"Money can't buy friends, but it can get you a better class of enemy." -Spike Milligan

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Star City. 10:57 pm.

The large vault door cracked open and Red X breathed a sigh of relief. It had taken him longer then he would've liked to crack the lock and open the large metal door, but he did eventually open the safe door. With a sense of aw and thankfulness, he stared at the ten zynothium vials lined against one of the large vault's walls.

Taking a quicker stride in his step, X quickly pulled the brief case he had strapped to his back off and laid it opened on the floor. The inside of the case was padded with the same foam NASA used, the same foam that one could now purchase as a mattress.

He picked up vial after vial of red zynothium ore and placed it in the brief case, laying them on the soft protective foam. After all ten vials had been collected and arranged inside the brief case, Red X closed it and the foam held the vials safely yet gently. Those vials would keep the suit going for a very long time, and he grinned with a mischievous delight as he strapped the brief case on his back again.

Suddenly an alarm sounded from somewhere in the building.

Every thief dreads that. It was so unexpected and scary that Red X's heart skipped a few beats and the eye sockets in his mask crew wide. As soon as he regained his pulse, his brain began flying with thoughts. What had he done to trip an alarm? Would guards come?

Then he heard crashes and booms coming from somewhere beyond the vault. Definitely not guards. He heard a crash again, this time coming from below him.

Suddenly the floor itself exploded apart into pieces and a large red figure crashed through it, throwing Red X to the floor. When the dust cleared, X saw who had tripped those alarms.

"Adonis!", Red X said.

"Huh? Who are you?", Adonis asked, portraying all the intelligence of a woodchuck eating paint chips. "How do u know my name?"

"I know everyone's names. I'm a very connected person." He suddenly switched tones. "What are you doing here!"

"I'm here to take the the red stuff here. Zyn- something or something."

"You have got to be kidding me!"

"Why? Hey, you're Red X, aren't you! My boss said I might find you here."

"What?"

Adonis took the last few steps out of the hole in the floor and stepped foot on the unstable floor, towering over Red X. "He said if I found you, I should squash you like a bug." Adonis grinned.

"It's gonna be one of those nights...", Red X lamented.

-X-

11:07 pm.

Crash!

A few crates crashed against the wall seconds after Red X dodged them. He had managed to escape from the vault with the brief case full of zynothium still on his back, then Adonis had chased him through out the building and they'd now landed in a giant warehouse where the tech company stored supplies and parts. Adonis threw a few more crates and X dodged them as well.

Red X then heard the whizzing sound of an arrow gliding by, and he felt he brief case fall from his back and to the floor. Had an arrow cut the straps holding the case to his back? Both him and Adonis looked up and saw a figure standing on a tall stack of crates.

The female figure had blonde hair and a thin build. She wore a white short skirt and a cut off crimson red shirt, which reminded X of a cheerleader's outfit. The shirt appeared to be of a harder texture (possible woven with Kevlar). A red mask covered her eyes and forehead, and acted as a headband, keeping her blonde hair under control. She also had thigh-high crimson red boots on. Strapped around her back where multiple arrows in their holder, and a red bow was held tightly in her grip.

"Who are you?", Adonis asked.

"I'm Arrowette, guardian of Star City!", she said.

"Queen of the over-dramatic!", Red X yelled.

Adonis started laughing.

"Hey!", Arrowette said, wounded by the remark. "You're under arrest!"

"Sorry, girly. I don't do arrests." Red X suddenly pulled out his grapnel gun, and fired the X-shaped grapnel towards her.

She dodged the grapnel, but X immediately pulled it back along its path. The grapnel snagged Arrowette's bow, pulling it out of her hands, as it returned to Red X. The thief simply caught the bow in his free hand as the grapnel returned to its gun.

"Somebody loose this?", Red X mocked.

Arrowette was rather stunned at first. No one had ever stolen her bow before!

