The smell of the butcher's had Beast Boy gagging, and nearly made Cyborg swear off meat indefinitely. The door was wide open, wafting the scent of raw flesh and blood down the street.

Robin, face set like steel, and Starfire, holding her breath, entered first, flicking on the light as they went. The front of the shop looked like a murder scene. Chunks of red flesh were strewn about, covering the floor, the counter, and the walls. A few splashes of meat juice had made it onto the ceiling. Desiccated steaks flopped over the edge of the cash register, chicken feathers lined the floor, and a few lumps of rotting meat had been dug out of a dumpster and were smeared on the windows.

"This does not look to be a sanitary butchery," Starfire remarked, face scrunched in disgust.

Cyborg marched in, fingers firmly clamped around his nose. "What monster would do this to perfectly good food!?"

Raven stared at the rancid meat on the window. "Yeah, perfectly good."

Beast Boy didn't make it through the door. Instead he leaned heavily against the wall looking distinctly green – or, greener than usual. "This is why I stick to tofu."

Cyborg very much wanted to rebuff this comment but didn't have the strength and so settled for glowering. Robin rolled his eyes at them and continued through the shop, picking his way carefully through the blood and guts smeared across the floor. There was a door at the back. It was shut, but opened easily when Robin pulled the handle.

The next room was a brightly lit walk-in fridge. Gleaming chrome shelves lined the walls, stacked with empty, blood-stained boxes. At the back were two large freezers, like dull silver boxes, and lounging on top-

"Red X," Robin snarled.

"I was wondering when you'd get here," Red X said casually, sitting up. "I think you're a bit late to pick up Christmas dinner."

"The only thing we're here to pick up is the trash," growled Robin. He launched into an attack, pulling out a bird-a-rang and flinging it at Red X.

Red X leapt off the freezer, dodging easily, and landed on top of the shelves. "You'll have to try harder than that. Especially as you're a man down."

Cyborg glanced behind him, frowning. "Where's Beast Boy?"

"He did look the unwell," Starfire remarked.

Robin gave them an incredulous look. "Don't let him distract you! Titans, GO!"

It was difficult fighting in the cramped fridge. Even with Raven and Starfire hovering near the ceiling, and Beast Boy out-of-action outside, there wasn't much room for Robin's acrobatic fighting moves with Cyborg's large body taking up most of the floor.

The cumbersome shelves didn't help. With every starbolt and sonic cannon blast, the metal sheets clanged and bashed against the walls and clattered to the ground. Red X avoided all of their shots, leaping from shelf to shelf like a large, chuckling flea. At one point he joined Robin on the ground, standing behind him and flawlessly mimicking his poses and positions.

Raven was staying out of the fight for the most part. She positioned herself above the door, hands at the ready to magic the door shut if Red X tried to get away, but he never even glanced at the exit. He seemed more interested in dancing around the Titans than engaging in any sort of fight.

"Ooh, that one nearly got me," Red X said, smirk leaking into his voice as a blue beam from Cyborg's arm missed him by an inch. He flipped onto another shelf, ducking under a starbolt, then rolled to dodge a barrage of exploding disks.

"Wait!" Raven yelled suddenly, hands crackling with black energy. "Don't you see what he's doing?"

Red X raised a hand to his chest in mock-offence. "Me? I'm not doing anything."

"Exactly." Raven crossed her arms, lowering herself so she was floating in front of the door. "He's not even trying to fight back. He's distracting us."

"Well, I am pretty distracting," Red X drawled. "But if you don't want to see me then I guess I'll just leave…"

"Stay right where you are," Robin demanded, back-flipping to the door and standing with his bo-staff extended before him. "What's going on, X? Why are you here?"

"Can't a guy have a little fun throwing stuff out of a butcher's fridge without his motives being questioned?"

"Not when the guy in question is a crook," Cyborg said, firing up his cannon again. Instead of shooting, he held his glowing arm aloft, end pointing at Red X's face. "Are you working for someone?"

"Like I'm gonna take orders from someone." Red X stood with one hip cocked, arms folded, casually looking around at the Titans surrounding him. "It's like you don't know me at all."

Cyborg scowled. "I don't think he's gonna talk, Rob."

"Why here, X?" Robin tried again, spinning his staff then thrusting one end at Red X's face.

The villain didn't even flinch. Instead he nonchalantly brushed the staff to the side with two fingers. "Why not? I hear they have great prices on steak here." He laughed when Robin's mouth twitched, teeth gritted. "Someone's not happy. I saw Dr. Light's crackpot scheme earlier. I s'pose you're all tired from that wild goose chase."

He laughed again, louder and heartier as if he'd told some hilarious joke, and didn't seem to notice when the Titans turned to each other in confusion.

Robin jabbed the staff at his face again. "Are you in league with Light? What are you planning?"

Again, Red X merely pushed the staff aside and stepped forward. "As it's Christmas, I'll give you a clue."

"Just tell us what's going on," Robin commanded, clutching his staff so tightly he thought it might snap in his hands.

Starfire gently laid a hand on Robin's shoulder, keeping her other ignited and ready to shoot at Red X. "Please, Robin. Perhaps we should hear this clue. It may be useful in our investigation."

"Smart girl," said Red X. "Not just a pretty face. Now, my clue is this: where can you get a golden egg?"

Cyborg lowered his arm. "...What?"

Red X chuckled. "Well, this was fun, but I gotta go."

Before he could move, Robin span his staff again then held it in front of him like a bar. "You're not going anywhere," he said, smirking as his teammates readied themselves to fight again. "Except jail."

