back the door, opening up the small, carpeted balcony.
The music emanating from below could clearly be heard now as the group walked through the narrow pathway in the center of the balcony, containing three rows of seats, four in each row, with the pathway separating them in the middle.
"There he is," said Terra, pointing to the silhouette of a clump of hair, sticking up from a seat in the front row to the very left. "That's Dullahan... I think..."
"No sign of the bodyguard, he might be in the seat next to him," whispered Cyborg, as Robin made his way up to the front row. A loud series of trumpet and violin notes, punctuated by loud drumming and the clashing of cymbals, gave the scene a foreboding and almost terrifying mood... a mood that could very well be punctuated by an impending fight, should Dullahan's bodyguard attempt to engage the Titans. Robin, now at the front of the balcony, turned toward where Dullahan was sitting and opened his mouth. What he saw shocked him into stunned silence.
"Dear god..." whispered Robin, immediately drawing Beast Boy and Terra to where he was standing. When they saw what the Boy Wonder had just laid eyes upon, they too were completely shocked. Terra began to let out a shriek, only to stop herself by placing her hand over her lips.
Frederick Dullahan was dead in his chair, his neck snapped to the side at a vicious angle. His eyes and mouth were wide open, his last moments obviously having been spent in pure horror. A small stream of drool trickled from the left side of his mouth. By now, Cyborg and Raven had also come up to the front of the balcony... and both of them reacted the same way as the others. Even Raven was horrified.
"Who could have done this?" gasped Raven, her eyes wide.
"Only one person," said Robin, scanning the entire balcony for any sign of Dullahan's bodyguard. "Sedaris."
"And... Sedaris is gone," added Beast Boy, the shock of seeing Dullahan's body still evident in his voice.
"Not just Sedaris," said Cyborg, looking around the balcony. "Red X is gone too!"
O-O-O
Starfire walked through the halls of the ground floor, ignoring the looks given to her by theater patrons surprised to see one of the Teen Titans at the opera house. She knew for sure that she'd seen Sedaris running past her... or at least someone she thought was Sedaris, both from the information Red X had given her and from the picture she'd seen Robin pull up on the Titans Tower computer.
"I will not allow you to escape... I know that you have caused just as much damage as the others, despite the fact that you are merely a bodyguard..."
She'd heard what Red X had told her about Sedaris... that while he was just an ordinary human, he possessed strength exceeding even her own... but while that fact did make Starfire nervous, she wasn't intimidated, and she wasn't afraid. She was going to find Sedaris and bring him down. It was her duty as a Teen Titan... she just wished that she'd told Robin before she'd left the group.
"I know that he will worry about me... he is probably worried about me right now... I would be worried if he was gone..."
She turned a corner and began walking down another hallway, this one containing rooms that were meant for use by the theater's more luxurious guests. As she walked past a door marked 'Catering Room', she could hear the door creak open... but before she could turn to face the sound, a hand clamped over her mouth and she was immediately dragged inside, the door closing behind her.
Starfire screamed fearfully, just as the hand moved away from her lips and a pair of powerful arms tossed her into a large, wooden table. The table broke on impact, and several metallic cups, bowls, and plates were sent flying as Starfire slammed into the wall behind them. In a daze, she took several seconds to stand... and when she did, she could clearly see the same person who she'd trailed on the fifth floor.
"I know you..." said Starfire, rubbing a spot on her arm where she'd hit the wall especially hard. "You are Alex Sedaris!"
"And you're Starfire," said Sedaris, straightening the sleeves of his tuxedo coat and adjusting his dark glasses. "I've heard a lot about you..."
Not waiting to exchange pleasantries, Starfire pointed her palms at Sedaris and blasted him with several Starbolts, filling the entire front half of the catering room with a large plume of smoke. The smoke cleared, revealing that Sedaris and his tuxedo were completely unharmed. With a stunned gasp, Starfire put her hand to her lip and nervously pressed herself against the wall.
"You are... undamaged... but that is impossible...!"
"Impossible for a normal human, yes... but you see, I'm much different than a normal human. I've been genetically enhanced by the government... I can do things that most people only dream of."
