A/N: For some reason I keep getting writer's block for everything I have. So I'm sorry if stuff is coming out late. When school starts up I'll have less time to type, but I always seem to get through writer's block when I'm in a really boring class. I day dream too much. Anywho, you did not come here to hear me babble on. So here is your chapter! Please R&R!
Disclaimer: I don't own them. And I'm sure you readers don't own them too! Too bad, so sad!
Chapter 7 The X Is Back
It was a normal evening in Titans Tower. The team had just gotten back from a fight with Mumbo. It was Cyborg's turn to cook dinner, so he was busy in the kitchen making whatever to his liking. The others were starving, but they knew not to bug the half robot dude when he was cooking. They did not want a frying pan to smack them in the back of the head and waking up the next day with a headache. So the others killed some time just doing whatever.
Beast Boy was playing his video games with Raven by his side completely ignoring him with her nose in one of her new horror books. She blocked out the world around her as she kept reading. Once in a while the loud bleeping and whirling sounds of Beast Boy's game came into her ears, but it was more like back round noise than anything else.
Suddenly there was some loud yelling from the kitchen. Raven frowned and looked up from her book. Beast Boy stopped his game with his ears perking up with interest to who had gotten into Cyborg's way.
"Get out of my kitchen, man!" came Cyborg's voice. "Stop moping around here, Robin! I already told you guys to leave me alone when I cook!"
The door suddenly opened up and in came a dazed Robin. He also looked a bit scared for some reason. Beast Boy gave a small, annoying laugh at the sight. "You were the one who told us not to go in there," he said to Robin. "And you were one of the first to break that small rule."
Robin gave them a mixed look of confusion and anger. "I'll be in my room," he then muttered with a shrug. Beast Boy and Raven watched him leave. Raven felt an uneasy vibe coming from her leader. She was very eager to figure out what was going on with him. Beast Boy was the same way.
"Does he seem different to you?" the changeling asked Raven before she went back to reading.
For the briefest of moments he had caught her off guard. She turned toward him with a questioning look. "Yeah," she said after some silence. "You notice it too?"
Beast Boy shrugged his shoulders as if it was no big deal. "He has been avoiding you a lot lately," he said. "I think that is kind of strange. You two are good friends."
"Oh," Raven said quietly. She was noticing other things in Robin. Beast Boy only noticed that the two were fighting. She was kind of disappointed. But this was only Beast Boy. "We just need some space," she said. "He is just too focused on Red X and Slade. He thinks too much on the past."
"Right," Beast Boy said slyly with one of those evil grins coming to his lips. Raven looked over to him to with confusion. Beast Boy was already playing his game and blocking her out of his own little world once again. He was up to something. She just knew it! Now she had to keep tabs on two members in her team. But the only thing to do now was to read.
- Red X -
For a second night in a row, the alarm clock next to Jake's bed went off. He was up in an instant with newfound energy flowing through his body. To night was the night he would put his plan into action! He quickly got into his Red X suit that Slade had dropped off right before he left that morning. Once he slipped that mask over his head his identity changed. He was the cunning thief known as Red X. Jake White was gone.
Red X quietly snuck out of Robin's room. He had memorized the files on Robin's personal computer on how to get to that belt he so desperately needed to complete his outfit. His capture of the belt should be relatively easy for the great thief. But if he had one small misstep his plan could come crashing down on his head.
The thief's footsteps could barely be heard as he ran down the dark hallway to the room he was seeking. He quickly found the room. There was no hesitation as he pressed the button on the wall beside the door to make it swoosh open. He jumped in quickly, expecting to be in the room of the belt. But he did was dead wrong.
X swore quietly under his breath when he looked at the small room. It was Robin's study. This was no normal study, though. The obsessive teen had newspaper articles hanging all over the room. Most of them were about Slade. A small wooden table was in the middle with a few broken gadgets scattered on it. Pens and paper were strewn around the table as well. A lot of notes about him were there.
After a quick glance Red X knew that the superhero had come pretty close to knowing him. But he would never be able to figure out his true identity with only this information. Pride began to swell up in Red X's chest as that sly smile came to his lips under the mask. Only the few quick and smart people in this world could get past this kid. Red X was one of those few.
