Author's Note: Just one thing I wanted to say before continuing. I wanna send out a thank you to Fireangel722 for adding my story to your Favorite Stories list, even in this early stage of story development. This chapter's dedicated to you, thanks for showing some form of support.

Anyway, enough of that, on with the show!

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Chapter 2: Rushdown

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The vault door was blown from its hinges as the Teen Titans stood in the doorway, blocking off Red X's exfiltration. Leaving the object secure on its pedestal for now, Red X turned to face them, folding his arms as he took on an arrogant pose. As he stood waiting for one of them to move, his mind couldn't help but ponder where in his infiltration attempt he'd made an error that resulted in alerting the Titans. He could think of none.

"Hey kids," Red X began, tilting his head slightly to the side. "Isn't it way past your bedtime?"

The leader of the Teen Titans stepped forward menacingly, already beginning to seethe with anger. "No more games, X!" he shouted, shaking his fist at the thief.

"Game? Who said anything about a game?" Red X asked, maintaining his nonchalant air. "I'm here on business. Speaking of which, it amazes me that you even knew I was here in the first place."

"You might wanna take a closer look at this doorway we're standin' in," Cyborg said, a hint of arrogance in his voice, too. Red X eyed him for a moment, then looked about the entrance to the vault, still not breaking his pose. He could see nothing. He then brought up a hand to touch his mask, activating Infrared Vision. It was then that he saw a vertical barrier of laser tripwires, placed right in the doorway where the Titans were standing. "Damn…" he thought to himself, realizing that he must've gotten careless after knowing that his goal was in sight. The few moments it took for him to cross the giant room and deactivate the sentries was all the time it took for the Titans to appear.

"You're going to jail this time. Titans, GO!" Robin yelled, the familiar call setting the team into motion once again. All five emerged from the dark cloud, Starfire and Raven drawing out curled wisps of smoke that trailed them momentarily as they closed in on Red X. Robin, metallic bo staff in hand, led the ground force consisting of Cyborg and an as-of-yet untransformed Beast Boy.

"The gang's all here…" Red X said sarcastically as he pointed his palms toward the aggressors, firing of a volley of explosive Xs. As the projectiles neared the Titans at the center of the massive vault, Raven threw up a protective wall of dark energy, causing the explosives to detonate harmlessly before them. Wanting to waste no time in apprehending Red X, Robin vaulted over the shield, emerging from the top of the second cloud of smoke with a fierce battlecry, his upper body twisted and ready to strike down upon Red X with pure fury. Red X backflipped over the pedestal, dodging Robin's staff which crashed into it, smashing most of the glass therein and almost destroying the small object it held.

"Careful where you swing that, kid." Red X said coolly, landing a short distance behind the pedestal and firing a few shuriken Xs Robin's way. Robin hopped over the pedestal, deflecting the Xs with his staff while he charged Red X again.

"How'd you get the belt back?" Robin yelled angrily. "I locked it away myself!"

"Just like you locked away the suit way back when?" Red X said calmly, dodging an angry swing of Robin's staff aimed for his face. "You thought your little 'security system' would be enough to stop me? Don't be dense. I'm a thief, remember?"

Red X threw out a swift jab aimed at Robin's jaw, which Robin ducked under. Cyborg grit his teeth as he overheard their conversation, trying to aim his Sonic Cannon at Red X.

"Raggin' on my systems…? I don't think so…"

Beast Boy slowed to a halt beside Cyborg, mouth agape. "Dude… X broke in, stole back his belt, and got away without any of us knowing? Sheesh…it's like he knows the whole Tower inside-out!"

"If only you knew…" Red X thought to himself, amused by entertaining such a thought. Cyborg fired the Cannon, but Red X knew the blast was coming, and sidestepped to avoid it, the blast continuing on to crack into a fortified wall.

The thief deftly dodged a few more swipes from Robin's staff, finally parrying an overhead attack by forming X shaped wrist blades and using them to cross-lock the bo staff. Red X knew he couldn't hold this position for long because the others were already closing in.

"You just don't know when to quit, do you?" Robin questioned during the deadlock, his eyes staring straight into Red X's.

"Something we have in common," came Red X's reply as he broke the lock by flinging his arms upward, forcing Robin off-balance for a brief moment. Red X then rolled between Robin's legs, emerging behind him to fire off a sticky X which clung to Robin's heel. As Robin attempted to turn around and give chase, the sticky X which melded one foot to the cold, metallic floor forced him to the floor as well, Red X watching Robin's misfortune with some degree of amusement.

