A/N: I had a lot of trouble with this chapter. This is why it wasn't posted as instantaneously as the others. I wanted it to be perfect, and I wasn't going to settle. So I didn't; I made you all wait instead. XD Hopefully, though, it was worth it.

My Own Worst Enemy
Chapter 4 – X

The crisp, autumn air blew a chill through the streets of Jump City, causing most pedestrians to huddle further into their coats and scarves as they walked through their daily morning routines. Some were headed toward the coffee shop, and others made their way toward the jobs they would spend the next eight hours suffering through. Still others were wandering rather aimlessly through the city due to a true lack of anything better to do.

One shivering teenage boy was a prime example. Undoubtedly, he should have been in school by this hour—it was after nine o'clock, and most inner city schools began classes at eight. Still, for whatever reason, the boy was roaming around and stopping to look at anything that caught his interest. At the moment, he was standing in front of a newspaper stand, looking over a rack full of magazines for something that might prove to be an interesting read. He wore a large, black coat, his hands stuffed into his pockets to keep an unnecessary chill from creeping onto them.

Most of the magazines and newspapers looked fairly boring, featuring articles such as "Crime Rates Falling" and "10 Ways to Get Your Guy," both of which the boy thoroughly didn't believe or even need. He frowned while his eyes ran across one of the headlines. It was a tabloid—typically, he would have written it off as something absurd that shouldn't be trusted. But the black-and-white photo of a very familiar savior of the city was plastered across the cover, accompanied by only one word besides the tabloid's title.

"Kidnapped!"

Scanning her smiling image a second time, the boy let out a quiet snort at the simple caption that accompanied her. It was a picture of Starfire, the alien member of the Teen Titans; her dazzling eyes couldn't be mistaken, even through a grayscale rendition. He reached for the magazine without even thinking, grabbing at the corner of the flimsy paper before his hand was smacked firmly away by a rolled-up newspaper.

Surprised, the boy looked up, meeting the incredulous glare of the newsstand operator. "You got any money, kid?" the man asked gruffly, his narrow eyes helping him succeed in getting his implication across to the teenager before him. "This isn't a library. Now scram."

The boy glared briefly at the man in return, but held his hands up innocently and backed away nonetheless. "Sorry," he apologized, taking a few steps back before turning and dropping his arms to his sides while he walked casually away. The owner shook his head disdainfully, feeling sorry not for the first time for the future of the country when it was left in the hands of these idiotic children.

Once his back was turned, the boy rolled his eyes. He glanced at his watch while he rounded the nearest corner, pausing against the wall of the building that separated him from the newsstand owner's sight. Five seconds, the boy thought reasonably, folding his arms and leaning patiently against the brick wall. Four…three…two…

Peeking around the corner, he watched the glass doors of a jewelry shop right across from the newspaper stand burst open; a man dressed in black carrying a small, brown knapsack came rushing out, a black pistol clutched in his right hand. The boy smirked to himself, counting the last number in his mind before launching himself back out onto the main road, running toward the newsstand at top speed.

The owner was oblivious, his eyes moving lazily over an article in the newspaper he'd just used to smack the teenager's hand. He recoiled in shock when the same hand banged frantically on the counter in front of him. "Hey, I thought I told you to…" The man trailed off, noting the panic now displayed in the boy's eyes. "Wh-what—"

"The jewelry store's being robbed! Didn't you see it?" the boy cried, pointing wildly in the direction the black-clad man was running. The newsstand operator followed the boy's arm, his eyes widening when he saw the man's dark form running at top speed down the street. The teenager's voice effectively pulled him back out of his state of shock. "Hurry up and call the cops!"

"I—uh—yeah," the man stammered, fumbling stupidly in his pocket for his cell phone. Once he retrieved it, the man pushed himself off of his stool, dialing 911 while he made his way out of the stand to get a clearer view of the criminal he was about to report. "Yeah, this is Joe, the newspaper guy. The jewelry store across the street just got robbed!" Joe paused, straining his eyes to see the approximate height and weight of the thief who continued to race away. "Yeah, he's about six feet tall, medium build…"

The boy still stood at the stand, grinning to himself at what he'd just accomplished. Turning toward the tabloid he'd intended to read, he plucked it from the shelf, stuffing it into the pocket in the inside of his coat. Just to spite the man, the boy picked up a few more random magazines, stashing them in the same location before beginning to nonchalantly walk away from the scene while Joe still stuttered to the police over his cell phone.