In the second that it took Starfire to comprehend Sedaris' words, he'd already run across the small room and had driven his elbow into Starfire's face. She was slammed hard into the wall, which cracked in several places that her body had impacted. Before she could counterattack, Sedaris had plowed his fist into Starfire's gut, knocking nearly all the wind out of her body, and causing her to let out a loud gasp.
"I really didn't want to deal with any of you Titans today," said Sedaris, interlocking his fingers in front of him and popping his knuckles. "But then I saw you all by yourself, and... well, I guess you could say I'm sending a message."
Starfire had been hurt, and could feel blood slowly start to trickle from the right side of her lip... but she wasn't about to be intimidated by Sedaris. He might not be a normal human, but he was still human nonetheless... and definitely still beatable. Starfire clenched her teeth and charged forward, striking Sedaris with a powerful punch to the left side of his face. He stumbled back, his head knocked to the side by the force of the blow. With a loud battle cry, Starfire blasted Sedaris in the chest at point-blank range with a large Starbolt, sending him flying across the room, his body impacting the door a short distance away.
"You will find that I will not be so easily pushed around... you may be bigger than me and you may be stronger than me, but..." Starfire narrowed her eyes, a sense of satisfaction filling her as she heard Sedaris groan while attempting to stand. "...but I am NOT going to lose!"
Starfire flew at Sedaris just as he stood up, swinging her leg around to kick him in the face. He reached out and grabbed her by the ankle, flinging her into the wall next to the door and making another large crack in the wall. Starfire exhaled quickly, recovering from Sedaris' attack and blasting him in the throat with her eye lasers. Letting out a gasp of his own, Sedaris clutched his neck and stumbled back toward the side of the room, where another large table had been placed, a large bowl of cheese fondue set out on its left side.
"I shall make him regret ever starting a fight with me..." thought Starfire, quickly flying over to the table and slamming her elbow into the right side of the table. The table broke, and its left end flew up into the air, sending the bowl of cheese fondue up with it. The bowl turned over and landed on Sedaris' head, covering him in the hot, cheesy liquid and ruining his tuxedo. Without any sign of emotion, Sedaris reached up and removed the bowl from his head, tossing it aside and throwing his cheese-covered sunglasses away with it. Starfire stood several feet away, giggling to herself at the sight of her opponent and the fondue dripping off of his body.
"All right, girl... you've had your fun," said Sedaris, pounding his left fist into his right hand. "Now it's time for that fun to end."
Sedaris rushed forward at Starfire, who threw herself to the ground and slammed her feet into the bodyguard's stomach, lifting him over her body and throwing him backward. With amazing dexterity, Sedaris did a full backflip and landed just behind Starfire, his back to her head as she slowly sat up. In less than a second, Starfire was down again, as Sedaris kicked backward and caught her right in the back of the head. She let out a scream and clutched the back of her skull, rolling onto her side and grimacing in pain.
"I told you, the fun is over right now!" Showing his first hint of anger since the fight had begun, Sedaris kicked Starfire in the back, a kick that sent her flying into the wall, bouncing off of it and landing on her back on top of the broken fondue table. "I'm about to make you wish that your friends were taking this beating instead of you..."
"I would never forsake my friends because of a mere hint of discomfort!" shouted Starfire, rising to her feet and tossing several Starbolts at Sedaris as he came toward her. The powerful bodyguard shielded himself by crossing his arms in an X pattern in front of his body, then, once he was right next to Starfire, he wrapped his hand around her neck and slammed her into the wall. Keeping his tight grip on her throat, Sedaris began slamming the girl into the wall over and over again, creating a larger and larger crack every single time. "He is making it hard for me to breathe... I must do something!"
Starfire blasted Sedaris in the face with her eye lasers, which only served to stop him for a brief moment before he began slamming her into the wall again, each time seemingly more painful for Starfire than the last. She could feel the air slowly slipping from her body, and she tried gathering her energy to use her eye lasers again, but the pressure that Sedaris put on her neck made it impossible to focus her powers, and she could slowly feel herself beginning to pass out.