A few small explosions at Red X's feet caused him to hop away, though, as Starfire swooped in with a flurry of Starbolts. Eyes and hands glowing bright green with energy, Starfire flew low to the ground, attempting to slam right into Red X. Just before she would've made contact, Red X hopped up, leapfrogging over her. She couldn't help but glance back as she passed him, but went wide-eyed after looking forward again when unfortunately for her, she flew directly into the wall she intended to slam Red X against while distracted. After colliding, Starfire's eyes and hands returned to normal, and she lay on the ground in a slight daze for a few moments. She placed a hand on her forehead as she shook her head, trying to clear her vision.

In the meantime, Cyborg had been charging his Sonic Cannon for a second shot, and since Red X's leap over Starfire brought him in Cyborg's direction, Cyborg fired on the still-airborne Red X. Red X weaved in mid-air at the last instant to barely dodge the blast, turning in air again as his momentum brought him close to Cyborg. Red X lashed out with a roundhouse kick, which Cyborg blocked by bringing up his other arm to defend. With Red X's foot still in firm contact with his arm, Cyborg threw the arm sideways, launching Red X straight into the waiting arms of gorilla Beast Boy. In a last ditch attempt at retaliation, Red X fired two Xs charged with EMP pulses back at Cyborg, hoping to short out his circuits for at least a little while. The Xs connected right in front of Cyborg's central processing unit, but after a few brief seconds of electrical sparks flying from them, the EMP Xs disengaged, clattering harmlessly to the floor at his feet, where Cyborg promptly stepped on them.

"Sorry man," Cyborg began, "…but I've upgraded. Those won't work on me anymore."

"Tch…" Red X grumbled softly, now trapped in Beast Boy's powerful arms. Beast Boy growled ferociously, attempting to squeeze the consciousness from Red X's body.

"Nice grip you got there," Red X said, struggling to free himself from the green giant's grasp.

"Hold still…" Cyborg said tensely, taking another couple moments to charge the Cannon. A beeping sound rang out from the display on his arm, and Cyborg fired, a pulse of blue energy accompanied by spiraling white sparks. Still unable to free himself from Beast Boy's grip, Red X braced for impact. Just before the blast reached the two of them, Beast Boy released his grip, transforming into a tiny mouse in order to avoid the attack. Red X was unable to defend, and Cyborg's energy blast connected cleanly with Red X's chest, the thief being sent sprawling several feet backward. Upon impact with the floor, Red X rolled over a few times, finally coming to rest in a heap. Beast Boy detransformed, a giant grin on his face as Cyborg walked toward him, the robotic man bearing a smirk of his own.

"Booyah." Cyborg said as the two best friends tapped fists. Then, without warning, both Cyborg and Beast Boy felt pressure on the tops of their heads, feeling as though they would soon be pressed through their necks.

"Booyah yourself." Said Red X, poised in a handstand above the two of them, his hands on their heads for support. While they weren't looking, he'd activated the teleportation mechanism, hurling himself from the floor right back into the fight. Of course, Red X had to compensate a bit for their difference in height, but he rammed Cyborg's head downward, while pushing Beast Boy's into it. In the resulting headbutt, Red X flipped away as the two Titans fell to the floor, both suddenly experiencing splitting headaches, though perhaps Beast Boy moreso than Cyborg.

After landing, Red X shot a quick glance off to his side, where Raven floated menacingly his way, her eyes glowing white.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zi-- "

"We'll have none of that," Red X interrupted, halting Raven's familiar chant with a sticky X which affixed itself to her mouth. Red X placed his hands on his hips for a moment, taking a brief rest to enjoy it, which elicited muffled "mmphs" of protest from Raven as her eyes returned to normal. She shot up both hands to her mouth, attempting to pull the X from it. The X glowed black, signifying that Raven was putting quite a deal of effort into removing it.

"Can't mess with what works, eh Raven?" Red X jokingly asked, referring to his sticky X being an effective means of silencing her on more than one occasion, thereby limiting her ability to focus her powers. Red X's respite was cut short, however, as he heard the Boy Wonder yelling out yet another battlecry as he rushed toward the thief again, finally free of his bond. He swung the bo staff with rage, Red X taking a few steps back to avoid the danger.

Robin continued to press forward, using the staff for leverage as he planted it into the floor, swinging around it to deliver a spinning kick which connected with the side of Red X's face. Red X stumbled back a few steps, jolted by the sudden force of the kick, but was hit again as Robin pulled the staff from the floor, jabbing the end of it into Red X's stomach. Red X fell back, landing in a sitting position. To stop Robin's rush, Red X swiftly swung his legs around while holding his body up with his arms, tripping up Robin's advance. As Robin fell, Red X fired an explosive X at point-blank range which propelled Robin backward until he collided with a wall.