He was good at what he did and he knew it. The fact that the man robbing the jewelry store had asked him for advice only a few days before only worked to boost his already inflated ego. Sure, he knew that the man wouldn't get away with it, but that was hardly the point. The point was that he now had the article about Starfire in his coat pocket. Once he got a reasonable distance from the newsstand, he'd be able to see exactly what the tabloid's take on her disappearance had been. Who knows—maybe someone picked up on something I didn't.

Highly unlikely, yes. The article more than probably contained some foolish explanation such as "alien abducted by aliens!" or something equally ridiculous to lure in gullible readers. Still, there was a slim chance that it would help him figure out what exactly had happened to him the night before…and plus, it was free. So why not take it?

Words to live by, he silently mused, glancing over his shoulder to ensure that the man hadn't yet noticed the disappearance of a few of his items. Surely enough, the newsstand operator was still in the phone, now pointing in random directions while presumably trying to figure out whether to tell the cops that the thief was headed east or west. The boy couldn't help laughing to himself at the sight. He might get away with it, after all.

Before he even managed to turn his head to face forward again, he collided with a person moving much faster than himself. He stumbled back more in surprise than anything else, his defenses automatically rising in preparation for an attack. "What the—"

He stopped himself before he could finish the infuriated question, blinking in confusion while the person who ran into him continued to run away. Weird, he thought, shrugging it off and starting back in the direction he'd intended. Another person ran past him, a panicked expression on her face. He stopped in his tracks; two more people ran by on the opposite side of the street, one of them screaming wildly and flailing her arms as though she'd gone completely insane.

The boy frowned deeply; no one had informed him of any planned acts of terrorism. The band of small-time criminals in the city looked up to him—usually they tried to include him in such events, or at least get his input for planning one, as random acts of violence were never really his style. So what was going on that was causing all these people to run away in terror?

He knew there was only one way to find out: go and see for himself.

As he went on, more and more people rushed past him, seemingly trying to escape from something as though their lives depended on it. Sounds of distant explosions eventually began to reach his ears; the boy frowned curiously, anxiously quickening his pace a bit. Whatever was going on had to have been pretty devastating—explosives usually meant that some depraved lunatic was the cause, and he generally tried to keep himself disassociated with psychopaths.

When he reached the next intersection, the illumination of flames coming off of one of the local shops was enough to tell him that something big was going on. People were screaming all around him, running past in a state of panic, constantly bumping into him as though they genuinely didn't notice his presence. He was hardly bothered by it anymore—he only tried to get closer, to find what the origin of all this commotion was. There had to be some nutty, colorfully-dressed villain at the center, shouting illogical threats at the innocent people around him. Whoever was doing this, the boy thought with narrow eyes, just might have to get a piece of his mind. Nobody with any common sense whatsoever had the audacity to go messing with his city without so much as a proper introduction.

An explosion went off somewhere to the right of where the flames were coming from; a hoard of people screamed at the top of their lungs, sending another panicked mob rushing past him. He took absolutely no notice, now. He'd been properly positioned to see that explosion as it went off, and now he realized that it wasn't an explosion at all.

The smoke that surrounded the now-flaming building was a bright shade of green. Now, he knew of only one explanation would that would suffice.

Starfire.

He had to get out of here…had to change clothes, and quick. He knew he had to let a certain group of superheroes know about his latest find, but he couldn't do that until he was unrecognizable as a boy, seen instead as the notorious thief they knew him as: Red X.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Robin was up early—far earlier than any of the others, as usual. A conglomeration of potato chip crumbs and bits of chocolate chip cookies scattered all over the computer desk hinted to him that Beast Boy had spent a great deal of time continuing his search for Starfire even after the boy wonder had gone to bed. He assumed from the fact that the changeling hadn't rushed in to wake him during any part of the night that his search had been just as fruitless as Robin's had.