Finally, with one powerful hit, Sedaris completely broke through the wall, sending Starfire through a layer of drywall and brick and into a broom closet adjacent to the catering room. Two teenage theater employees who had been making out in the closet fled in terror, and Starfire herself was thrown to the concrete floor. She gasped several times, taking in all the dust and debris created when Sedaris had knocked her through the wall. She clutched at her throat and began to choke, desperately seeking some source of air, her eyes wide and terrified as she lay on the closet floor.
"He... he is gone..." thought Starfire, briefly peering through the large hole in the side of the closet and checking the interior of the catering room for any sign of Sedaris. She gasped and choked several more times, finally able to sense that air was returning to her body. Despite the fact that she could breathe in the vacuum of space, her lungs became accustomed to oxygen while she was on Earth, and before she could return to an airless environment, she had to acclimate herself. Flying through the gradually-thinning atmosphere of Earth gave her time to do this... being choked did not. "That was... that was horrible..."
Just as she was beginning to pick herself up from the ground, the tall, foreboding Sedaris filled the doorway of the closet, staring down at her with contempt. She let out a shriek and tried to stand, but almost immediately, Sedaris dove upon her. She lifted up her knees and caught him in the stomach, but that stopped him for only a moment, and before she could blast him with Starbolts, he punched her in the face repeatedly, his fist slamming into her cheeks, her nose, and her mouth.
"I'm not through with you yet, bitch," said Sedaris, reaching up and grabbing a large, gallon-sized jug of industrial-strength cleaning solution. He opened up the top of the jug and held it in one hand, while using the fingers of his other hand to hold Starfire's eyes open.
"NO!" thought Starfire, her hands pressed to her side by the force of Sedaris' weight on her body. She thrashed desperately, but she was helpless to stop him. "Please, do not...!"
"This will sting a little," said Sedaris, before pouring the entire contents of the jug into Starfire's eyes. She let out an extremely loud series of screams, her eyes in complete agony as Sedaris emptied the jug into them. When he tossed the jug away and stood up, Starfire was rolling on the floor of the broom closet, screaming and clutching her hands to her face in pain. "Hey, it's not my fault you didn't read the jug. It clearly says on the side, 'do not get in eyes'."
If she was a human, Starfire would have been permanently blinded. As it was, Starfire's eyes had turned from green to red, and were completely bloodshot. She was in immense pain, but she could still see... though her vision was hazy at best. She tried to focus so that she could hit Sedaris with a Starbolt, but he struck first, repeatedly kicking her in the side and sending even more pain through Starfire's body. She crouched into the fetal position and tried to fend off his attacks, all the while planning a counterattack of her own.
"Not like this... I am strong... I can defeat him... I will not be shamed like this..." thought Starfire, as another hard kick came into her side. She let out a muted scream of pain, though the pain in her sides was nothing compared to the stinging in her eyes any time she tried to open them. She gritted her teeth and again tried to get up, only to have Sedaris' foot come down hard on the side of her head.
"I told you I was going to send the Titans a message," said Sedaris, raising his foot over Starfire's head again. "When they see your beautiful little brains splattered all over the walls of this broom closet, I think they'll get that message loud and clear."
Sedaris brought down his foot, and Starfire let out an involuntary scream, horrified that she was about to come to a very grizzly end.
"Get this message," said Red X, spinning Sedaris around and slicing his X-blade across the bridge of Sedaris' nose. With a loud cry of pain, Sedaris wiped the blood from his face, then raised his fist and punched the thief hard in the face, sending him flying out of the closet. The thief impacted the wall on the opposite side of the hallway, and Sedaris quickly stomped toward him, ignoring Starfire for the moment and focusing on the thief who had ruined the city-destroying plans of his predecessors.
"You're the last person I expected to show up," said Sedaris, sending another punch at Red X's head. X dodged to the side, allowing Sedaris' fist to come right past him and embed itself into the wall. He then blasted Sedaris with several exploding Xs, which at their close range proved to be quite powerful, sending Sedaris back several steps.
"And the last person you wanna see." A large, metallic X came right at Sedaris, hitting him in the chest and sending him flying down the corridor. Dozens of horrified bystanders fled past the two, but neither Red X nor Sedaris cared, and the latter quickly knocked the X away from his body and began walking toward the thief again.