Red X put away his grapnel gun but kept her bow firmly in hand. "Adonis, maybe we should take care of her first, and then worry about the zyn-"

But Adonis had other plans. He grabbed Red X by the cape and threw him into another stack of crates, which caused him to let go of Arrowette's bow. The force of the impact rattled the thief's teeth and shook him to the bones. He fell and slumped on the floor for a moment.

He fought the haze and tried to stay conscience. Having mostly succeeded, he rose to the ground with a few grunts and moans. But as soon the birdies quit spinning around his head, he saw Arrowette fly towards him with a kick.

Red X reacted so fast is even surprised him, he grabbed Arrowette's kicking leg, and flung it upwards which sent her off balance and two the floor. Red X quickly cleared his head, took a fighting stance, and prepared for a fight. Arrowette scrambled to her feet and took a typical Judo stance and attacked.

She charged forward with a barrage of punches, while Red X repeated blocked them inwardly. X got in a nice strait punch, which contacted with her forehead and sent her a step back, and then he followed up with a round kick to the side of her abdomen. She doubled over a tad and stepped back again to catch her breath.

"Look, cutie, I don't like hitting girls, so why don't you just run along?", Red X said still in a fighting stance, trying to keep up chivalry.

"Yeah right!" Arrowette took up her stance again. "I'm not giving up that easily, thief!" She attacked again with a few round kicks of her own, which X blocked.

Red X noticed she was using kickboxing now, and a Judo stance earlier. Red X preferred Jeet Kune Do mixed with Ninjutsu, and added a pinch of Tae Kwon Do or Akido every now and then. Knowing an opponents style can mean victory.

Arrowette continued with some good kicks, and one sidekick caught Red X in the stomach. However, it was very disheartening to Arrowette to see how little her kick hurt him.

X punched again, and she caught the punch. With her arms wrestling to hold the punch, she had no defense from a strait round kick to her side again. X had baited her with the punch, a kind of technique encouraged by Bruce Lee.

She almost fell off her feet, but caught her balance again. She tried to kick X's head again, but he ducked below it and kicked her standing leg out from under her. She fell to the ground instantly.

She knew this wasn't going to work; Red X was a better martial artist. She bolted along the ground, and grabbed her bow off the ground. Then she immediately rolled away to dodge some of X's shuriken.

She took an arrow from the holder on her back. X fired some x-shaped blast, and she bolted forward towards him.

He sidestepped her as she pulled the arrow into the bow.

Silence.

He held his palm towards her face, ready to fire any number of weapons. She held her bow and arrow at him, ready to release any kind of trick arrow.

Neither said anything for a moment.

Suddenly (in one swift blink of an eye) Adonis crashed through some crates they were next to, grabbed both of their stunned forms, and pulled them back through he pile of crates before it collapsed.

Next thing Red X and Arrowette knew, they were on the ground, stunned and a little whip lashed.

Note to self: Never let Adonis get his hand on you. For a big guy, he can be fast.

"Heh Heh! Thanks for the red stuff guys!", he held up the brief case that contained the precious zynothium vials. "Later!" He ran off towards the warehouse exit.

Thinking quickly, Arrowette pulled out a special arrow, pulled it back into her bow, and sent it flying at Adonis. The arrow bounced harmlessly off Adonis's armored back as he left, but it did leave a miniature tracer attached to him.

Arrowette rose to her feet so he wouldn't get to far ahead, but she tripped when Red X grabbed her ankle while he was still on the floor. She kicked him in the head after she fell, so he let go and she ran off to catch Adonis.

About a minuet later, Red X finally rose to his feet with a few moans and a headache. He looked around and found the giant door that Adonis had ripped off on his way out.

"So who's smarter, girly? You for planting a tracer on him?"

He paused.

"Or me for knowing you would and attaching a tracer of my own when I grabbed your ankle?"

-X-

"What a stupid place to hide.", Adonis said as he eyed the greenhouse on the rooftop to some anonymous building in Star City. "But I guess it'll work." He fondled the brief case. "You'll make it all worth it."

"Hate to break you two up, but you're still under arrest." Arrowette said as she entered behind him.

"You'd come back for more?", Adonis said with a smile as he set the brief case down on the floor under a table of potted plants.