Given a moment's rest from Robin's onslaught, Red X looked about himself to get his bearings. The object was still in its place on the pedestal, and no one was near it at that particular moment. If he could just…

"C'mon Raven! Get angry!" Cyborg shouted, attempting to rally his teammate into action, who at the moment was still wrestling with the sticky X on her mouth. Beast Boy chimed in, a look of concern on his face. "Yeah, we gotta stop this guy, and we need your help!"

Try as she might, Raven found it odd how her Anger, generally her most prominent emotion, seemed so…weak, so…faint. But why? As a result, she was having more trouble than usual getting Red X's trap off her mouth. "I…I can't…" Raven thought, as Cyborg and Beast Boy moved toward her to offer assistance.

Red X stood, preparing to sprint toward his goal. However, before he could get very far, an immense force, a fierce grip taking hold at both his neck and upper arm, overtook him. With a furious yell, the Tamaranian girl rammed into him, lifting him from his feet as he was carried sideways at high-speed for a distance before his back was slammed into a wall, complete with a thunderous boom.

"Looks like she's got the whole anger thing down…" Beast Boy said nervously as he glanced momentarily in the direction of Starfire and Red X.

The impact caused quite a considerable crack in the wall, and Red X couldn't help but groan slightly at the throbbing pain at his back, not to mention the vice-like pressure applied to his neck and arm. Pinned to the wall, Red X was forced to stare directly into Starfire's enraged bright green eyes as she stood firm, lifting him a few more inches from the ground. Her teeth were clenched, however, a moment later her eyes returned to normal as her expression softened.

"Please…" she began. "Why do you continue in such a manner? We do not wish to fight, and if you will simply-- "

"Can't do that." Red X interjected, squirming slightly in her powerful Tamaranian grasp. "However, even though I always knew you had a thing for me, I had no idea our date would be so s-- "

Starfire's facial expression changed as Red X spoke, going from compassionate to furious again as he taunted her. Starfire wasn't the only one to get angry as Robin also overheard Red X's remarks from across the room, the Boy Wonder quickly becoming irate as he moved toward the group. In a rage, Starfire released his arm, still maintaining her firm grip on his neck as she charged her free hand with Starbolt energy, preparing to slam it into Red X's face. However, Red X's plan to distract Starfire worked, freeing up his arms so that he could fire two Xs into her face instead. Taken completely by surprise, Starfire released Red X entirely as the Xs turned to red goo and splattered over her eyes. Red X landed in a crouch and sprinted away from her as she endeavored to remove the goo from her face.

"Heh heh….I guess you should've tried the eye lasers…" Beast Boy said timidly, scratching at the back of his hair while maintaining a friendly smile and a chuckle, lest Starfire turn her sudden rage in his direction. Instead however, she decided to take his advice, pointing her gaze toward the floor in front of her before firing her eye lasers, an action which helped clear away some of the goo and thereby return her vision to some degree, at least until the rest of the goo was removed.

Running full-tilt toward the pedestal, Red X dodged a few mirco-missiles fired from Cyborg's chest. Robin dove on the thief, but Red X treated Robin in a similar manner to the earlier charging Starfire, effortlessly hopping over him while pressing the Boy Wonder to the floor. Nearly reaching his objective, Red X dove on the pedestal, grabbing the small black object. He landed in a roll, finally stopping in a crouch a few feet behind the pedestal, the object in hand.

"Finally got it," Red X thought to himself, "And now I just need to make myself scarce…"

"Azarath, Metrion, ZINTHOS!"

Red X went wide-eyed, and slowly turned his head back to see the two deactivated mech sentries glowing with dark energy, hurtling through the air right at him. Forming a human-sized X with one hand, he held on to it to shield himself from the incoming robots while tightly clutching his precious cargo in the other hand. The large robots crashed into the shield, causing a huge explosion. Despite the limited protection of the quickly formed makeshift shield, Red X still felt the collision in some capacity, and was sent flying back quite a distance, landing across the room from the Titans. With a sense of urgency, Red X quickly stood, shaking off the pain from the force of impact, while looking for a quick escape route. He soon found it, an air vent nearby on the wall.

"Well kids, it's been fun…" Red X turned and taunted the Titans, "…but I really should get going."

Without another word, he reached for his belt, activating the Invisibility Cloak.

"NO!" Robin shouted, sprinting forth to try one last time to stop the thief. Robin launched himself at the exact spot where Red X had been standing just a few moments earlier, but found himself only crashing to the floor empty-handed.

"Heh. Don't worry Robin…" said Cyborg as he activated his own Infrared Vision, "…he can't hide from me."

Sure enough, Cyborg could clearly see Red X's red body against the cold blues and purples of the metallic walls as the thief stood just inches from where Robin thought he would still be. Red X turned slightly, preparing to fire an explosive X at the vent.