"You have no idea what you're getting yourself into, child," said Sedaris, leaping into the air and sending a spinning kick straight at Red X's head. X was barely able to duck under the kick, rolling away from Sedaris and getting into a standing position again. "So, where are the other Titans? I assume they've already found Mr. Dullahan."
"That's right," replied Red X, "and without you around to protect his ass, he's probably halfway to jail by now."
The unintended irony of Red X's statement caused Sedaris to smile and chuckle, and the thief began to wonder exactly what was so funny to the bodyguard about his employer winding up in jail.
"I guess you must not care very much about money, or maybe you're just stupid," said Red X, "so I'll rephrase it in a way that you can-"
"Frederick Dullahan is dead," said Sedaris. Red X gave a stunned exclamation, and Sedaris capitalized by slamming his fist into the thief's face, knocking him to the ground and nearly knocking him out. "His plans and my plans didn't match, so I ended his life and took over."
Red X was stunned, both by Sedaris' punch and by the bodyguard's recent revelation. Frederick Dullahan was the man in charge of the whole thing, so what did Sedaris have to gain by killing him?
"You were right about one thing, though..." Sedaris was now standing directly over Red X, who was still far too weak to defend himself. "I don't care very much about money... in fact, I don't care about money at all."
"Unnngh... what do you mean, you stupid prick?" coughed Red X, still defiant even as he lay helpless and prostrate on the ground. Sedaris gave a small chuckle, then stomped down hard on X's leg, eliciting another loud scream of pain from the downed thief.
"What I mean is... I'm not destroying Jump City anymore... at least not only Jump City. And I'm not doing it for money... I'm doing it for reasons that you and your friends will never understand. But I'm afraid that if I told you any more, I'd have to kill you... oh wait, I forgot. I'm going to kill you anyway."
And just like he had almost done to Starfire, Sedaris raised his foot above Red X's head. It was then that a Starbolt impacted the wall just a few feet away from him... Sedaris turned to see Starfire, leaning against the frame of the broom closet door. She was weakened, and her eyes were still bloodshot, but she was still determined to fight... and determined not to let Sedaris harm any of her friends.
"You leave him alone... you still have to finish your fight with me!" shouted Starfire, her eyes alternating between a green glow and a red one. Sedaris laughed, but kept his attention on Red X.
"Just a second... I'm not done with him yet."
Dozens of small chunks of concrete flew out of the broom closet, soaring over Starfire's head and slamming into Sedaris' body. The force of the rocks wasn't much, but it did shock him enough to nearly knock him to the ground. He turned and saw the Teen Titans rushing down the hallway toward him... led by Terra, her eyes glowing bright yellow.
"It's not safe for me here anymore," said Sedaris, turning and fleeing down the hall, leaving the wounded Red X and Starfire behind and disappearing through an emergency exit.
"We need to follow him!" shouted Robin, before he caught a glimpse of Starfire in the doorway of the broom closet and stopped immediately, ceasing his charge down the hallway and running toward her. "Starfire, are you-"
"Robin, I am undamaged..." said Starfire, her arms tightly wrapping around Robin's back... though from her bloodshot eyes, her bloody lip, and her bruised body, Robin could clearly tell that she was not undamaged at all... she was very damaged indeed. "Please... you said it yourself, you must-"
Sedaris' flight through the emergency exit had triggered an alarm throughout the entire building, and the halls were rapidly filling with fleeing patrons... it was clear that the Titans weren't going to catch the homicidal bodyguard now.
"Starfire... I should've gotten here sooner..." said Robin, stroking Starfire's hair with his hand while keeping his other tightly wrapped around her back. "I shouldn't have gone into that balcony... I knew from the second I heard she was gone that she was in trouble..."
While Raven kept a protective shield around Red X to keep him from getting trampled as he lay aching on the ground, Beast Boy, Terra, and Cyborg had all knelt at his side to check on him.
"Dude, what happened to you guys?" asked Beast Boy, taking Red X by his left hand while Terra took his right and the two helped the injured thief to his feet. "That Sedaris guy, I guess he is as powerful as you said..."
