Titans: Elemental

Chapter 68: X, Part 2

We see the interior of a large round chamber, near the convex glass ceiling Red X jumped toward. Dick drops in through an opening at the center and plunges to the floor. The movement reveals that this place is several stories tall, almost entirely underground, with a transparent vertical shaft near one wall running the full height. Behind him, Raven, Blackfire and Starfire descend and are joined by Beast Boy as an owl. Jack descends on a piece of Earth with Rose and Bryan. Now separated from Raven, BB resumes human form.

Dick, "split up, and be careful. I don't want anyone else getting hurt."

All eight do so, Beast Boy turning into a bloodhound as he moves out.

….Dick checks a doorway, finds nothing, and runs off down a hall.

….

Raven quickly makes her way along, and as she passes on an open doorway, a broad silhouette ducks out of sight. She gives it a wary eye before entering. Now she is in a room, alone only for a moment; a figure, eyes visible only as red spots, steps around the frame and energizes a weapon. Raven yells as she is driven flat against the wall by a gush of viscous red liquid that solidifies on contact. The mess piles on, thicker and thicker, and is slowly directed upward to cover her entire head.

….

Jack enters a very dark room, using a ball of fire to illuminate his way.

He doesn't notice a pair of red eyes behind him before several ropes launch out of the darkness around him! He yells as he's pulled into the darkness.

….

Beast Boy's canine snout advances into view, sniffing for any and all clues that might have been left behind. He stops after a moment, giving a puzzled stare, and turns to look over his shoulder as a silhouette matching the one that took down Raven draws a bead on him. In a moment, he has been snared with a laser collar attached to the end of a long pole; the sort of device used by animal control workers to catch unruly dogs, and given a strong electric shock that makes him yelp in pain.

….

Rose is walking down a hall, her staff at the ready. But before she can register anything, prongs from a taser shoot out behind her and electrocute her strong enough to make her collapse out cold!

….

Starfire advances into view and finds no one immediately present. However, she whirls around after a long moment.

Starfire warms up her starbolts, "who…. Are you?"

A torrent of liquid and hissing vapor floods toward her!

….

Bryan finds himself getting shot with a torrent of red liquid that sticks him to the wall, covering his cybernetics!

….

Blackfire walks warily down a hall before several streams of red liquid shoot out all over her!

….

We see yet another empty hall; Dick's shadow advances into view from around a bend, as does he several yards later.

The unoccupied expanse is very large indeed and he stops at a pair of enormous steel doors whose lock sits at least one story up from ground level.

Dick, "what would I do if I were back in Red X's shoes?"

Before he can answer that one, though, a shrill scream from Starfire grabs his attention.

Dick, "Starfire?"

He sets off after her, and as he does so, we see that Red X has entered the area and is standing right behind him at the door. Dick heads back toward where he came in, followed by his stealthy opposite number.

Red X, "what's the matter, Dick?"

Dick turns to see Red X standing there.

Red X, "don't you want to play? After all, they're your toys."

He pulls out a handful of X's and lets fly; Dick hits the floor, and they blow out a computer console behind him. Behind the thief, the massive lock begins to turn, finally clicking open and retracing upward as the doors slide away to left and right. Just inside is a tangle of security laser beams, dense enough to trip up anyone who is not a chimpanzee. Red X leaps easily into the thicket as Dick gets up and charges.

The two silhouettes dart this way and that among the lasers, not breaking a single on.

The chase bounces off a wall, then takes them clear of the beams and down a long, broad vertical shaft. We see the pair plummeting toward a light source at the far bottom. As they dive farther, we see that it is a force field.

Red X fires a device from his extended palm; this sticks on the field and splits it into four quarters that retract to allow him through. Not far below is the bottom of the shaft, where he lands as the barrier seals itself again. Dick's eyes pop just before he crashes into it; his face gets squashed like a kid at the window of a candy store. Any satisfaction Red X gets from maneuver is hidden behind his expressionless mask as he runs off down a hall.

Dick soon drops into view, having found a way past the force field, and runs after his nemesis. After a few dozen yards, though, he stops for a look around. The glare of a light being switched on draws his gaze; we see the other side of a newly illuminated doorway in which he is standing and tilt down to a recessed stretch of black floor tiles. Dick looks down, finding it to stretch the full width of the room, then at the only other door at the far end, and behind him, Red X materializes.

Red X, "after you."

Dick gets an elbow in the back that pushes him onto the tiles. A large, red X of tiles lights up, with its center at his feet, and a ceiling-mounted laser swings into position directly overhead and fires. He hurls himself away, the beam sweeping after him a bit, and ends up sprawled on a black stretch of tiles. The X reappears, centering on him again; the laser zeroes in on him. Now Dick is off like a shot, racing for the far door while that giant set of crosshairs keeps tracking him and the shots rain down.