"Stumped you, kid," X whispered as he looked around the room once again. He then frowned when he thought back to the situation. Robin never mentioned anything about this room in his computer files. Red X should have known that the kid would not give away so much information in one computer file. But this was a waste of time! He had things to do!
Red X gave a sigh as he tried to find some entrance to another room that could hold the belt. He tried the walls and stuff on the table, but nothing would trigger to open another door. He started to pass the room in thought of what to do next. Slade expected him to do something that night. What was he going to do?
As if from above, the tile Red X stepped on descend into the floor a little and a part of a wall vanished into the wall to create a small door. Red X smiled to himself at his luck and quickly ran into the room. He knew exactly what to do next.
The room was the size of three bedrooms put together. All he had to do was get past this long room to the other side and the belt was as good as his. But Robin had taken out the simple lasers and replaced the old security with one of his own.
By reading the computer files, X knew that touching any of the walls his plan would fail because the alarm would go off. It would wake up the whole Tower and a certain Robin would not be able to show up in time. The floor was just one long acid tank, so there was no walking to the other side. The only way to get from point A to point B was by jumping to the metal platform floating in the acid river. The platforms were made out of some metal that was not affected by acid and so were the walls.
The one big problem here was that all those small platforms were moving around in the acid. Red X observed the room as his mind turned over what to do. He took off his long cape that would just get in the way. He also pulled off his shoes because they were padded and did not have the best grip. They were designed for landing after big jumps and for not making sounds in the night. But bare skin would work the best right now.
"Here I go," X whispered to himself after a deep breath.
With his mind only focused on the task ahead, the teen jumped into the air and landed on the first moving platform with perfect balance in his move. But much to his dismay, the round platform started to sink under his weight.
"Crap!" X hissed as he quickly looked ahead with panic to see where to jump next. This place was just full of surprises! He took to the air once again and landed on the next platform. He lost balance because of his hasty jump. He tipped forward while propelling his arms to regain his balance. His nose was inches away from the wall. He winced as he prepared to hear the alarm blast into his ears.
Nothing happened. He thanked his lucky stars as he quickly jumped to the next platform. He got over the new surprise as his mind quickly planned out his next move. Sweat dripped down his back as the situation got worse. He could not hesitate with this new thing with the sinking platforms.
Red X then went into action. He sprung off the platform and high into the air. He landed hard on the next one and he had to step backwards to another platform to avoid getting his bare feet burned off. He winced under the mask at how close he had been. He looked ahead and jumped to the next platform with much grace.
After only a few minutes of jumping around like a monkey and almost getting burned to death, Red X made it across with only a few hot burns on the balls of his feet. He heaved a big sigh of relief and walked into the next room ready to steal his belt.
- Beast Boy -
The changeling heard Robin's door swoosh open only by his animal ears that could pick up the slightest of things. It was times like these that he was glad he had this kind of hearing. He could faintly hear Robin's feet run past his door quickly. Boy, was the teen quiet! Beast Boy almost could not hear him.
Beast Boy sneaked over to Robin's room and opened the door with one of his evil smiles spreading over his face. He tip-toed into the room and looked around it with wide eyes of amazement. The room was not perfectly clean!
Papers were scattered around the room and so were clothes. The bed was not made and one of Robin's outfits was strewn all over the sheets. Beast Boy sniffed the air as if something like a smell could tell him what was going on with the leader of the Titans. At first he thought it had to do something with Raven and their small shunning fight that was going on all day in the Tower. But the green teen had narrowed it down to just Robin. He was the one that was acting strange. Raven was the one who was normal for once.
Beast Boy had gone into his leader's room just to see if he could get some clue that he was right for once and that Robin was acting weird. Much to his surprise, he was totally right! Robin and a messy room would never go together. Okay, so the room was not really a mess, but the Robin Beast Boy knew would never leave clothes around on the floor and not make his bed.