A fresh day had filled the young hero with a fresh sense of determination. He started his morning off by setting any and all security cameras he could remember the access codes to without Cyborg's assistance to show a satellite view of the mountains instead of the usual images of downtown Jump he was given. A quick scan of the river's shores showed no recent evidence of a person climbing out of the icy water; the best he could see was a variety of animal footprints that suggested he would have been able to see a boot's imprint in the dirt. Viewing the mountain they'd found Terra and X on directly only showed the same rocky mess he'd seen when they left it the night before.

But there was no way she was still in the water. Beast Boy had searched it himself. As Robin could recall Starfire saying about him once before, "People do not just vanish." She has to be someplace, so go there and look, he said to himself, his lips curving into a thoughtful frown while her words repeated in his mind. But I am looking—and I'm not seeing anything.

His eyes passed over the mountainside once again, filling him with a sense of genuine confusion. There was no sign of any activity past what he'd witnessed anywhere. The only thing he could think might be even somewhat suspicious was a human-shaped imprint in the ground…but that may have been there the night before. He hadn't seen much of what had gone on between Red X and Terra—it could have been the thief's body that was pressed there. Besides, it clearly wasn't thin enough to be Starfire-shaped, so it was of no relevance to him anyway.

A red light suddenly flashed to life somewhere above him; in annoyance, Robin looked up, glaring at the alarm while it went off. His eyes traveled to the screen, waiting impatiently while the image of one of Jump City's streets came over it. A man dressed in black was racing down a street, a brown bag filled with some sort of treasure in one hand and a gun in the other. Three police cars were zooming toward the man, who seemed to be too frantic to think to turn back and fire at the tires of the cruisers.

For the first time in his life, Robin hit the red button to the side of the monitor, promptly deadening the alarm. He felt only a twinge of guilt, but his priorities were too clear to him to change his mind. The police can handle it, he told himself sternly, bringing the pictures of the mountainside back onto the screen. Frowning while his train of thought got back on track, the boy wonder instantly forgot that the alarm had even sounded.

Where are you, Starfire?

A few seconds later, the alarm began to whirl to life again; irritated, the hero slammed the silencer a second time, now beginning to grow annoyed. He didn't have time to fight crime right now—he had to find Starfire. He would go insane without her here.

Judging by his actions just now, he realized, he was already starting to.

…I shouldn't have done that.

What was he thinking? The city was much more important than a search for a girl who could certainly hold her own against the forces of evil. Even if it was just a burglar, the man had a gun…what if innocent people were hurt because of his refusal to abandon his frantic search for a Tamaranian ten times stronger than any other human being on the planet? Beginning to berate himself for his actions, Robin finally pushed himself away from the desk, turning to run back toward the others' rooms to alert them to the crime. He was already not looking forward to explaining to them why the alarms in their rooms hadn't gone off on their own.

Before he could get to the door, the computer beeped at him again. Robin stopped in his tracks and turned over his shoulder, noting the green flashing light of a transmission trying to come through in the corner of the screen. Probably the police chief, he realized with a grimace, moving back over to the computer to bring up the man's image. The boy wonder didn't even want to deal with the chief at the moment, but he knew didn't have much of a choice—he'd probably have to be doing some explaining as to why the alarm was deactivated twice within a five-minute time period. Robin gave himself a few seconds to think of a decent excuse before clicking the transmission to the front of the screen.

His eyes instantly widened at the face he was met with, then quickly narrowed. The person on the other end laughed in amusement upon observing Robin's reaction. "What's the matter, kid? You don't look happy to see me."

"I'll only be happy to see you when I'm seeing you behind bars," Robin shot back, folding his arms over his chest and glaring at the skull-shaped mask staring back at him. "I don't have time for games, X. I'm kind of in the middle of something."

"Looking for your girlfriend, I'll bet," X surmised, smirking to himself at the scowl that instantly formed over Robin's features. Exasperated, the boy wonder moved to press a button on the keyboard; the thief cleared his throat hastily, earning enough of a hesitation from the hero to express the reason for his transmission. "If that's the case, then you won't want to be hanging up on me just yet."

Robin froze, his eyes darting toward X and growing even more narrow than they already were. "Where is she?" he growled, leaning close against the desk to glare into the screen. "If you so much as lay a finger on her, I swear to you—"

"Relax, sunshine. I wouldn't even think about getting in her way right now."