"Ugh... yeah, he is," groaned Red X, looking over at Starfire, who was still tightly wrapped in Robin's embrace. "Looks like she's going to be fine..."
"Are you sure you're okay?" asked Terra, reaching up to remove Red X's mask. "Here, lemme check your-"
"No, no, no, a thousand times no," said Red X, roughly nudging Terra's hand away from his face. He looked around and saw that while the rate of people fleeing down the hall had steadily decreased, there were still numerous people filing toward the exits, and Red X wanted none of them seeing who he was. "I'm sure my face is fine, I'm just a bit dizzy is all... probably got a concussion when that son of a bitch punched me..."
"Robin... do not blame yourself, I will be perfectly all right..." Starfire's head was pounding, and her eyes still stung to the point of watering whenever she opened them... her entire body was in pain, Sedaris had done quite a number on her, and Robin could sense that pain in every word that Starfire spoke. "We just... we need to focus on catching that horrible person..."
"He killed Dullahan..." muttered Red X, shaking his head and pondering every word that Sedaris had spoken to him. "He said... he said he wanted to destroy more than just this city... he said..."
"We saw that he killed Dullahan," replied Cyborg, still cringing from the sight of the man's body slumped in his chair. "Snapped his neck..."
"Ugh, don't talk about it, please..." said Terra, raising her hand to her lips. "I've seen horrible things in my life, but... but the sight of that man's body will never leave me, not as long as I live..."
"We're going back to the Tower," said Robin, who had finally been able to release Starfire and was now standing next to the broom closet entrance, while Starfire was standing next to him, rubbing her stinging eyes. "We have to try and find where Sedaris went as soon as possible... he's not just a murderer, he's a threat to the city."
"You guys go back, I'm walking home," said Red X, who was already past all of the other Titans and making his way to the lobby. He'd seen and fought enough for one day, and while going after Sedaris was a high priority to the thief, he had an even higher priority in mind... sleep. "Have yourselves a merry little evening."
The Titans watched as Red X left, and while the others wanted nothing further to do with the thief for the night, Starfire knew that she had something to say to him. She followed him out to the lobby, turning toward Robin just before she left.
"I will be right back," said Starfire, and Robin gave an understanding nod, knowing that Red X must've left before the Titans had gone into the balcony... he'd left to protect Starfire.
"He did exactly what I should have done..." thought Robin.
The lobby of the building was completely empty... everyone, including the workers, had already left. Red X walked toward the revolving doors at the entrance, his hand just beginning to move toward the handle before another hand brushed across his shoulder, stopping him. He turned and saw Starfire, a smile on her face.
"Kid, I already told you, I'm not-"
"I do not wish to stop you from returning home, I just... I want to thank you for saving me."
Starfire knew that she probably wouldn't have died had Red X not come when he did... the other Titans were only a few minutes behind him. Still, had X not come, Starfire may not be standing... Sedaris' assault could have permanently crippled the Tamaranian girl.
"I was going after Sedaris, I wasn't thinking about you... really, I wasn't," said X, trying to be as humble as he could. "Are you all right?"
"I am fine... thank you..."
Starfire reached over to the thief and gently took his hand in hers... his glove was warm, smooth, just like Robin's... she knew that inside this suit was someone just as heroic as he was... but was just a bit too selfish to admit it.
"I... I know that things have not been going well for you lately... so I just want you to know that I do think about you often... I am sorry for what happened to Cleo."
Starfire reached up to the bottom of Red X's mask, gently pulling the material up to just over his lips. Before he could move away, she leaned in and quickly kissed him, before pulling the material back down over his face. The thief was surprised by this, and he reached up to touch his lips where Starfire had kissed him, touching only the mask instead.
"Thanks, but I... I think I'm starting to recover from Cleo... it'll take me a while, but..."
"Thank you again, Sanza..."
And with that, Starfire turned and walked away, exiting the lobby and leaving Red X standing alone by the door, his lips still tingling. He took in a deep breath, then exited the theater, his pain already beginning to subside... and he knew that Starfire's kiss had a lot to do with it.