Arrowette, seeing that he would resist arrest again, fired three arrows, which harmless bounced off Adonis's armor again. He replied by picking up another table and throwing it at her.

She barely bolted away to dodge it, but still felt something hit and cut her fight calf muscle. When she landed on the ground, she withdrew another arrow and pulled it into her bow.

Adonis started laughing. "Don't you get it! You can't hurt me!" Then a punching-glove arrow hit him square on his exposed face.

"You were saying?", she mocked.

"Agh!", Adonis screamed in rage. He slammed his fist colossal fist into a table and broke it in half, spewing potted plants all over the room. He then grabbed the half of a table, and threw it at Arrowette.

This time it made contact, and the surface of the table knocked her back onto her feet. By the time she regained her senses, Adonis was already standing over her. He grabbed her neck and jaw with his huge left hand and lifted her up, her feet no longer touched the ground.

"I'll show you, and everyone else, why no on messes with Adonis!", he said. "I'll break you in two!"

He slowly squeezed, and Arrowette couldn't even yell or make a sound. She didn't want to think how long it would before he crushed her face and ended her short career as a superhero.

"I've heard enough.", Red X said.

Suddenly his dark and shadowy form jumped up from behind Arrowette, and he flipped over Adonis. He planted an explosive shuriken in the left shoulder joint of Adonis's suit in the process.

It blew up.

Red X was blown back and skid on the floor; he hadn't taken his own landing into consideration. Part of Adonis's shoulder armor was blown off, not meant to withstand a blast from in between the joint. Arrowette fell back to the floor safely, coughing and gagging as air returned to her lungs through her throat.

Adonis turned around and looked at Red X as he got up from the floor, fire burning in Adonis eyes.

"Why… DOES EVERYONE PICK ON ME!", Adonis yelled.

"You were choking her you idiot!", Red X answered.

"AGH!" Adonis clubbed the ground, breaking the cement into pieces. He picked up a piece and flung it at Red X like a frisbee. Red X had barely dodged it, and it broke the glass wall of the greenhouse behind him.

Red X flung a volley of shuriken at Adonis, and they all exploded across his armored body.

"Do you really think you can defeat me? The great Adonis!"

"I don't have too.", Red X said.

"Huh?", he said, once again with the intelligence of a woodchuck eating paint chips.

Red X pointed to behind Adonis. "Because you've got a big hold in your back."

Adonis turned his head around, and saw Arrowette cock a taser-arrow into her bow, and release it. The arrow flew into the hole in Adonis shoulder.

Adonis screamed as an electrical charge short-circuited and flooded his systems. After the charge died off, Adonis's armor was smoking and useless. He slowly leaned backwards, and then fell to the concrete ground with a loud crash.

"The bigger you are, the harder you fall.", Red X said. The thief, temporarily turned hero, got up onto his feet and walked over to Adonis. "Who hired you?"

"Your mama!"

"Who hired you?", Red X repeated, more firmly then before.

"What makes you think anyone hired me!"

"Because this doesn't fit your M.O. Besides, you said earlier you had a boss. Who?", Red X sternly demanded.

Adonis said nothing.

Red X walked towards a hose, turned it on, and walked back over to Adonis. Then he began watering some of the hanging plants next to Adonis. "Yeah know, it would be pretty unfortunate if any of this water got on you. I mean, with that big hole in your back, the water would cause another short circuit." He stared at Adonis. "Talk!"

"No!"

Red X pushed his thumb over the mouth of the hose, causing the water to violently spray over Adonis's head. Adonis couldn't see where the water was because he couldn't move at all in his disabled suit.

"Won't be long till the water drips and flows into the back of your suit. Talk!"

"I- I don't know who he was!", Adoins said panicking. "It was, some guy in a space suit!"

"Some guy in a space suit? You're gonna have to make up a more creative story."

"Seriously! Some guy in a space suit came to me and told me about a load of that red stuff coming here. Said he would pay much a bunch if I stole it! Said I might run into you!"

"Who was he?", X demanded.