Red X jumps after Dick as if running an interference play in football-the player with the ball following one of his teammates to the end zone and letting that guy absorb the defense's pounding. Dick dashes on, approaching the now open far door, as his foe drops into view at it. Dick makes one last lunge.

Red X, "thanks for the hand, Dick."

He closes the door, putting himself on the other side and leaving Dick to face that oncoming laser beam. We see the Titan's panicked, terror-stricken face as the glare washes over him.

….

We see the area on the other side of this door. It is a large cylindrical vault with small storage bays set in the walls, and Red X is securing the entrance. A platform and computer console stand at the center of the floor, while a beam of light shines down on the setup to envelop a small object. The thief turns to the computer; we can now see that the object is a glass tube of reddish material floating in a suspension field.

Red X, "Xenothium ore…."

He enters a command, and in response a clamp extends upward from the floor and grips the tube. It is then retracted and placed in his hand.

Red X, "enough to power the suit for a good, long time."

We then see him kneeling over a large canister. He slides one end open, revealing it to be loaded with several other tubes of this material.

Red X, "I love it when the good guy wins."

He prepares to insert the tube he just swiped into the last open slot. A loud rumbling from outside distracts him; it is followed by a laser beam penetrating the vault wall around the door. As he stares in disbelief, the thick steel is incised as if it were bologna under a surgical scalpel. When the cut is complete, the entire door falls in amid a cloud of dust; this clears to show Dick holding his knife of choice, the ceiling laser, wrenched away from its guide tracks.

Dick, "you're not going to win."

He drops the weapon and, with a roar of fury, launches a flying kick that sends Red X and his storage container bouncing off the far wall.

Red X, "Dick, you are taking life way too seriously."

Dick, "how do you know my name?!"

Red X, "wouldn't you like to know…."

Red X charges. Dick does likewise, and they go to it in earnest. Dick throws a handful of grenades; Red X bounds away just before they explode and hurls a cluster of throwing-star X's. These send Dick into a frantic dodge as they embed themselves in the wall around his head. Pulling out his fighting staff to block the last few, he braces for action and faces his enemy at the other side of the floor.

Red X raises the back of one fist toward him and extends the mark on it to make a four-bladed knife, then rushes at the young hero with an identical weapon in his other glove. Dodging or blocking the slashes, Dick shoves his foe back across the floor and goes up for a flying roundhouse swing that whistles just over Red X's head. They swing at each other some more until the staff finds its mark and bowls his foe over.

When Red X gets up, he sets one of his cross-blade weapons spinning and darts in again. This time, Dick ducks almost too late and the device throws sparks from its contact with the steel wall. More razor-sharp punches put him on the defensive for a moment; soon, though, he brandishes his staff and strikes back against the blades that now whir on both fists. After another exchange of attacks, Dick slams the sole of one boot into the marked chest and drives Red X back a considerable distance. Staff and knives lock together, and the fighters lean into each other's faces.

Dick, "why did you steal the suit? What are you planning to do? How do you know my real name?!"

Red X, "whatever I want", he flips Dick backward, "not everybody likes to play the big villain, Dick. I'm a thief", he retracts his blades, "I'm not threatening your precious city, just looking out for number one."

Dick brandishes his staff.

Dick, "so you're not psychotic. You're just selfish.'

Red X, "hehe Lighten up, Chuckles", he raises his hands and palms out, "I'm not such a bad guy, once you get to know me. After all, you did know me."

Dick, "I don't know who you are, but you know who I am…. Have we met before?"

Red X, "ding ding ding. You're on the right track."

He fires X's from both palms; Dick deflects one, but the other cuts his legs out and he crashes onto his chin, dropping the staff. When he looks up, he sees the thief bearing down on him with a boot extended; he rolls away to dodge the stomp, then kicks Red X in the back and knocks him to the wall. As the latter hits the floor, Red x is on his feet and grabbing his Xenothium carrier.

Red X, "playtime's over, Dick."

Dick pulls out a winding.

Red X, "back off, or I trip the power core."

He poises a finger over the main button on his belt, and it glows with a red X.

Red X, "and the core triggers the rocks", Dick lowers his weapon, "I don't think you want that on your conscience."

Dick raises his wingding again, "and I don't think you want to be disintegrated."

The explosive-toting burglar thinks this over for a long moment and does not notice the broad, shadowy figures coming through the laser room toward him. Their eyes ignite as red pinpoints; finally, he turns to look as Dick stares bug-eyed, and they are revealed in full detail. These individuals wear full-body protective suits, similar to Chang's, but with hoods that enclose the entire head. The red-eye effect is due to built-in goggles, and the tubes of breathing apparatus run from the mouth area.