An expectant pause ensued; Robin's gaze shifted awkwardly from furious to perplexed. "What are you talking about?"

Normally, X would have loved to capitalize on the opportunity to hold the knowledge over the hero's head. He found few things in life more amusing than watching the hero's face burn with frustration while the thief taunted him with whatever he could manage at the moment. However, this situation was different. X had been there to watch the girl disappear before his eyes. He'd seen how much the thought of losing her killed the spirit of his adversary. Therefore, he knew that he could only take his tormenting so far before it became inhumane. "Look at the city, Robin. Do you see the giant pillar of smoke rising from the center?"

The boy wonder moved his eyes toward the window. They widened considerably upon meeting the very image the thief had described. "Is that…because of Starfire?"

X nodded his masked head in confirmation. "Your girl is downtown, taking out everything in the shopping district in the name of the Pumpkin King."

In the name of the…what the hell is he talking about? "I said I don't have time for games," Robin repeated tersely, holding his hand just above the button he would need to use to cut the transmission short. "Are you saying she's working with—"

A green burst of light suddenly covered the screen, and it quickly cut to black. The end of his question never got through to Red X. Robin's eyes narrowed at the blank monitor for a moment before he promptly shoved himself away from the desk, hurrying toward the other Titans' rooms to wake them. Guess I'll have to take that as a yes.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

The communicator he'd been holding was effectively blasted away. What was left of the screen was in pieces on the ground; the remainder of the case was partially melted and still smoking in his hand. A trace of a smirk made its way onto the anti-hero's concealed face before he threw a glance over his shoulder at his assailant.

She was floating in the sky not far above him, but enough so to keep discerning her exact features from being easy. The clothes she usually wore were replaced by the same detestable orange-and-black theme that Terra had worn the day before. Her top was colored halfway in each shade; her skirt was black, and her matching boots were thigh-high. The normally exposed skin on her arms, legs, and midriff was covered by a shiny, metallic armor.

"Hello, Red X," she greeted simply. Her face wore an uncharacteristic smirk; her eyes, glowing for a moment with green energy after she fired the lone starbolt toward his device, dimmed to the normal emerald shade they usually donned within seconds.

So she wasn't going to attack him. Red X grinned to himself, dropping what was left of the communicator and turning to fully face her. "Starfire," he said in return, nodding his head slightly in acknowledgement. His eyes lingered over her changed appearance for a moment, letting a short silence spread itself between the two. "You've come to the dark side after all, I see," he observed, sounding faintly amused by the idea in itself.

Her smirk grew deeper, and her eyes narrowed slightly in accordance, drawing a mildly devious expression upon her lovely face. "I have."

His eyes scanned over her once more while he folded his arms over his chest. She didn't look right, he decided after a moment. There was never anything about her that had particularly screamed "evil" at him, and now that she was donning a darker look, she simply didn't seem natural anymore. It was a shame, really. Here she was, finally willing to simply stand (or float) and converse with him in a thoroughly destroyed sector of a major city, and she'd lost the spark that had initially caught his eye in the process.

"I noticed that you were speaking with someone," the alien girl observed in an innocent tone while she lowered herself slowly to the ground. Landing roughly ten feet away from him, she tossed a lock of ruby hair over her shoulder, shifting her body weight to one side and placing a hand on her opposite hip. "Forgive me, but I have decided that I would rather have you speaking with me."

"Is that so?" X tried and failed to keep the sarcasm out of his tone. He managed to stop himself before beginning to berate her for attacking him the night before. She's obviously working with the blonde now, he reminded himself, recalling all too clearly the pained expression riddled all over the geomancer's face while whatever it was tore through her mind, forcing her to attack the group she once called her friends. The possibility that Starfire could now be in the same situation couldn't escape him. "It's always a pleasure to talk to you, cutie."

Her smirk broadened into a slight grin at the nickname she normally hated so vehemently, inadvertently presenting X with the evidence he needed to confirm his suspicion. "I wish to extend to you an invitation," she informed him, taking a very small but noticeable step forward without wavering her stare. The thief lifted a hidden eyebrow at his assailant, a mischievous smirk playing onto his own face while he watched her eyes dance across his mask. "Surely you have heard of the most fearsome villain ever to inhabit this city."