"I don't know! I didn't get his name. Said he'd reach me back in Jump City. That's all I know! Honest!"

"Thanks, big guy." Red X threw the hose aside, and walked over to the valve and turned it off.

"Hey! Hey, wait! What about the water! You can't just leave me here!"

Red X looked at him over his caped shoulder. "Wanna hear something really funny? There's a drainage gate just above your head, the water's been dripping into there the entire time. You were never in danger of getting wet."

Adonis's eyes widened.

"But if it'll make you feel better, I'll go buy you some water wings?", Red X proposed.

"AGH!", Adonis screamed.

"Pick a number and get in line.", Red X said as he picked up his brief case. He looked over to Arrowette, who was still on the floor and who had watched the whole thing. "You okay?", he asked.

She finally got up off the floor and picked up her bow. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Good. Later."

"Hold it! You're under arrest too!"

"Oh give me a break!"

"Look, I appreciate the help bring down Adonis…"

"And stopping him from breaking your neck. Don't forget that."

Arrowette hated to admit it. "Yeah… Thanks for saving my life… But I still can't let you get away. You're a thief and a criminal." She pulled another arrow into her bow. "And I can't let you get away."

"Well you got your job, and I got mine, sweet heart. But I don't you wanna take the chance of hitting the rocks with one of those arrows." He held the brief case full of zynothium next to his head with his right hand.

Arrowette let go of the arrow and it whizzed past Red X's head, missing by a centimeter at most.

Without missing a beat, Red X said, "Okay, you're good." He flicked a shuriken out of his wrist gauntlet and into his left hand. "But so am I." Red X flung the shuriken, hoping his aim with a left hand was still good.

Arrowette flinched in surprise. Then she felt the familiar weight of her arrows disappear as they fell from her back and onto the ground. The strap that held them close had been cut with X's shuriken. She was stunned again.

"Later, cutie. I gotta get going." X lowered his brief case back down to his side and ran out of the green house and to the rooftop it was on.

Arrowette ran after him. "Hey, wait!"

Red X stopped before he was about to jump off the edge and looked back, the brief case now somehow fastened to his belt.

"Why did you come back and save my neck, literally? You could've just taken the brief case during the fight and run off."

"Because I'm not such a bad guy, once you get to know me."

"Yeah, well…"

"Look…" He turned around and looked her dead in the eyes. "I said it to Robin and I'll say it to you. I'm just a thief. I'm not a murderer, and I'm not so cold hearted that I'd turn my back while someone else gets hurt. In fact, I've gone way out of my way to make sure no one does get hurt."

Arrowette stared at him intensely.

"So long as everyone's still breathing by the end of the night and I got away with what I came for, I'm quite happy."

She smirked. "Okay, so you're not as bad as half the crooks out there."

"I like to think I set a good example."

"I guess this is the part where you get away, huh?"

"Guess it is."

"Couldn't blame me if I tried to track you down, could you?"

"It's your job."

"And I plan to be pretty good at that job."

"Well then…" Red X stepped a foot on the ledge of the rooftop. "Catch me if you can!" He jumped off the rooftop and Arrowette watch as he disappeared over the edge.

She instantly ran over to the edge to see if he was still alive, and saw him swinging away on his grapnel and line, his cape blowing behind him. Soon he disappeared from her sight and into the shadows of an alley, his grapnel retracting and returning to him.

Arrowette smirked. "Ya know, Star City's other resident superhero will be back in town soon. And I could use a big capture like that to boost my reputation…", she reasoned to herself.

But first, she'd turn in Adonis, her first super villain. She turned around and walked back towards Adonis, whistling quite merrily.

"I think a trip to Jump City is in order.", she said, smiling widely.

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Author's Note: Alright! Second chapter down.

I would like to take a moment to thank my reviewers… All two of them so far.

For those of you who are a little confused about the character of Arrowette… She was a member of the Young Justice group, who were close allies of the Teen Titans. I've done a lot of research on her, even down to her preferred fighting style (Kickboxing and Judo).

Please review.