The individual at the front of this group lifts a weapon that is of the same design as the one Chang used against Dick in the observatory. These are his men, and they were the ones who put the others out of commission. Red X takes a shot to the chest that lays him out, and then, as Dick tries to keep his eyes from popping out of his head, he, too, is blasted down, dropping the wingding that has never left his hand. The suited figures move into the vault and open one storage bay after another; each holds a canister like the one Red X was filling. These are removed and handed back, from one pair of hands to another, and the bays are closed again.

Dick slowly comes around. A pair of booted feet comes into view in front of him. As Dick stares in horror, this person holds up a lunchbox-like piece of equipment and sets it on the floor in front of him. This item has a screen on the side facing him. After the item is in place, the crew promptly moves out.

Dick, "the Xenothium!"

Light flickers over his face as the screen on the side of the box comes to life.

Chang on the box speaker, "yes. And I do so appreciate it."

Dick, "Chang!"

Chang, "since you two were doing the break-in, I decided to cash in. I'm sick of selling to bad boys. I'm ready to be one. And now that I finally have enough Xenothium to power my disintegrator cannon, I can be very, very bad."

He points to the tarp-covered object seen earlier. A couple of his men pull the cloths away, exposing the cannon: a long emitter angled skyward.

Dick, "I won't let you get away with this!"

Chang, "oh, I think you will, because, my good little boy, I didn't just steal the ore."

He shows eight cylindrical glass tanks, each of which holds one of the other Titans. Vic's presence gives the lie to Dick's previous idea that Red X knocked him out. Beast Boy is still a bloodhound, as when he was captured, and all eight are motionless.

Chang, "I stole your friends."

Dick grimaces.

Chang pulls the camera back to himself, "stay out of this…. Or I'll test my cannon on them!"

He grins broadly, leans back, and reaches up toward the camera controls. The image wavers and gives way to static before.

Red X stands up, groaning and rubbing his head.

Red X, "okay. Who were the moon men?"

Light shines down from high overhead, while steel bars shoot up from the floor to closely encircle him.

Red X, "huh?"

He is standing on the spot where that floating tube of Xenothium ore had been, and the bars around him reach to the ceiling.

The word "LOCK" is on the computer's screen. Dick steps partly into view.

Dick, "criminals", he moves to the holding cell, "just like you."

Red X, "come on, Dick. You don't really think this little playpen can hold me."

Dick presses a button; instantly the prisoner gets a jolt of electricity from the bars he grips.

Dick, "you don't even care, do you? A lowlife maniac just got his hands on enough Xenothium to disintegrate the entire city, and it's your fault!"

Red X, "don't you mean our fault?"

Dick, "at least I'm going to do something about it. And if you cared about anything other than yourself, you'd be helping!"

Red X, "sorry, kid. Some guys don't like to play the hero. I know from a really awful experience…."

Dick, "I'll be back to take you to jail, and learn how the heck you know me…."

He strides out.

Red X's eyes narrow in thought. He is concentrating on that computer console, whose screen still reads "LOCK" in big red letters.

….

We see a set of closed steel doors. They slide open, revealing the night sky beyond, and Jump City Bay and the Tower. We are in the observatory. Chang's cannon extends into view.

Chang, "buildings, neighborhoods, lives."

Several crewmen are making final touch-ups under his watch; he stands before the tanks that hold the other Titans.

Jack is the only one not frozen, thanks to his powers, but with his staff sitting on a nearby table, he couldn't do much else.

Chang, "countless targets just waiting to be disintegrated."

Jack, "scumbag…."

We focus on Starfire and Blackfire. We see icicles hanging off their chins and arms; the liquid they were hit with froze them solid, and the same has been done to the others. Chang chuckles and crosses the floor to them, more specifically, Starfire.

Chang, "tell me, pretty girl, have you ever seen something ripped apart, molecule by molecule? It's breathtaking."

The sisters' eyes flare to life, producing a blast that instantly thaws their heads.

Starfire, "you are a bad man!"

Blackfire, "that's putting it mildly!"

Jack, "definitely."

Starfire trains the twin beams against the tank wall, but cannot breach it.

Chang just cups a hand to his ear, as if innocently trying to hear someone better, and steps back to her.

Chang, "oh, if you think I'm bad now, you're going to be really impressed once I finish with your city, and move on to you."

He strokes the glass.

Starfire, "your plans shall fail! Nightwing will-"

Chang, "-not be joining us. Not with your lives on the line. Far too risky for a good boy like him."