O-O-O
Sanza sat on the kitchen table, wearing only a pair of blue jeans as his mother inspected the various bruises he'd accumulated on his body. She rubbed a wet rag covered in soap, water, and a medicated aloe solution all over the large bruise on his chest, tsking to herself.
"Sanza, I am not going to let you continue to be Red X if you keep coming home with all these ugly bruises on your body... you didn't run into Slade again, did you?"
"Worse," sighed Sanza, staring up at the ceiling and remembering that Sedaris was still at large, and from what he'd told Sanza, still as dangerous as ever.
"No one could ever be worse than that bastard Slade," replied Maria, recalling how the evil mastermind had terrorized both of her children... the fact that she herself had been terrorized as well didn't matter at all... a mother's greatest concern in the world was always her children. "If I ever seen that fucking pendejo again I'll tear out his... pardon my language, Sanza."
"Nah, you sound a lot cooler when you swear, mom," said Sanza, chuckling to himself. "Unlike Starfire, who sounds like a Dr. Seuss book when she swears..."
As Maria continued to tend to her son's injuries, Maddy entered the room, her eyes widening as she saw the state that her brother was in. She rushed over to him, her voice lined with concern.
"Oh my gosh, Sanza, what happened to you?"
"See, this is why I didn't want to tell you guys that I was Red X," said Sanza, half to himself and half to his mother and sister. He rolled his eyes before staring straight into his sister's face, trying to lift her spirits. "It doesn't hurt as bad as it looks, Maddy..."
"Oh really?"
Maddy walked over and pressed her hand down hard on the bruise covering Sanza's chest.
"Aaaaaaaagh!" Sanza gasped, letting out a loud cry of pain as his sister rapidly pulled her hand back. "Maddy, you-"
Maria reached around and tightly clamped her hand over Sanza's mouth, stifling what she knew would be a storm of profanity. Sanza may have thought that his mother sounded cool when she swore, but Maria thought the exact opposite about her son.
"Maddalena Consuela Salazar, don't ever do that again!" shouted Maria, her fingers still tightly pressed over her son's lips.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" shouted Maddy, almost on the verge of tears.
"It's all right, just..." Letting out a sigh, Maria took her hand off of Sanza's mouth and exited the room, walking past Maddy toward the downstairs bathroom. "I need to get more rubbing solution... stay on the table until I get back."
His chest still stinging with pain, Sanza gave Maddy an angry scowl as she slowly slunk out of the room.
"Sanza, I'm so sorry... I'm sorry, please don't be-"
"Come here, Maddy," said Sanza, gesturing for his sister to re-enter the room. She stopped between the kitchen and the living room, her arms crossed over her chest. "I'm not going to hurt you..."
Maddy sighed and walked back over to Sanza, her eyes still wide as she stared at his numerous bruises. She remembered how encouraging she'd been to Sanza before, but the reality of the danger that he put himself in when he went out at Red X was always made painfully clear whenever he showed up at home after a tough battle... and Maddy's concern for her brother could clearly be seen in her face. Not wanting her to feel scared, Sanza reached out and took Maddy's hand, gently pulling it in toward his chest.
"Here, Maddy... when you touch it gently it doesn't hurt as much..." he said, releasing his grip on Maddy's hand and allowing her to run her hand over the bruise on his chest. "See? It doesn't hurt..."
Maddy nodded, running her hands up to another bruise, this one on his left shoulder.
"So, how did you... how did you get these, anyway?" asked Maddy, climbing up on the table with Sanza and sitting down next to him. "Did you fight a bad guy, or-"
"Well, actually, the one on my chest is from fighting a robot... it was a big robot, it looked like a guy and a horse put together."
"...you mean a centaur?" said Maddy, blinking twice. Sanza looked surprised that Maddy actually knew what a centaur was... he slowly nodded. "They sent a centaur robot after you?"
"Yeah... they sent a lot of guys after me, but I still managed to steal what I needed to steal. I would've taken it here, but the Titans made me give it to them because... well, we're sort of working together now. Don't get me wrong, I hate working with the Titans."