"Boy Wonder is defiantly acting differently," Beast Boy muttered to himself. "But the question is…why." The changeling expressed a small smile because he could not help but quote the guy. But right now quoting Robin made him realize that it really was the perfect question. Why was Robin acting this way? It was not evil. It was just small details that really weren't a big problem.
After a few minutes of doing absolutely nothing but muddle around the room in search of a clue, Beast Boy sensitive years picked up Robin's quick footsteps heading for the room. Beast Boy freaked and had no idea what to do. If Robin saw him searching his room then he would be considered dead. He did the only thing his mind could come up with. He hid. The closet wasn't the best of places, but this way he could see through the small crack he made with the sliding mirror.
Things got confusing fast. Instead of Robin coming into the room it was Red X! The changeling could not believe his very own eyes as Red X pulled off his mask. Lo and behold, it was Robin! Beast Boy put a hand over his mouth to keep himself from making any sound. What was Robin doing as Red X again? It got worse.
Robin held the Red X belt in his hand with a sly smile on his face. "Easy," he muttered to himself. He then gave a short laugh and added, "If you forget the pit of acid eating away at your feet." He then gave a heavy sigh of deep relief.
Beast Boy kept his hand on his mouth as he watched all this with disbelief. He just could not believe his own two eyes as he watched the scene unfold before him. Millions of different questions flew through his head. He tried hard to sort it all out and put his head together, but then he saw Robin, or who he thought was Robin, take out a black communicator.
"Slade," Robin said after pressing a few buttons. He gave the man on the other end a light smile that seemed forced. "I stole the real Red X belt. It should be easy for me to keep fooling the Titans with this thing." He held up the stolen belt to prove his point.
"Good," came Slade's calm voice from the other end. Beast Boy's stomach did a small flip as he bit onto his tongue that so desperately wanted to make a sound to bring all this to an end. "But don't get too cocky, Jake. Robin already made that mistake."
Beast Boy tilted his head to the side in confusion. Who was Slade talking to? Robin was right here! Why did he just call him Jake? Was there a chance that this person was not Robin? That bit of hope made Beast Boy calm down a little. His curiosity had been perked.
Jake's face turned ghostly pale as that small smile faded into a frown of dread. "W-what happened?" he asked Slade with some hesitation. Jake's mood then changed into rage as he whispered harshly at Slade, "You had better not hurt her, damn it! Or you're days are going to be numbered! You hear me, Slade? I swear…"
"Quiet," Slade cut him off sharply. Jake held back his anger for a few seconds, but from where Beast Boy stood he could see that the teen was having trouble with it. Jake glared at the communicator with pure hatred in those masked eyes.
"She's fine," Slade said when he thought that Jake had finally calmed down a bit. "Just a few bruises." Jake opened his mouth to shout a curse, but Slade cut him off again. "Control yourself, Jake," he said calmly. "Robin just tried to escape and I needed to teach him a lesson. Your sister was my example."
Jake's face was filled with anguish. He said nothing. After a few silent seconds he shook his head to Slade and asked, "What do you need me to do next?"
- Robin -
"Duck!" James yelled to the group as the boat sped up. Everyone obeyed with no hesitation. Right afterwards they could hear the shooting and bullets ricocheted off the boat. Valentine gave a small yell of fright as she clung onto Robin's arm.
James turned sharply and everyone in the boat was thrown off balance to the sudden move. Robin and Valentine slammed into Slade and Jessica with small yells of surprise. Water was sprayed onto the street and soaked some of the people. The boat sped off from the people cursing them for their rudeness just to be sprayed again by the following boat in hot pursuit.
"We're going to have to split," James called out to the passengers in the boat. "It is easy for them to follow us on the water. So when I stop, everyone separate. We will get back together at the bridge over the Canal Grande close to the Ponte di Rialto." He was returned by quick nods of understanding.
James slammed on the brakes and then grabbed someone's shoulder to yank him toward the side he was jumping out of. Slade grabbed onto Valentine's shoulder because he knew Robin would never leave if Valentine was not with him. Jessica went with Slade because she was on the same side of the boat he was on.