"Me?" X guessed, straightening his body into a mockery of a noble stance. Starfire giggled, finally breaking her hand away from her hip to cover her mouth while she laughed. The thief was surprised; he'd never drawn laughter out of the alien before. It pleased him, to an extent, but it wasn't the same giggle she used to have. It was a bit darker, and much more in line with a cackle than he ever would have guessed she could manage.

Once she shushed herself, she peeked at him through half-closed eyes, moving her hand ever so slightly to let her fingers rest pensively on her chin. "The next most fearsome villain, then," she smiled, unwilling to tell him that he was wrong. "I am speaking of Slade. The greatest adversary that the Teen Titans have ever known."

"I thought we just decided I was their greatest adversary," the thief mused aloud, but more to himself than as a disagreement to her words. "Yeah, I think I may have heard a thing or two about him. Why do you ask?"

The smirk reappeared on her lovely face; she let her hand slip away from her face entirely, folding her arms over her chest to mirror his stance. "The request I bring to you is from him. He wishes for me to invite you to assist me in destroying the Titans and everything that they stand for."

"Is that so?" He said it in exactly the same sarcastic tone he used the first time. "If Slade wants me to help you, why did he tell the blonde girl to finish me off?"

Her grin faltered, but only slightly. "Terra is weak and highly disobedient to his wishes. She is no longer a part of the plan Slade has concocted. I have taken her place as his assistant."

"Really." Still, X made it plainly clear that he wasn't buying it. "And I'm sure your loyalty will far outlast hers. Less than a day ago, the Titans were your friends. They've been your friends for years. What happened in less than twelve hours to make you want to turn on them?"

Her viridian eyes glared at him. X was surprised; she was actually beginning to look quite menacing. "What has happened between myself and my friends is not a concern of yours."

The thief was satisfied to assume that he was succeeding in his efforts to get under her skin. Rolling his hidden eyes, he sardonically remarked, "My, aren't we just full of surprises today. Is it because Robin didn't jump off the cliff to save you?"

A scowl quickly overtook her face; her stance shifted to a less casual, more haughty one, her head tilting downward to let her eyes narrow at him further. "Perhaps that had a bit to do with my decision," she retorted, obviously unwilling to delve into this type of conversation with the thief. "My reasons are my own. Hold no expectations and you shall receive no 'surprises' from me."

He couldn't help laughing at her, and her eyes narrowed even further at the sound of his distorted chuckle. "I'm going to have to write that one down," he grinned. "I should be the one you're trying to destroy, in that case. I was the one who stopped Robin from diving off after you. Of course, had I let him go, you might be after me anyway—I'd be the one to blame for his death."

"Silence," she snapped in a very low but very stern voice. "As I have told you, my reasons are my own. If you continue exhibiting such insolence, I will be forced to retract my invitation."

"Retract it all you want. I wasn't exactly planning on jumping at the opportunity."

The emerald energy in her eyes finally flared to life; she held her hands up in front of her face in an instant, charging each of them with a starbolt and steadying them toward his skull-shaped mask. "If that is the case, then I may as well end your life now. You are of no further use to me."

He wasn't sure why, but he wasn't panicking. The anger in her eyes only made him want to dig into her further. It was as though she truly didn't have the power to end his life with one swift blast of superhuman energy. "Go ahead," he taunted, ignoring his better judgment while it screamed at him not to test her limit. "You've proved that you don't care about the city—now go ahead and take a life. I dare you to, Starfire…or whoever you are."

The Tamaranian girl pressed her lips together, rolling her tongue in agitation over her teeth and rolling his words over in her mind while she glared at the boy in front of her. He was so casual, so uncaring; the implication he was trying to get across came almost too easily from the minimal effort he put forth. "You are on your own side, as you say, correct?" She blew out an angry sigh, the starbolts in her hands burning more brightly as she did so. "It is humorous—it seems as though you are more on the Teen Titans' side than your own."

"At the moment," he smirked, not so much as flinching at the subtle display of hidden power she demonstrated. "Tell me, before you kill me—am I right?"