Blackfire, "oh, you'd be surprised at the risks he'll take."

Loaded with Xenothium canisters, the breach of the cannon slides shut. At the muzzle, a row of red lights winks on to indicate power. Chang climbs a ladder built into the side of the weapon and sits before a control panel; as he moves a pair of levers, the entire rig pivots on its base. He takes a long sniff of the frigid air.

Chang, "mmmm", he locks the cannon in place, "got a nice smell, doesn't it?"

The cannon is being raised on a platform as the barrel tilts forward. Outside, we see the red-glowing muzzle's aim being fine-tuned.

Chang, "I've spent years hiding from this cursed city. Now let them hide from me. Prepare to fire!"

Dick swings into view, lifting both legs for a kick that plows the madman half off his perch, but before he falls, one foot catches a lever. The cannon shifts position and fires; the beam flashes over the city and bay toward the Tower. A large chunk of the top floor vaporizes on contact, but this is not enough to absorb all the power of the shot and it continues unabated.

Jack, "it better not have hit my room!"

When the beam does finally cease, the Tower's exposed ironwork glows with yellow heat. Chang stares incredulously, then spins toward the balcony where Dick is standing.

Dick, "you've just made a big mistake."

The breech opens and rotates to bring a fresh fuel canister into firing position, much like the cylinder of a revolver.

Chang, "attack!"

A laser beam and a jet of red sludge, the same stuff used on Raven, issue from somewhere below Dick. He catches sight of the two shooters, who are on a lower platform that sits directly above the frozen Titans, and drops over the edge to get at them. The jump places him directly between the pair; he immediately ducks away as the sludge man fires, and the laser man gets caught up in the mess. A flying kick knocks out the latter attacker, and with a grab at the shoulders Dick slams the former one flat.

He grabs the glue hose, perches on the railing, and levels it at several other henchmen who have come up across the floor. Instead of shooting directly at them, though, he directs the flow downward past them at an angle. It congeals into a ramp, which he slides down to get at them more easily. Two are knocked away, a third is relieved of his weapon, and two others feel its full brunt; Dick disarms one of them as well. Reinforcements charge.

Starfire, "Nightwing!"

Blackfire, "boy are we glad to see you!"

Jack, "teach that wack job a lesson!"

Dick spins to face them and dashes in, dropping both weapons as he goes. Streams of red muck whip past him on both sides, but he continues his advance and drops the first two enemies with an uppercut and a kick. The next one backs away from the punch coming at his head, only to have the air hose from his breathing apparatus torn out. Down he goes. Next up is a glue shooter; the berserk Titan yanks out the hose that connects the nozzle to the supply on his back. In no time flat, the aggressor has been engulfed in a red morass of hardening adhesive.

Dick drops the free hose end, then looks up surprised. The cannon's base is rotating; Chang is back in his seat and working the controls impatiently.

Chang, "quickly, quickly…. Ha!"

He takes dead aim at Dick and energizes the weapon. The intended target fires a grappling hook straight up and lifts himself away. Laughing dementedly, Chang pulls a lever to set the muzzle tilting upward at Dick, whose eyes pop at the prospect of what is about to happen. A beam blasts out through the dome and hurdles skyward. Inside, after it has stopped, there is a smoking hole in the structure, and Dick is hanging just next to it on his line and still in the land of the living.

He swings back and forth a bit to work up some momentum, then lets go and hits a balcony running. A barrage of disintegrator fire prompts him into one of the best acrobatic displays he has ever given, but it is almost not enough to keep him ahead. The last shot throws him off balance, forcing him to grab the broken end of a railing to keep from dropping to the floor. The huge glowing muzzle aims itself directly at him.

Chang, "okay, good boy. Who should I destroy first? You…. Or your pretty friend?"

The cannon is raised and angled downward.

Dick, "Starfire!"

Starfire is still struggling to break free of the icy crust that covers all but her head.

Blackfire is doing the same as Jack tries kicking the glass.

Chang's finger is poised on the firing button, but before he can end the young Tamaraneans life, something flashes across the area and slices through the lever to which that button is attached.

Chang, "huh?"

More objects, red throwing-star X's, pierce his control panel, sending up crackles of high-voltage electricity. The unfrozen Titans gasp as they see Dick's hand on the broken railing. His fingers finally lose their grip and he drops screaming toward the remains of Chang's panel, but before he can hit it, something black streaks across and carries him toward the far balcony. It'a Red X, free of the confines Dick imposed, and he tosses the hero safely onto the walkway. The unknown thief has turned against Chang and wrecked the cannon's controls, and he hangs off the protective barricade for a moment.