"He's going for that vent!" Cyborg exclaimed, aiming his Sonic Cannon at the vent. A moment later, a small explosion blew the vent cover away. Red X then dashed for it, hopping into the small opening and moving through the path as quickly as he could. Cyborg fired on the vent, while Robin flung a couple small bombs of his own at it, but these had no real effect, as Red X was already on his way out.

"Quick! We need a way to the roof!" shouted Robin, flinging more bombs toward the roof. Cyborg shifted his aim to follow his leader's orders, blasting the roof at the same point where Robin's bombs connected. Likewise, Starfire fired a flurry of Starbolts and Raven fired blasts of dark energy, all efforts concentrated on a small square of space on the roof.

"I'll follow X through the vents…" said Beast Boy, "…he won't get away!" dashing for the vent, Beast Boy leapt into it, transforming into a chimpanzee as he climbed in and began his pursuit.

A minute later, Red X emerged from the smoky vent, out onto the roof of Wayne Enterprises. He stepped out, preparing to leap to one of the rooftops below. However, he felt a small smack at the back of his head as chimp Beast Boy latched on tight, clasping his arms around Red X's face to blind him. Red X stumbled about for a few moments, trying to pull the green chimp loose and get away. As he finally managed to do so, he threw Beast Boy away from him, who then transformed into a sparrow and swooped around the neon sign. Finally free, Red X sprinted once more for the edge of the roof. At the same time, there was an explosion in the rooftop, just a few feet between him and escape. Red X hopped back as the other four Teen Titans emerged from the hole, Raven carrying Robin and Starfire carrying the heavier Cyborg. The boys were gently let down as sparrow Beast Boy finally came around, detransforming to land next to his team, striking a pose.

"Face it dude…" said Beast Boy, "…you can't get away from the Teen Titans that easily!"

"Oh really…?" thought Red X. "We'll just have to see about that…"

Without warning, Red X turned to fire a volley of explosive and EMP Xs at the giant "W" of Wayne Enterprises' neon sign. Robin was the first to realize what Red X was planning to do, and he alone lunged forward, attempting yet again to stop the thief. However, his reaction came too little, too late as Red X's projectiles made contact with the sign. It flashed a brilliant white, illuminating the entire rooftop and surrounding area. The flash temporarily blinded all five Titans as Red X spotted a nearby rooftop he could escape by. He activated teleportation once more just as Robin's blindly outreaching hands barely made contact with him, Red X in effect slipping right through Robin's fingers. The giant W began to creak and groan terribly, all the neon tubing inside busted. It leaned over, and the bonds that held it to the rest of the sign began to break just as Beast Boy was beginning to regain his vision.

"Look out! It's gonna fall!"

The Titans just barely escaped the collapsing letter as it smashed into the rooftop, Beast Boy pushing Starfire and the grounded Robin out of the way as Cyborg and Raven moved of their own volition. With a monstrous boom, the fallen letter threw up volumes of dust and debris. Robin yelled aloud in a rage after realizing what had just happened…Red X had escaped them yet again.

"Dammit! We were so close!" Robin yelled while smashing his fists to the floor, seemingly on the verge of hysteria.

"Robin…" Starfire ventured cautiously while placing a dainty hand on his shoulder, "Please…you must…calm down…"

"But Star…" came Robin's protest, the Boy Wonder still reluctant to return her gaze as he continued to stare down at his fists. "…We had him…"

"Do not worry…" Starfire continued, her eyes pleading with him. "…All is not lost! Surely we can still apprehend the Red X."

Robin finally looked up at her, and couldn't help but feel the anger which had swelled up so fiercely in him only moments earlier begin to dissipate. A moment later, he even began to smile at her. It seemed Starfire just had that effect on people…but especially on Robin. "Yeah…I guess you're right. You've always been right."

Starfire happily returned his smile as Raven stepped silently toward the rooftop's edge. She gazed out on Jump City's skyline as her long blue cloak was blown about by the cold winds of the night. Not a trace of Red X in sight. Several thoughts raced through her head. Her father, Red X, Slade, among other things…and she just couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about her own psyche.

"Heh…" said Beast Boy confidently, flexing a small bicep. "…we'll get our rematch. And when we do, X'll be sorry!"

Raven looked back at the always optimistic Beast Boy, wondering where all that confidence kept coming from, even in defeat.

"I just wonder about his motives…"

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Author's Note: Alright! With Chapter 2 out of the way, the Titans begin to contemplate things. Why was Red X stealing from Wayne Enterprises? What was that little black object, anyway? What will Robin do next? And what of Raven's emotional troubles…?