"You are presumptuous," she spat back, jutting her fists closer to him until she could see the shine of green light off of his mask. Still, he didn't move; she was beginning to grow visibly furious with his impertinence. "If that is your dying wish, then I will allow you to leave this world quite unsatisfied."

"Being killed by such a beautiful creature is satisfying enough for me."

She was beginning to hate him. The voices in her head urged her to do it—to end his life just as swiftly as she'd demolished half of the city. The starbolts in her fists grew steadily brighter, her eyes narrowing even further, and she found herself thinking of only one thing.

Instead of the immense desire to destroy this annoying human being, she was wondering what his face looked like. Perhaps he was smiling at her, knowing in his heart that she wouldn't be able to go through with it. Perhaps he was terrified, and his eyes were wide with horror at the event that was about to happen. Whatever he was thinking, and whatever he was doing, his stance came across the same as it always had.

Cocky and callous, just like always.

She sighed deeply, lowering her fists and allowing the energy she'd built up to fade away, her body slouching until she found herself sitting dejectedly on the ground. He continued to stand, his arms still folded over his chest, secretly smirking at the defeated-looking girl before him.

"I do not know what it is," she said quietly, her eyes focused squarely on the ground in front of her, "but I cannot force myself to commit such an act. There are these things inside of my mind that are screaming at me, telling me that I cannot walk away while you still stand. They tell me that I must destroy you."

"Then why don't you?"

Despite herself, her lips curled into a small half-smile. "I believe you know the answer to that question as well as I."

She was right; he did. He'd known it in the back of his mind all along. She was too pure-hearted to honestly be able to intentionally take a life, regardless of what was controlling her.

Starfire's eyes briefly closed, her head shaking from one side to the other in a very small motion. "There is not much time. You must go, before—"

"Where is he?" he cut her off. X wasn't about to let her conscious mind slip away from him without gaining at least a bit of knowledge from the girl. She looked up at him helplessly; he tried to fight off the guilty feeling that suddenly welled within him for not doing more to help her in her current situation. But he didn't have time for that. "Tell me where Slade is, and I can go take out his…whatever he's using to control you."

She shook her head slowly. "I do not know," she confessed, the melancholy voice she used only doing more to enhance his guilt. "The last thing that I can remember is damaging the earth that Terra was moving toward me. After that, I only woke up inside the same cavern she held you within. These things in my head that force me to destroy…they had already appeared."

"Great." So Slade must have taken into consideration the possibility that she would be able to temporarily fight off the control he had on her. Maybe what happened to Terra had been unexpected—so maybe Terra could tell him the villain's whereabouts. But the geomancer was more than likely within the Titans' tower at the moment…how could he get the information out of her without the team of superheroes knowing?

He might be forced to—X grimaced at the very thought—team up with the Titans for the time being. All for one silly piece of information he needed to rescue a girl who'd tried to have him thrown in jail on at least a dozen other occasions. Moreover, when the thought entered his mind, the thief wasn't immediately repulsed by the idea. It was almost as though he was willing to do all this for her. What was wrong with him?

A pained grunt from Starfire brought his attention back to the Titan (or former Titan?) in front of him; she'd placed one hand to her forehead, using the other to keep herself balanced on the ground while whatever was happening to her continued to happen. "Go!" she urged, looking up at him with the same panicked eyes Terra had demonstrated the night before. "I do not wish to be forced to fight you!"

"Then fight him."

"What—?"

His image fazed out of her sight before she could finish the question. Coward, the voice in her head sneered; her eyes unwillingly narrowed at the spot he'd been standing, an intense feeling of disappointment beginning to overwhelm her once she realized she'd passed up a golden opportunity to blast the criminal into oblivion.

Starfire was once again helpless, and X, however reluctantly, was well on his way to a place he'd been a few times before.

A/N: I'm still not entirely pleased with it…but it's come along greatly from where I had it in the first place. Please let me know what you think, and if everything that's been going on makes sense or not. As I warned before, this fic is halfway a massive idea I've been obsessed with and halfway an experiment in my writing styles. So be sure to let me know how I'm doing. ;) Thanks, guys.