Hey guys, it's me. I know, I know… where the heck was I and why haven't I updated in so long? Well, my answer is simple really: I had a tremendous amount of writer's block, had lots of school work (Gosh, why'd 7th grade Pre-Algebra have to be so dang difficult?), procrastinated worse than I've ever procrastinated before, been lazy, and just plain lost interest in my story. Luckily for you folks though, I've somehow made myself feel so guilty that I updated, and as an added bonus; I've improved my writing style some (after being moved to Pre-AP English). So there you have it, my excuse.
Btw, in case you're interested, this may be the last chapter that I write for a long, long time (again), so if anyone would like to continue the story, rewrite the story, or do otherwise with it, feel free to do so.
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Robin punched the button that stopped the tower alarm and began to gather information about the location of the crime on the computer. As the other Titans walked in, Robin turned around in the swivel chair he'd moved to earlier, to face them.
"Alright Titans, it seems that Red X has been reported at a recent bank robbery. We've been called in again to take him out, but this time I want no mistakes. Got it?" Robin asked.
The other Titans nodded and went to their respective transportation. Robin went to his R-cycle while the others flew—since the T-car had been blown up recently and Cyborg was still in the process of making a new one. He glanced in Raven's direction as she took off and reminded himself to get Raven something better than flowers when she met his gaze with a glare. He tried to give her an apologetic smile, but she'd taken off already. He put the kickstand to his bike in its place and raced out of the garage.
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When the Titans arrived at the scene, X was not to be found. This frustration of the young heroes was short-lived though as Red X seemed to appear from nowhere and hit Beastboy in the back of his neck, making him groan and collapse. Robin charged the villain with newfound anger and managed to land a few hits on the thief before he transported a few meters away.
Red X engaged Starfire next—trying to distract the Boy Wonder—by viciously grabbing her arm and throwing her into a nearby cubicle. She groaned as she struggled to get up from the small clutter of debris that had surrounded where she'd fallen. Red X grinned cockily and dodged Cyborg's sonic beam that was sent towards him. He abruptly crouched low and swept the half metal man off his feet. He'd no time to gloat though as a starbolt incased with a black aura appeared out of thin air to hit him fully in the chest. As he staggered, he looked around for Raven. He knew that she and Starfire had teamed up to do that, and that he needed to find her first since she posed a bigger threat then the alien princess.
He narrowly avoided a deft slash made by Robin with his bird-a-rang and quickly countered the move when two 'X' shaped knives shot out of the tops of his gloved hands and locked in position to become hand based swords. He swung at Robin fiercely, nicking his shoulder. Before he could land another hit, Cyborg and Starfire began shooting at him. He nimbly weaved through the barrage and shot two gooey X's out of his palms. They both landed with frustrated grunts and struggled to get free before Red X threw an electrocuting device on the goop, causing the entire substance to come alive with sparks. The Titans screeched and fell limp onto the carpet inside the bank.
He about-faced and went into a series of hand-to-hand combat moves with Robin before finally gaining the upper hand. As he slowly forced Robin to go on the defense, Raven saw her chance to thwart the thief and sent a claw of dark energy towards him. Unfortunately, he saw the figure just in time and slowly began to teleport away. Robin's masked eyes widened and he desperately jerked his grappling hook from his belt and aimed it upwards. As he fired, Red X vaporized completely and left Robin in the claw's wake.
Robin's grappling hook proved useless though as he was slammed against the wall; a sickening crunch coming from somewhere near his ribs. He slid down to the floor after the claw dissipated and clutched his side tenderly. Raven gasped and hurried to Robin's side to apologize and check his injuries. But when she was a few feet from him, Red X reappeared and grabbed Raven.
As she spun around to push him away with her powers, he hastily slapped a device on her neck that suddenly made her feel woozy. She stumbled forward and into Red X's arms. She tried to push away, but was getting dizzier by the moment and suddenly had barely any strength to move as she felt the villain's hands grip her shoulders to keep her there.
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Meanwhile, Robin was fading in and out of consciousness as he watched the scene unfold before him. Once again, Raven was in the arms of the enemy and he was completely helpless to do anything about it. He winced and doubled over as a white-hot pain suddenly seared through his side again.
Never before had he felt this much pain—not even when he broke his arm while chasing Johnny Rancid. He knew he'd probably broken several ribs. He could feel the tip of a bone peering out of his costume, and the warm blood that was slowly running off the point and onto his fingers. He blinked hard and swayed as he tried to get up. He collapsed onto the carpet again, and darkness consumed him.
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Raven took a quick glance in Robin's direction and saw him face down on the carpet with blood gradually pooling at his side. She grit her teeth and turned around again to glare at the criminal. He seemed to be occupied with staring cockily at Robin's form—seemingly oblivious to Raven at the time. With newfound strength, Raven balled her fingers and hurled her fist in the general direction of his mask. To her disbelief and utter annoyance, he caught her wrist before it made impact with his face and grinned smugly as he looked down upon her. She tried to rip her hand from his grasp, but winced as an electric wave began to seemingly pulse out of the device on her neck. Her dizziness and feebleness returned to her quickly and she swayed dramatically as her sight blurred as well.
The thief laughed and held her steady again as she clutched her head with her free hand. He picked her up—even with Raven's many protests and attempts of struggle—and pushed the center button on his belt to teleport away with his package slung over his shoulder.
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Red X and Raven reappeared on the same beach that Raven and Garrett's date had been on when the criminal sat her down on a nearby bench. He gently grabbed her chin and lifted it so that the device on her neck was clearly visible. He slowly peeled it off and threw it in the sand. He backed away slightly, as she seemed to regain her senses and leisurely got to her feet. She rubbed her temples and checked her surroundings. When she opened her mind to check for auras, she was shocked to find Garrett's aura within a close proximity. She whirled around and came face to face with Red X.
Her eyes widened and she doubled-checked the aura without a second of thought about Red X being her enemy. There was no mistake; that was Garrett's aura.
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Red X felt a presence tugging at the edges of his mind and immediately looked to Raven. He watched her begin to shake her head and back away. He'd been found out—she knew! X stepped forward with an outstretched hand, but quickly caught himself. 'Maybe it's not too late. Maybe I can make her think it was a mistake.' He desperately looked around—anything to get himself out of this! She didn't need to know now—not until he was absolutely sure he could trust her with this kind of information! A glimmer caught his eye, and he found himself to be looking at the device he'd placed on her earlier.
'Of course!' He thought. He sauntered closer to her and mocked, "What's the matter Raven? Are your powers all messed up because of my little toy?" He scoffed and picked it up off the sand. He held it out in front of him as if to prove his point. He hated being so mean to her, but this was who he was—Red X, and Red X was an enemy.
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Raven seemed to clam down and breathed an almost inaudible sigh of relief as she gazed upon the criminal's device. If it had been Garrett, she wouldn't know what to do. She just wouldn't know what to do.