Beast Boy had made it half way across the shop. Each step took his several minutes as he had to mentally prepare himself before he could scan the floor for a clean patch to put his foot. He had stretched his uniform up over his face, wishing he still had the mask, to block some of the stench from reaching his nose. Unfortunately, this only filtered so much, but he refused to breathe through his mouth because then he might end up tasting the raw meat too.

The door to the walk-in-fridge was shut, but this didn't stop all the crashing and banging occurring on the other side. It sounded like a difficult fight, although Beast Boy couldn't think of a single reason why Red X might want to attack a butcher's, let alone trash the front shop with slabs of meat.

Finally, he was nearly at the door, and had successfully avoided touching anything dead. Beast Boy took as deep a breath as he dared through his shirt, reached an arm out to open the door…

BANG

The door was thrown open, crashing into Beast Boy's face and sending him sprawling across the sticky floor. Red X flew out after him, kicking him in the stomach as he went, then disappeared into the night.

Moments later, Robin burst through in hot pursuit, trampling Beast Boy as he went.

Then Cyborg, who ran past but slipped, kicking a spray of meat juice onto Beast Boy's face.

For a while he just laid there, skin crawling, bile rising in his throat, eyes stinging as he tried not to burst into loud tears of disgust and frustration. After a full minute, he managed to pull himself together and slowly sat up, hating the pulling sensation on his back from where his uniform was stuck to the floor.

Beast Boy eventually got to his feet, stomach writhing, and padded carefully to the front door, using his sleeve to wipe his face as he went. By the time he made it outside, his teammates were walking forlornly down the streets towards him, and Red X was gone.

Beast Boy located the nearest patch of grass, crisp with frost and a very thin layer of snow, and collapsed face-first onto it.

Robin punched a wall. "He got away."

"So we saw," said Raven drily.

Robin growled and punched the wall again then turned around to face his team. "Red X basically confirmed that there's something bigger going on here. He's not a petty criminal like the H.I.V.E. Five, so why would he be trashing a butcher's?"

"Red X is also independent," Starfire pointed out. "He would not be taking orders brightly from somebody else."

"And what did that clue mean? Where do golden eggs come from or whatever?" Cyborg asked. "This just doesn't add up. Unless there's a plot to steal a golden egg?"

Just then, a police car appeared from around the corner and pulled up next to the T-car. Sgt. Miller and another officer with dark skin and bushy eyebrows stepped out and marched to where the Titans were standing – apart from Beast Boy who was still lying in the grass.

"What happened here?" Officer Eyebrows asked as Miller took a peak in the butcher's. "Another attack?"

"Red X, but he got away," Robin replied. "Nothing was taken as far as I can tell, but…"

"You're kidding me!" Miller yelled behind them. "It looks like a murder scene in there!"

"Smells like one too," Cyborg muttered.

Robin sighed and waited until Miller joined them before launching into the details of what had happened. "Red X was here when we arrived. He took everything out the fridge and chucked it in the shop. We tried to find out why but he escaped before we could get anything out of him."

Cyborg snorted. "Apart from the golden egg."

"Vital information," Raven added.

Miller's brow furrowed. "Golden egg?"

"The only clue he'd give us," Cyborg clarified. "Better than nothing, I guess."

Officer Eyebrows looked back at the butcher's and groaned. "I hate arson crimes without a perp. The paperwork is a nightmare. I knew I should have taken the night off…"

"It's not ideal," agreed Miller. "The holding cell's getting pretty full, too, and we don't have the staff to process all the guys you're bringing in tonight."

Robin pursed his lips. "We're doing everything we can to get to the bottom of this," he said, a little more sharply than he'd intended. "We're just as tired as you guys."

Officer Eyebrows shifted on his heels and looked away. "Of course. Sorry, Robin."

Robin gave a stiff nod and began striding towards the T-car, his teammates following – apart from Beast Boy, who had to be dragged by an irritated Raven.

"Maybe there's a link," Cyborg pondered as again he started up the engine and began the drive back to the tower. "What's happened so far? We fought Billy Numerous at the brewery."

"Mad Mod at the museum of fashion," Starfire chimed in. "He was most keen to steal those gloves."

"Right. Then Fang at the opera. Stealing jewellery. Gizmo and Mammoth stealing phones…"

Robin tapped his knee thoughtfully. "Dr. Light was targeting the entire city, and he wasn't stealing anything."

"Neither was Red X," said Raven. "And I don't see how the butcher's ties into anything."

"Maybe they all have something to do with golden eggs?" Cyborg frowned, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel. "Let's see… birds lay eggs? And you can buy birds at the butcher's. Those phones were named after birds… Jewellery's made of gold? Maybe whoever will attack a jewellery shop next?"

"Tenuous link at best," Robin said, glaring out the window. "We must be missing something. Something big. Something obvious… What was the clue again? Where do golden eggs come from? Is it a joke?"

"Where can you get a golden egg," Raven corrected. "And if it's a lame joke, maybe Beast Boy knows the answer."

"Finally, your chance to shine, green-bean," Cyborg chuckled. "You heard that joke before? Where can you get a golden egg?"

But Beast Boy didn't respond to the joke. He didn't respond to anything. He just sat in his seat, staring blankly ahead with wide, horrified eyes. It wasn't until Starfire poked him that he finally moved and opened his mouth to speak.

"IT WENT IN MY MOUTH!"

Chapter title is, again, taken from 'A Christmas Carol'. The section where Scrooge buys the prize turkey from the butcher for Bob Cratchit. I don't get one with Dickens usually, but I like the way he's written this book. Sections like this one are very energetic.