Robin jumped off the left side of the boat with James right by his side. He kept low to the ground to avoid getting shot from the men firing at him from their boat. James pushed Robin ahead while taking out a pistol that was hidden behind him. Robin paused and realized that it was only him and James. Slade, Jessica, and Valentine went the other way and had already disappeared.
"Just go, kid!" James yelled at him while taking aim. "I'll catch up with you later."
Robin hesitated but finally took off in a sprint. He was thoroughly confused on what was happening. Why were those men shooting at them? He had others along the same lines, but he had to force them away as he ran down the street. He quickly got lost because only someone who lived and explored the place most of their life could know the streets like the back of their hand.
The teen slowed down as he realized that he had no idea where he was going or where he had come from. He finally came to a stop and put his hands on his knees as he panted. Two old, Italian women walked by him. They both gave the teen some odd looks while gossiping in quick Italian. He gave them a weak smile and a wave. They gave him more strange looks and quickly walked past him.
Robin now saw that he was alone and free. When he thought differently he realized that Valentine was still with Slade. He cursed the man under his breath as he started to walk. Slade knew that if he had Valentine by his side Robin would never be able to bring himself to run away.
A hand suddenly grabbed Robin and pulled him into a dark alleyway. Robin tried to break free from the strong grasp on his shoulders as his back was shoved against the brick wall. He looked up and saw that it was only James.
"Not the greatest time to escape, kid," James said with wide grin. "The fun has hardly begun."
"What?" Robin asked the man.
"I didn't say anything," James said. His grin widened and he winked at the teen. Robin was a bit confused. Who was this guy? Did he know that Robin did not want to be there? This man was a complete mystery to the teen.
"We have to keep moving," James said in a loud whisper. "I want to beat Slade to the bridge." He started to walk down the alleyway in a jog. Robin followed right behind him after some hesitation.
"This isn't a game," Robin whispered back to James. "Those guys were shooting at us. They wanted us dead! I want to know why."
James smiled down at Robin and asked him, "Why are you whispering?"
Robin gave James a strange look and said, "You whispered first."
"You don't always have to do things my way," James said. "I'm just as clueless as you. No one can memorize these streets. The maps are always changing. Those men who were shooting at us have to be as lost as us by now. We don't have to worry about them anymore. I just want to get to the bridge before Slade. What do you think, kid?"
"W-what?" was the only thing Robin could get out at first. "I don't think that you're taking this serious enough. What if more of those guys are out there waiting to shoot at us? We need to be more careful!"
"You're a serious one," James said. He stopped and folded his arms in front of him and stared down at Robin with wonder in his eyes. "Then how 'bout we run?"
Robin stared up at James with puzzlement on his face. He seriously did not know how to react. "You're crazy!" Robin finally yelled at James.
James then cracked up and said through laughs, "You should have seen your face just then, kid!" Robin stood there with a look of uncertainty on his face. He had no idea what to do. He was not used to being in this kind of situation. Batman never taught him what to do when he bumped into a crazy guy like this.
The man calmed down when he saw that Robin was not catching on to his strange behavior. "Sorry, kid," he said with his voice more serious. "I'm just joking with you. I do it a lot with my own kids. I'm so used to doing it around someone your age that I didn't stop to realize that some teens have thicker heads than some."
"You have kids?" Robin asked him while brushing the man's last sentence away. James was acting like that on purpose. It made Robin feel a bit better. But the man was still weird.
"Okay," James said quickly with a forced smile. "Too much information shared. Did I say kids? I meant…cats. Yeah! Cats!"
Robin laughed at James as they both started to walk down the alleyway. The sun was making all of the mist on the street fade away. The air was starting to warm up a little. A light breeze flew by the two, and Robin gave a small sigh. He did not mind being with James. He was strange as hell, but entertaining.
"How far away is the bridge from here?" Robin asked James. "If I'm too late Slade isn't going to be very happy."
James laughed a little and said, "That guy is never happy. He creeps me out. And I've only been with him for less than an hour. How sad is that? But if we run we might make it there before him and his evil little sidekick."
"You mean Jessica?" Robin asked him with a faint smile at James' new nickname for her. "She has anger problems. Just to warn you, she can control your body."