"Why?" asked Maddy, who herself would be thrilled to be working with the Titans... especially with Robin. "Not even Robin? He's really cute..."
"He's already taken," said Sanza, his lips once again tingling as he remembered how Starfire had kissed him. He let up a sigh and stared up at the ceiling. "I guess now that I'm not with Cleo anymore, it's back to lusting after Starfire again... then again, that blonde earth-moving girl is sorta cute... what's her name? Terra? She's really pretty..."
Maddy snapped her fingers loudly, surprising Sanza and getting him to look at her.
"Tell me more stuff," said Maddy, a bright smile on her lips. Sanza gladly obliged, grateful that his sister had something to think about besides all the bruises that he had gotten... and also grateful that no matter what happened, no matter what he did, he always had his little sister's support.
"Maybe I should've told her everything right from the beginning..."
O-O-O
That night, as Beast Boy and Terra sat alone in Beast Boy's room, the changeling's mind kept drifting to Raven... and that even as he was thinking to himself about how much he loved Terra, he might be falling in love with Raven as well.
He wasn't going to let Terra know that, however. She had enough to worry about as it was...
"It's too bad we didn't get Sedaris today," said Terra, who had been talking with Beast Boy for the last half-hour, sticking to the relatively safe topic of that day's events. "I guess it's better to only have one madman to deal with instead of two, but... still, it kinda sucks not knowing where that one guy is."
"Yeah," said Beast Boy, his feet dangling over the side of the bed. "But Robin'll find him. I mean, he did find all the others, so..."
Terra nodded, then put her hand up to her lips and gave a loud yawn. She stood up from the bed and stretched out her arms... it had been a long day, and it was time for the blonde geomancer to go to bed.
"Maybe we'll find him tomorrow," said Terra, turning around to talk to Beast Boy a few seconds more. "Good night, Beast Boy..."
Terra leaned over and gave her friend a quick kiss on the lips, then turned and exited the room, leaving Beast Boy alone on his bed. He yawned himself and walked over to turn off the light, then climbed under his sheets and curled up to go to sleep.
"Good night, Terra..." thought Beast Boy, visions of every nice thing that Raven had ever said to him or had done for him replaying in his mind. He pulled his pillow over his face in an attempt to rid himself of the visions, but nothing that he did seemed to work, and he let out a frustrated growl, curling up even tighter underneath his sheets. "Dammit, Beast Boy... you promised yourself that when Terra came back, you would be together with her..."
He still loved Terra, but not with all of his heart... it was more like a slight majority. And that majority was losing seats with every passing day...
O-O-O
Some ten miles to the east of the city lay a vast, treeless desert. In this desert had been constructed a large, spacious bunker, built in the 1950s to defend against a nuclear attack by the Soviets.
Now, this bunker was being used as a command center... and the commander was Sedaris, who stood atop the bunker's entrance and faced nearly three hundred men, most of them pulled from the ranks of the government agencies for which Sedaris had once worked. All of the men had once thing in common... they all had a problem with society, and had united under Sedaris to achieve a single, earth-shattering goal... they were going to destroy it.
"The deed is done... Dullahan is dead, and Project Dark Calamity is just days from completion!" shouted Sedaris, his silhouetted figure imposing in the darkness of the night. "Just off the coast of the city, a massive drill is boring its way through the crust of the Earth, toward its final destination... the San Andreas Fault! With the technology that Dullahan and his fellow deceased corporate cronies have so graciously provided for us, once the drill touches the fault, I can control it with just the touch of a button! Gentlemen, we have more power now than anyone in the history of the world has ever possessed... we can rip apart the planet and bring all of humanity to its knees!"
Sedaris raised his right hand into the air, and the men amassed in front of the bunker began to cheer.
"The world is ours, gentlemen... the world is ours."
O-O-O
The corporate coalition is down to one, but that one is a very, very dangerous one indeed... five more chapters to go, can the Titans stop Sedaris before he does something really bad? I know someone who probably REALLY liked this chapter... ;;; As for the rest of you, why aren't you reviewing? Okay, I do have a couple people, but... maybe I should start reviewing other people's stories. THAT'S probably the reason. Still...