Dick, "I thought you didn't like to play the hero?"

Red X, "doesn't mean I don't know how. Afterall, I was one a while ago…."

He leaps onto the balcony, whereupon the two are beset by a storm of laser fire. Several of Chang's henchmen have gained this level and are advancing quickly. Side by side, Dick and Red X go up for flying kicks as a dove flies over the battlefield, and one after another the thugs are swiftly dispatched. The reluctant allies end up back to back and then deliver a pair of roundhouse kicks that drop the last man standing against the railing.

Chang pounds the panel, "no! No! No!"

The last hit reforms a broken electrical connection, bringing part of the panel to life and re-energizing the cannon.

Starfire, "Eek!"

She pulls her head down just in time to keep from having it blown off.

Blackfire, "watch it, Clorbag!"

The burst melts a wide hole through the tank holding her, then swings off to cut a wide swath through the observatory structure. As the mechanism spins out of control, the beam angles upward through the balconies, straight toward Dick and Red X. The former runs for it, pulling the latter along.

Dick, "look out!"

Off they go, just barely staying ahead of the destruction. The beam slices out a large circle, even cutting through the top of the mountain on which the facility is built. When it finally stops, the entire front half slides down, having been neatly cut away. Inside, the cannon's breech slides open and a very panicky Chang surveys the devastation, but not for long, as Dick jumps down onto the control panel. A punch is heard landing and Chang tumbles down. Red X is first to reach the platform; he is not wearing his belt.

Red X, "time to get what I came for."

Dick puts himself between the burglar and the Xenothium; he is soon joined by his thawed-out teammates.

Raven, "time's up."

Rose thought, 'dang, that's an awesome line!'

Dick, "thanks for the help, X", he pulls out a disc, "but don't think that means you can help yourself."

Red X holds up a palm, "no problem, Dick", he then holds up one Xenothium tube in the other hand, "this should keep me going for quite a while."

Dick puts the disc away, "that won't do you much good without this."

On the end of this line, he holds up Red X's missing belt, dropped or stolen, and the criminal's eyes pop as he realizes he has lost it.

Dick, "better luck next time."

Red X backs cautiously up from the other masked fighter. He approaches the edge of the platform that hangs into space. He starts to lose his balance; he soon gets himself under control, however.

Red X, "not bad, Dick. Not bad…. The old man would be proud…."

Dick raised an eyebrow before Red X threw the tube down at his feet, creating a small explosion.

He is thrown backward over its edge and soon disappears into the low clouds. The Titans stare after him.

….

We see the interior of the vault. A Xenothium tube is lifted into view on the floor-mounted clamp.

Dick, "there is good, and there is evil."

Raven and Jack worked the controls, activating the suspension field that had originally protected the material as the clamp retracts. A new door has been installed.

Dick, "but the line between them can be almost impossible to find."

Chang and his men are escorted into prison, under the eye of several guards, Bryan and Vic.

We see Jump City, stopping at the mountain slopes. Starfire slides down and is quickly joined by Beast Boy as a falcon, and her sister flying down. Resuming human form, Bb looks around and then back at Starfire, who shakes her head sadly: they are searching for clues as to Red X's whereabouts and coming up dry. Beast Boy scratches his chin in puzzlement.

We see a sewer tunnel as the beltless fugitive drops into view and begins to run.

Dick, "does one good deed make him a hero? Am I to blame for all of it because of a single mistake? And how does he know who I, or even Bruce, is?"

We see the interior of a small storage locker as Dick opens it and puts the belt inside.

Dick, "in the end…."

We sew the Tower's damaged upper portion. It is now sunrise of the following morning, and a crane has been positioned on the roof for use in the repair work.

Dick, "... All I really know is that the answers don't come easy."

We see him, Rose and Beyan up here.

Dick was lost in thought with one foot perched on a ledge. Dick stands at the edge of the damage.

"It's supposed to be simple…. But it's not."

….

Reviews:

pokemonking0924: thanks. And yeah, I always wondered who Red X was. It'd have to be someone with the skills and knowledge Dick has. So I plan on putting in various hints on who Red X really is, on top of foreshadowing a romance between him and Blackfire.

Bailey Radcliff: thanks. But I'm not giving up on the story. I just closed the poll.

raven 2012: glad you liked all that.

Canadude2029: yes he is. Thank you so much. Hope you'll vote on the newest poll. And glad you liked the chapter.

….

Now that the Green Lantern poll has been closed, I now have a new poll up.

Regarding a crossover between Ben 10 and Teen Titans!

The poll is to see who people would like to see as Ben's love interest in this AU. Please vote for 5 options on the poll.