"Jessica Hunter?" James asked Robin.
"Yeah," Robin answered. "Do you know her?"
"Who?" James asked with confusion.
"Jessica Hunter," Robin answered.
"Who's she?" James asked.
"Never mind," Robin said while rolling his eyes in frustration. "Can we just get to the bridge?"
"Follow me," James said. "Try to keep up." He took off down the road in a sprint. Robin ran quickly after him with a look of worry coming over his face. Did James know where he was going? He thought for sure they would get lost.
The two zigzagged down the street at break neck speed. Sometimes they were going so fast that they almost slammed into a wall when turning sharply. They had to jump over baskets and such along the way. Robin was almost enjoying himself. When early tourists came out, the game went into a different direction.
"Keep your eye on me, kid," James said to Robin right before they flung themselves into a crowd of American tourists that were just starting out their day. Maps were out and the kids were entertaining themselves by throwing small pebbles into the canal.
The two ran into the crowd at full force. Robin had to quickly put on his brakes when he realized that these people were not going to notice him as a Teen Titan and move out of his way like the people of Jump City would. He skidded to a stop with a short yell of alarm. He jumped to the side while still keeping a sharp eye on James just ahead of him making his own way through the crowd.
Robin clenched his teeth as he kept pushing ahead through the throng of people. He muttered sorry or excuse me to the stubborn people who would not move out of his way and he had to shove into them. He heard James laugh at him when Robin slammed into an old lady and she whacked him on the head with her purse a few times. He had quickly jumped out of the way to avoid getting hurt again.
"Jeez, lady!" Robin yelled at her. "What do you keep in there?" He rubbed his sore head as him and James ran out of the crowd. James laughed at him again but stopped when Robin gave him a dirty glare. The two picked up speed and started to run for a fondamenta or a paved walkway beside a canal.
"Aren't we going to turn?" Robin asked James. They were not stopping and the edge of the canal was coming up fast. If they did not turn soon or stop they were going to end up with the fishes.
"Nope!" James said cheerfully. "Just keep going, kid. Trust me!"
Before Robin knew it, a big tour boat had pulled up close to the edge of the canal. The teen quickly saw James' plan. They were going to jump onto the boat. Robin calculated it all out in his head and smiled when he realized they were going to make it. This guy was smart.
"Here we go!" James said yelled as they came up to the edge. Robin was right behind him. They both pushed off the edge and soared high into the air. The people on the boat gasped as two guys came flying out of nowhere onto their boat. James landed perfectly, but Robin had to do a roll before stopping.
"That was…exciting," Robin said to James as the two stood up. He looked ahead and saw the bridge. "And there it is!" he said while pointing.
"Sorry people," James quickly addressed the crowd that was wondering why the two were there. "We are not staying very long. We are making our own stop." As he said this, he and Robin climbed up onto the railing. "Arrivederci!" he said with a bow.
Robin and James then jumped up and grabbed the railing of the bridge. Robin easily got onto the bridge because of his acrobat skills. James had a more difficult time, but he finally got onto the bridge. They both stood there smiling and panting at their success of beating Slade to the spot.
Robin was the first to crack up. For only a few seconds he had been having fun even though he was in the hands of Slade. He had felt free and alive. But those feelings came crashing down when he spotted Slade walking calmly up to the bridge with Valentine and Jessica at his side.
Slade stayed quiet as he saw that James and Robin were both panting and were out of breath. Sweat dripped down both of their flushed faces. He silently wondered how the two had beaten him there. But the most important question was why Robin had been laughing before he had gotten there. It was a rare thing to make the teen laugh like that.
"Avanti!" James said to the group. "We are almost there."
A/N: I hope the chapter was long enough. School starts on the 7th so I wanted to get this chapter out before then. The ending was more for you guys to get to know James' character. I'm aiming for him to be kind of a mystery to you guys. But I'm going to have a glossary of Italian words I might use in the next chapter. I've already used a few in this chapter. I only know a few words in Italian but I can't speak it. I can understand a lot because I know lots of Spanish and both languages have a Latin background. But please give a review and I'll try to update soon! Thanks!
